Conversations with Emily Sibley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Sibley.

Hi Emily, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised outside Nashville, TN, in Franklin. I grew up in a family that valued travel. I think I took my first flight at 10 days old?! Traveling from a young age shaped my passion and excitement for experiencing the world and other cultures. I studied abroad in Italy for a semester in college. After graduating, I moved back to Italy for a year and traveled all over Europe until Covid happened. I moved back to Nashville, got married, and the opportunity to be a travel advisor fell in my lap. I’m not going to lie; my first reaction was, “Those still exist?!” And I’m here to tell you. They very much do still exist. Especially now when traveling has added stress and requires lots of coordination and attention to detail. I fell in love with it immediately.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think figuring out your “purpose” or career goal is always terrifying, especially for a recently graduated 21-year-old. I think it’s really important to step away from what culture thinks you “should” do next, i.e., high school, college, get a job, get married, buy a house, etc. Moving to Europe for all of 2019 while my friends started their careers was fun, but it was also the most challenging year of my life. I was completely on my own and had to use that time to figure out what I was passionate about and who I truly was. It took removing myself from everything that makes me who I am: my home, my family and friends, my job, my degree, whatever. It’s where I discovered my biggest passion – helping others experience the world, new cultures, and cities and opening up their worldview and perspective. And rebuild from the ground up.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a luxury travel advisor, and I specialize in independent travel. To simplify things, I plan people’s vacations. To tell it like it is, I create unique and custom itineraries to destinations all around the world. The world is big, but as soon as I got into this industry, I realized how small it could be. I have contacts in every part of the world just waiting to welcome my clients to their cities, From Europe and the Caribbean to African Safaris, Asia, and South America. I have clients that want a long weekend in Charleston for a getaway, and others that want 4 week-long world tour itineraries. That’s the fun part about it. Every traveler is different: different wants and needs, budget, time to travel, and type of travel. I have the pleasure of taking all that information and turning it into an unforgettable and stress-free experience!

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My best childhood memories were spent on my grandparents 1,200 acre farm in Canada. My dad is from Saskatchewan, and the entire side of my family is there, so I spent much of my childhood with them; when I was 15, my family went up for a normal visit, but my mom and I had to stay behind because I was scheduled at my first job, Cracker Barrel. I know, I know. Anyway, my mom and I were chatting one morning and decided we would book a flight for that afternoon to surprise everyone, and that’s exactly what we did! We traveled all day to surprise everyone. It introduced me to travel spontaneity and opened the floodgates, but in the best way possible.

Pricing:

• Everything I do is custom, and tailored to each individual client. I am more than happy to chat pricing for services if you shoot me an email. Emily@nashvilleluxurytravel.com

Contact Info:

• Website: nashvilleluxurytravel.com
• Instagram: @thegirlontherun