For 22 years, the United States Air Force told Belinda where to go and when to be there. She went, in service of her country, around the world and back. And somewhere in all those years of orders, she made herself a quiet promise: when this chapter closed, the next one would be on her terms.
“After retirement, I was ready to travel on my own terms to destinations of my choice,” she says. “The continent of Africa was always in my heart, but I wasn’t sure where to begin, which country to visit, or how to make it happen.”
Then an ad for Travel Divas crossed her path. She booked South Africa and let us do all the planning. “It was the best decision I could have made
The Leap Of Faith
Here is the thing nobody tells you about that first yes: it is not really about the destination. “Fear of the unknown,” Belinda says, when asked what almost stopped her. “Trusting a stranger to plan a trip, to Africa, is a huge leap of faith.”
She took the leap in November 2017. What came back was a first class experience she still talks about almost ten years later. And the second trip? That part was easy. “TD earned my TRUST and RESPECT. I knew every trip would be amazing.”
Eleven trips later, she was right every time: South Africa, Dubai, Ghana, Kenya, Cartagena, Toronto, the South of France, Napa, the Divas Cruise, Greece, Aruba. She is a Platinum VIP who has fed a giraffe, eaten crocodile, stood at Victoria Falls, and looked a lion in the eye.
Smack Dab In The Middle Of A Migration
Ask Belinda for her single most unforgettable moment and she does not name a hotel or a meal. She names a morning on safari when the horizon started to move. “Being smack dab in the middle of a wildebeest migration in the Serengeti,” she says. “Wow.”
And ask her which trip changed her the most, and her answer comes straight from the heart that always pointed toward Africa: “Ghana! I felt like I came back home. My heart was so full.”
The Rich Auntie Era
The women in Belinda’s life have a name for what she is doing with this chapter. “That I’m a real life, rich auntie,” she laughs. “And that they wish they had my life.” It is part of why she shares every trip on social media: “They visit places they’ve never been, through me.”
That is what being a VIP means to her, too. Not a status for status’s sake, but a decision about how she rewards herself: “I have embraced the elevated travel experience and reward myself with quality over quantity.” After all these trips, she has learned exactly what to leave at home: “Worries, fear, and stress.”
Her three words for Travel Divas? “Fabulous, Family, and Exquisite.”
Six Continents Down, One To Go
Belinda is not slowing down. Her next booking is the one she has been building toward her whole traveling life: Antarctica in 2027. “I can’t wait! It will be my 7th continent.”
Read that again. A woman who spent 22 years going where she was sent is about to finish the whole map on her own terms.
Her Word To The Woman Still Waiting
“Take the leap of faith! You have one life to live and deserve the very best… and that’s exactly what TD delivers.”
Africa was the trip that lived in Belinda’s heart until she finally said yes. If there is a place living in yours, this is your sign.
