Meet Chelsea Martin | Luxury Travel Advisor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chelsea Martin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chelsea, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
To be honest when I first started in my career, I was a complete workaholic. It did not help that I lived alone and worked from home, because I would start working at 6am and keep working until midnight. This however built unhealthy habits and started to affect my health, so nearly 2 years ago I made a promise to start prioritizing myself. I still have days where I work 15 hours, but when I do that I make sure to give myself more “me” time later that week. I personally think you cannot be the best version of yourself in your work if you don’t take time for yourself.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
After I graduated from hospitality school, I worked in corporate events and incentive travel, where I was traveling about 250 days a year. Being away and on the move all of the time can be great, but it also has its challenges so I started a blog to share advice on how to live a healthy and happy life while traveling. From there I transitioned into planning luxury leisure travel due to my previous host travel agency finding me on Instagram, and I have not looked back since! The biggest challenge was building a client base, which is why I continued to work events on the side until I was planning enough travel to make a live-able wage off of. Once I was able to take luxury travel advising full time however is when it really took off. What sets me apart in my industry is how I have built my business on social media, and how my social media serves as not only escapism for my clients & followers, but also as an aesthetically beautiful yet authentic look into luxury hotels and destinations. I strive to show the small details & experiences that truly make a place special. What I have learned is to find your passion and be authentic. If you choose a career based off of truly loving it, the long days wont feel like work and you will feel so fulfilled by what you do even on the hard days. Also staying authentic and true to yourself is imperative to building a loyal client base whom share the same values as you – you want to enjoy the people you work with!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in West Village in NYC which is my favorite neighborhood in the city! Also my itineraries primarily focus on food so buckle up! For a Friday night, I would head to Dante West Village which opened this summer and has some of the best outdoor dining and people watching in West Village for pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers. We would then head to L’Artusi or Anton’s for some of my favorite Italian food in the city. Head to Employee’s Only or The Garret for a nightcap. Saturday would start with brunch at Rosemary’s or Buvette, then head to Soho and Nolita to walk around and shop. I love to pop into Crosby Street Hotel for a drink on their patio mid-shopping! In the early evening I like to head to DUMBO House in Brooklyn for amazing sunset views over the city. Head back to the city for dinner at Estela – one of my favorite and cozy bistro style spots that has its Michelin Star yet remains unpretentious. On Sunday morning I would take them for a long walk starting with walking the High Line uptown, then heading to Central Park to walk or bike around. Lunch is best taken as a picnic in the park, or brunch at Jacob’s Pickles in UWS is always a good time.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mother, Theresa Martin – she quit her corporate job to pursue her passion & build a business from scratch while I was in high school, and the inspiration from her taking that leap of faith stuck with me while I was starting my business as well. She has also been here for me every step of the way as we both continue to build our businesses and is my biggest cheerleader! You’ve got to have a person in your inner circle who listens to your crazy ideas and believes in them as much as you do.

Website: www.passporttofriday.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/passporttofriday

Image Credits
Chelsea Martin