About Chaelie Travels
Who am I?
First of all, hi! My name is Chael (like mail, but with a shhh sound). My friends call me Chaelie (Shay-lee), and my childhood nickname is ChaelieBuu (Shay-lee boo). I’m a 30 year old Native Hawaiian and Asian woman born and raised on the island of Oʻahu who looooves travel, boba, flowers, eating, helping others, and well, planning. I’ve spent most of my adult life dedicated to serving others, helping friends chase their dreams, developing our community, and making the world a happier place. When I took a step back to reflect on life I decided I wanted to do something I was passionate about and finally chase some dreams of my own, and thus Chaelie Travels was born.
I’m passionate about travel, helping others, and most importantly planning.
What do I do?
Well, I’m not a travel agent so I’m not necessarily booking things for you (I can, and we can discuss that if you’re interested). Instead of a travel agent, think of me as your Type A bestie who loves to keep you organized and make your life easier. I’m here to do the research and heavy lifting (planning) to make your trip as easy, fun, and seamless as possible. Some people don’t like to plan, organize, or research things, but I do. I actually looove to do all of these things and I’m happy to provide this service for those who don’t. Most people are taking vacations simply to relax and have fun, so why stress about the details when you can hire me to do all of that for you. I’ve planned several trips for different occasions like anniversaries, honeymoons, birthdays, or even different purposes like a road trip across the country to move between states! I’m excited to see what fun adventures you may have that I can assist with planning.
As for the nitty gritty details… No matter what package you select, what I do is take information you share with me like where you want to go, dates, etc. From there I do extensive research and share with you general information on your destination, some suggestions for what to do, and create a custom Google Map for your trip. If you select the Little Navigator Package or the Full Expedition Package, I also take into consideration your personal interests, likes, dislikes, food preferences, etc. and dive further into researching specific places and activities you may be interested in. I also provide some light logistical assistance for these two packages. If you select the Full Expedition Package, I also create a custom itinerary and include more in depth information on your destination, too. Check out the packages I offer under the Travel Planning Packages tab for more details.
In addition to these packages, I also offer some custom add-ons like packing guides, cultural norms, dos and don’ts, hotel hunting assistance, airfare watching assistance, reservation assistance, and ticket booking assistance. I’m also open to hearing you out if you need more specific or additional help; I’m always happy to try to work something out for you if it can help make your life easier.
To sum things up, I make traveling as easy as possible for you so you can relax and have fun.
How did Chaelie Travels start?
I’ve always had a passion for travel, but my partner did not. He didn’t really see the point in it and never had the desire to do so… until our first international trip to London and Paris to visit my aunty and uncle. I planned out everything on my own based on tons of hours of research reading blogs, watching videos, reading articles, reviews, and scouring the internet for interesting things to see, eat, and do. My other half had a wonderful time, but it was totally my style of travel; it was very GO, GO, GO! And while he enjoyed how much we were able to do and see, he very much wanted to be able to rest, relax, and take our time to wander and explore, too.
For our second international trip (to Japan) I decided to take a different approach, I still poured tons of time into researching beforehand (because that’s what I love to do, duh), but this time I built out a map that included all of this information and gave us a more loose itinerary that was flexible and not quite as heavy. I found a way to blend our two worlds and ideas of travel together to better fit both of our needs. Instead of aimlessly wandering, we still had a special curated list of places that were a must see or eat for us and filled in the rest of our days as we went. If we wanted to do a specific activity, we would go there and still be able to check out our map to see what else was good to eat or see in that area (or find other fun things to do along the way, which I totally recommend). Through this type of planning, we found a happy medium for the both of us. With the way I organized and planned things, I started something that I think could be really helpful for people who want to travel like we do; well informed, but still with the flexibility to explore.
I didn’t realize that these pieces I put together for our travels were a lot (very Type A of me) but also super helpful until I showed my friends and sister the maps and itineraries I created. They were so interested they wanted me to plan things for them, too! My first official client (to test things out) was actually my sister and her boyfriend. At the time she was graduating from college in Oregon and had found a job in Wisconsin. She needed to move across the country about a month after graduation. Because she was so busy with finishing school and graduating, she didn’t have the time, energy, or even know where to begin planning out this road trip. We met to discuss things they wanted to do, must haves, dislikes, etc. and I dove into planning. After that, they were so excited about the trip and it became something to look forward to instead of a trip where they had to worry or stress about the logistics. They ended up having a great time, really enjoyed their trip, and were able to create special memories together throughout their journey.
This trip was unique and expanded my ideas and love for travel planning. It also fueled my desire to do this for more people. I’m always happy to help others however I can so coupling this with my love of travel and research just made sense. I really hope I can do something like this for you, too. I’m excited to see the fun ideas you folks have and figure out how I can help make your vacation dreams come true!
