Michele Matcham has been in the travel business for going on ten years, but she’s been passionate about it her entire life. With a life-long love of exploring the world, there are few places Michele hasn’t been! New Zealand is a favorite spot, but each trip she’s taken has been special for her, with fond memories of family and friends across the world. Some of Michele’s favorite specialties are Italy, Los Cabos, New Zealand, and Australia. Michele made the switch from Triple A to Maupin almost two years ago. “I love Maupin Travel; I love the environment in our office and that we work with Signature. Signature offers so much in terms of products and training, but we also have fantastic personal relationships with our vendors. It’s an amazing team of professionals that make up the vendors, tour operators, and properties that we partner with to make your trip the best it can be. ”
With an extensive travel background, Michele has a lot of funny stories to share with her clients and officemates, including that time she sailed through the Bordeaux region of France with ONE outfit for five days. When we say we can make anything work, we mean it! “When I set sail on this river cruise through Bordeaux my luggage was lost and didn’t arrive until 3 days before heading home. I ended up wearing the same jeans, white t-shirt and sweater for 5 days onboard. I’d wear the sweater backwards by itself or change the t-shirt to an off the shoulder ensemble to switch it up as much as I could. It became a lot of fun to see how I could diversify 3 pieces of clothing for formal nights and champagne tasting! By the end of the trip the staff were giving me scarves, high heel shoes and necklaces to borrow. EVERYONE onboard knew that I was the one that had the lost luggage and when I would walk into the lounge for dinner or a drink the entire room would tell me how beautiful I looked and what a lovely outfit I had on. I never went out to buy anything in the stores because I was told that it would be there “that” night before 9pm each day. Even given the wardrobe mishap, it was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken!”
Michele’s Top 3 Tips for Traveling
Have a current passport at all times. You never know when someone might invite you to summer at their Italian villa.
Embrace your inner gypsy. Be open to new destinations, even if they aren’t on your bucket list.
Always take a medical bag with you when you travel, including Advil, bandaids, upset stomach medication, and wipes.
You can reach Michele at her desk at 919-832-5550 x1406
