Before You Book That Mission Trip ... (Listen to This!)

[00:00:02] Rhythm amp, Roam with Benef, Paul, amp. So welcome to the show. Thank you. I have a couple of icebreaker questions for you. The first one, what was your first job? Whew. My first job, like, you know, where I got paid. I thought you were ... Isn't that illegal to not get paid? I mean, like, you know, my parents like making me mow the lawn or like ... Oh, okay. No, like a ... Yeah, like a paid job.

[00:00:29] So like, you know, babysitting in the neighborhood when I was like 12. Oh. That would say like my first job where, you know, someone else was paying me. But then like a job where I had to like go there every day is when we ... I lived in Zambia. I had a job at the clinic. I would go there in the afternoons and help out. So I did that. Oh, wow. That's awesome. That would be my first job. When was that? Like how old were you when you did that?

[00:00:58] I was like 13, 14. Oh. We moved there when I was 13. So. Okay. Okay. Cool. Oh, that's fascinating. Oh, that's fascinating. And I'm sure we'll talk about more about that. Okay. So the second one, what's a habit that you were trying to break or you're trying to build? Ooh, a habit I'm trying to build or break. Well, I don't have any bad habits. No. Of course not. I know that's right.

[00:01:27] Are you an AI? No. I love it. I would ... I am trying to be better at journaling. It's like, it's a habit that I am able to do most of the time. I've gotten like the morning journaling part, but not like the evening journal part where you're like reflecting on your day. So I'm like halfway.

[00:01:54] But so that's something I've been like put on my list this year to try to add to my habit stack. That's really good. I usually have a hard time maintaining a journaling habit as well. It just, it'll fall off at some point and then I'll have to restart and restart. I'm actually very envious of those that can journal. I've tried and it seems that the only time that I can journal is when I'm angry. So I try not to lash out on others. And so that's when I journal.

[00:02:24] But I don't know how, I don't know if it makes me more angrier or if it's really therapeutic. Yeah, more angry. Or therapeutic. Well, I have like, I have a journal book and it just has questions, like more like gratitude type questions. So I think that helps that, you know, it has a prompt. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely will take that advice. Thank you. For sure.

[00:02:49] Because I, I'm, I'm not the, you know, journaling type that I should be as well. So thank you for that. But so let's jump right into the questions, Joy, too, as well. So tell us about a little bit on your, your travel agency, Butler Travel, correct? And the type of trips that you plan, if you can just run down. Yeah. So just a little introduction about me.

[00:03:17] So I'm a mom of the most important part. I am a mom of two littles. They're four and six. And then I'm also the CEO and co-owner of Butler Travel, which is a full service travel agency. But we specialize in helping groups with their flights or with their tour organization. We don't lead tours, but we do help group like churches if they want to organize a tour. So we help them with that.

[00:03:44] And we really specialize within the airline tickets. And most travel agencies don't like to do airline tickets because airlines are a lot of headaches. But, but we're like, we'll, we'll take the headache. So we got into Butler Travel about two, two years ago. My husband and I bought it. We were teachers. We had met in Taiwan where we were both teaching at a school there.

[00:04:13] Wasn't it like now 11 years ago, 12 years ago, 13 years? I don't know. A long time ago. So we both had traveled a lot. I, as I mentioned, I worked at a clinic in Zambia. We moved there when I was 13. So my parents had moved us to Zambia when I was 13. I have lived in Zambia and Kenya and Germany and Austria and Portugal and Honduras and Taiwan. Right.

[00:04:43] Welcome to the club, Joy. Welcome to the club. So lived in a lot of countries that I've lived in. Yeah. So, yeah. So we lived in a lot of places. We, we were, but we were tired of teaching after COVID. It was just like hard. And so my husband and I were both like, hey, we need to do something new. And this opportunity came to buy Butler Travel. And it just all worked out.

[00:05:12] Ironically, when we moved to Zambia, we actually used Butler Travel to like get our tickets. So it's kind of like a full circle. Yeah. Yeah. So, so just curious, just curious. You, you did mention Germany. I lived in Germany as well. Where did you live? Is knee of El Goy. Is that north? It's a, no. It's a tiny town. I've heard of it before. It's a tiny town near Switzerland. Yeah. Yeah. It's on the border. Yeah.

[00:05:41] Lake Constantine. By Hamburg and, and. Yeah. Up in those area. Okay. I live in Frankfurt. So it's a little. Okay. More metropolitan. So, sorry. Yes. I, it was, I, you probably wouldn't believe this, but I was a cook. In Germany? Yeah. Sprechen Sie Deutsch? No. I can say ich bin der Kuch. That's what I was like.

[00:06:09] So you were, well, I mean, where were you cooking? I was cooking at this little school. So I had, okay. So when I was in Portugal, I had gotten asked to cook at a school there. And for two months while their, their cook who was from the Philippines had gone back to take care of their father who was dying. And so some of the teachers who were at that school were starting this other small school

[00:06:37] in Germany and they had asked me to come. Um, so I was only, I was only there, um, for four or five months. Okay. Well, at least you learned how to make some schnitzel. Cause you know, I didn't. I just cooked whatever I knew how to cook. That's awesome. That's awesome. Thank you for that. I don't know. I think Trisha is, uh, frozen. Yeah.

[00:07:07] Like she said, are you back? Cause you, you went out. And then you're, are you back, Trisha? What's that? I don't know. Trisha, are you there? Well, we'll, we'll keep moving. We'll keep moving until we can hear. Okay. Yeah. Well, yeah. So, well, you're okay. Your agency, the travel agency. So you're focusing on groups and it's mission and humanitarian focused. Correct. Okay. So, um, and then, well, explain some of the mistakes that you noticed that, that mission leaders make when traveling abroad.

[00:07:36] Cause, um, you had talked about that in the, in the biography. Yeah. And how is it that you avoid making these same mistakes? Yeah. So one thing that we have just noticed, having gone on trips, having lived in Zambia and Kenya and seeing trips come over, there's just a couple of major mistakes that, that a, a group can make. So the first one is like not planning early enough.

[00:08:03] So, uh, we have sometimes group leaders come to us and they're like, Hey, we were, we're planning on taking 50 people in two months. And we're like, okay, well, you should have reached out to us like eight months ago because that you're not going to get a good deal on your airline. And, um, you know, if you need any transportation, this is just all going to be a lot more difficult because you've waited so long.

[00:08:30] So that's the, the number one thing is, um, first thing that we, we really want our clients to know is like, if you're planning on taking a, uh, anything more than 10, really, you should be planning at least six months out in advance. Yeah. And then another thing is like, we've had some people who didn't actually look up the visa requirements. And so, you know, uh, which visa requirements change all the time. Right. So there was a time where you could go to Brazil and you didn't need a visa and then they brought

[00:08:58] it back in and you need the visa and it's an online process. And it's, I don't, I don't know if any of you done it. It's actually, you have to do it very exactly how it says, or it'll just say this doesn't work and you have no idea why it didn't work. Like if your picture is just like slightly, your head slightly the wrong direction. Really? Wow. Detailed. Very detailed. Very detailed. It's actually that detailed too in, in believe it or not, um, in France, cause they have your

[00:09:25] go around this little circle thing and your face gotta fit exactly in that circle space. So I can, I can see the stress of that. Yeah. And so we just had a client who they purchased a last minute like trip to England. And I just was like, Hey, by the way, do you have your electronic transit visa? Whatever it's called. And you're like, what, we need something now? I was like, yes, you do. Like, I'm sorry. You can't just go to England now.

[00:09:55] You actually have to have, um, this, you know. It's gotta be a little stressful to, to keep up obviously as a travel agent with the, with, with the rules and changes around the world. Yes. Especially here in Europe. And, um, I say Europe in the UK, but even though the UK is in Europe, that's another discussion. It's just got a little. Yeah. Yeah. How do you keep up with all those changes? Like, what is the best way to manage that?

[00:10:25] So, I mean, we, we, um, we usually a lot of things change at the beginning of the year. So we kind of, it's like, look what changes are, are coming up. And then we do subscribe to a newsletter that gives us updates on travel. Yeah. Well, that's good. And so I, I don't mean to cut you off, but I was just, I wanted to ask you, um, do you see the value more in your job as, as these things have happening? Are you seeing more people starting to sway to using a travel, a travel advisor?

[00:10:57] So it's kind of funny when I, uh, tell people like, oh yeah, we own a travel agency. We do a lot with flights and they're like, oh, can't you just do that all online? I'm like, sure. Of course you can do everything online. But, uh, and, and if you want to do that, that's great. But if you also want to be able to like call someone and have them answer the phone and take care of a problem, um, without having to wait on hold for three hours, then you might want to use a travel agency.

[00:11:23] Or if you are like never traveled before and you're just like, don't, don't even know anything. You're super stressed out. Uh, we find a lot of people who are new to traveling want to use this. And then if you can imagine like you've all traveled, you've all dealt with airline delays and issues. Can you imagine? Or even just the booking process. Imagine doing that for 50 people. No, no. That's where like, or having them trying to do it all themselves. Right. Right. Exactly.

[00:11:54] Yeah. Can you imagine like, what would you do if you had that big of a group and your flight got canceled? Like, like where? I just remember doing stuff like that. I mean, Benef, you probably can relate to this is, you know, when we have to deploy and you have to do your whole manifest and all that, that in itself was stressful. Well, I never did my own. Well, I had to. But like, are you, like what type of system are you using? I'm just curious.

[00:12:20] Cause to get every, you know, cause you have to go into like the airline systems, right? Are you, you're not calling them directly? No, no, no. We, we have, we have an air, we have, it's called a GDS, a global distribution system. Okay. So yeah. So we're just booking directly on the airlines. Yeah. And this is, and I'm sure people probably who are listening or watching probably want to know this answer too as well. Not only just me.

[00:12:44] Is there some kind of secret, secret, like handshake agency to hotels, to planes and, or excuse me, airlines that says, okay, we'll give you 50% off for the first 500 customers that you get or something like this. Cause you know, that's why people would want to. If there is for airlines, I have not learned it. No. So what we find is like, so people will come to us and be like, oh, I saw like this website

[00:13:13] that says, oh, I can get you like your business class ticket for this amount off. And what we have found that is if those customers usually go through that process, surprise at the end when they go to pay for it, somehow that ticket disappeared and now it's. Yes. Yes. So there's a lot of ghost fares that go on. I get that a lot too. Yeah. And even, um, sometimes like even in the airline system, there's sometimes what we call ghost fares.

[00:13:43] It's like, it will say it's there, but then someone else has grabbed it and it hasn't taken it out of the booking system. So it's real, but it's just who's quicker. It's real. Okay. Yes. I mean, so there's that aspect, but there's also, I think shady websites who say they can get you something, but it's really, really not. Well, and do you have to be like certified to use this GDS? Like it's not just something anybody can go in and be like, I'm going to use this. Yeah. So we have, we have to have a certification process.

[00:14:11] We actually have to have like a, uh, a liability account, like with, for, if there's issues with the airlines, um, so it is a process. There are not a lot of travel agencies that actually have access to what we call the GDS, the global, most travel agencies, uh, that don't specialize in air.

[00:14:35] They just book directly online or they use a, like a third party website to get it done. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was going to say, so I have one more really important part with traveling, uh, planning a mission trip that, uh, I've definitely seen is ignoring cultural norms of where you're going.

[00:14:59] So not learning about the culture and just like, uh, being, yeah, just showing up being disrespectful of the culture or, uh, are you talking about Americans? Be honest. What? Yeah. So I have this, I have this funny story. Um, I mean, when I lived in Kenya, um, there was this mission group that came over.

[00:15:23] So we were working like down a building, uh, I think a clinic in where the Maasai lives. So we called Maasai land and it was hot. And so these girls decided to go take a dip in the cattle trough in their swimsuits. And, um, the women, the Maasai women came over and were like, totally, it was like, what are these girls doing? Are they trying to steal our men? Are they trying to steal our husbands?

[00:15:50] So you can just imagine if you're trying to have a positive impact, especially as like as someone, if you're a Christian and you're trying to have a positive impact and you're doing this, there's there, you're not, you're just going to have a negative impact on that community. So that's just, I think is very important for trip leaders to know. So speaking of surprises, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but no, I was just saying like, is, is that anything that you're,

[00:16:19] what the travel agency does is to help facilitate them understanding the cultural differences of the countries that they're going to? So we do sometimes help them like understand, um, more of the logistic of transportation, you know, those issues that they might have. We might also, if they, if it's a new, uh, trip leader and they don't know anything, like let them know about the medical requirements and things like that, not necessarily giving

[00:16:49] them instruction on cultural norms. Yeah. Okay. So they'd have to figure that out where to get that. Yes, they do. Yeah. Gotcha. So, um, speaking of surprises and, uh, unexpected things, I should say, um, you have mentioned in, in your bio, actually a mention of getting robbed at gunpoint, uh, once you're, once during your travels, um, how did you handle this situation? Um, I, how did it affect you?

[00:17:18] I mean, that is so bizarre. Thankfully that has not happened to me in my travels. Um, but I do know that, you know, it does happen. So how do you, first of all, tell us about it. So what happened? Yeah. So this is when I lived in Honduras and I lived in the city of Comayagua. First of all, when I lived there, even today, like Honduras is not the safest place to live or be, unless you're like in the more thirsty places like Roatan, um, let's say that, but

[00:17:47] even there, there's like, you need to be careful. So where I lived, um, again, not super safe, but I had been there for almost two years and nothing had ever happened to me. There had been someone who was shot 17 times on my street, but not when I was there. So I was going, I was with a friend and we were going, uh, to eat balayatas, which is a specialty food in Honduras.

[00:18:13] And, uh, two guys on bicycles came up to us and one just pulled out a gun and was like, give me your purse to my friend. And then, you know, give me your purse, give me your money, whatever. So my, my friend who had just gotten there, uh, was like freaking out. She was like hiding behind me and I didn't want my friend to lose her purse because she had her passport in there and she had her camera on. She had like a lot of valuables in her purse. So I was like, Hey, calm down.

[00:18:43] Like you don't want to rob us. We're Americans. That's what I was telling the guy. I was like, I was like, you don't want, you want to have a good impact on us when we're visiting here. And like, just like trying to like. Reasoning with the gun. Calm him down. Yes. Yes. And he was just like, there was two of them. Cause there was two on the bikes and one only, only one had a gun though. So, but, and then he just kept saying like waving the gun around and he never like directly pointed at me and it was dark. So it might not even been real. I don't know.

[00:19:12] Um, but at the time I was just like, I can't let my friend lose her purse. That's the only thing I was thinking about. So I had my phone in my hand. And so, um, I was, I was trying to like convince him that he didn't want to rob us. His other friend grabbed my phone and they biked away. And, and then I started yelling at them. I was like, give me back my chip. Cause, um, back in the day, like your chip had your phone numbers on it and your money for anyway.

[00:19:40] So I wanted the chip so I could go get another phone or something. So he biked away. I know. Right. Well, the crazy thing was, is like it at the time I was like, it didn't affect me at all. I was like, whatever. We went, we went and got balayatas. We had dinner. We came back. It was fine. Three weeks later, I was in Colorado in Vail and, uh, I was walking down the street and I

[00:20:08] just saw, see this like kid. Like, I mean, somebody on a bicycle coming toward me and I flipped out. I was like, oh, okay. I have a little PTSD, uh, from that. But you were in Vail. So you're, I think you're okay. And it took me for a second to be like, okay, I am in a state, like this is, I'm not in the same place. I am okay. Yeah. I'm like, you're in Vail. You'll be all right. No, but I can imagine like, you know. No, it's a, it's a trigger.

[00:20:37] And that's, that's the key is that it's a trigger. It doesn't matter. Cause I'm triggered even here in Paris and I'm just, you know, in certain circumstances and stuff like that. So I totally get it. Right. Cause both you and Benef, you were, you're both are or were in the army, correct? Yeah. Retired. Yeah. We're retired. Yeah. Retired. And I would say there's something, you know, which you can attest to now that any little slight thing of a trigger, you know, whether. That's wild. Crowd or something. It's weird too. How you.

[00:21:08] Yes. Don't even realize the trigger until you're in the trigger, which is. Right. Like I didn't think it affected me at all until I was like, oh, well, I'm definitely. Well, I hope, I hope it doesn't happen to you. I hope it doesn't happen again. Yeah. Well, too often kind of thing. Cause you can't control it, but yeah. Well, did it affect the way that you then thought about the, the, the people of that country? Like, cause you were. No. There was somebody trying to rob you or that was just like one, you know. Yeah.

[00:21:36] It was just one instant. One outlier. And, and it was actually at the very end of my time in Honduras. Like I moved back like two weeks later and, and I have gone back to visit. And. Well, that's good. It didn't, it didn't stop you, but note to joy. Do not try to compromise with the person that's trying to rob you because that's not safe. Regardless, don't negotiate. You're not a negotiator.

[00:22:05] Stop watching these movies. But what was. I think. Like Jason Bourne is different. What was kind of comical about that is that you were actually, you know, it was, it was a promotion of, I am American. You don't want to hurt. I mean, I'm shocked that they didn't, I'm shocked that they didn't shoot you because you said you were American. Like, because all Americans are rich and the rancher. Yeah. I don't know. Don't do that again. I love that. Ever. I love that. Tell them you're from Canada or somewhere.

[00:22:36] Yeah. Right. Yeah. No, I'm glad that you're safe. That's, that's, it's very dangerous to even do that. Well, I wanted to talk a little bit more about, cause you, you said you, you were, you grew up in a missionary family. And so I just want to talk a little bit more about how like God or the divine, how you've seen God work along your travels or, cause you had mentioned stories about God's provision.

[00:23:03] And I find that very interesting because I'm not sure, I don't know if a lot of travelers are thinking about, um, like spirituality when they travel or looking for specific, um, what's the word I'm trying to, somebody help me. Well, there is, there is, there is a chance that, that God is providing for them. Like, I don't know that, that people are really thinking about that when they're tourists traveling.

[00:23:30] Well, you know, if you think about it, I just didn't get shot while negotiating with it. That's why I said, that's why I said what I said. I think that's probably the biggest God wake that in your life. At that point. But might, but might I, might I add to that is, is so instead of, and I, you can correct me too, Joy, is that instead of the word, you know, God or divinity or, or, or something

[00:23:58] of higher power most of the time, cause I am also religious, but I always say these are my superstition when I travel so that a, I'm not trying to freak anybody out or something like this or whatnot. Like there's a certain thing I do every like, like till this day, you know, from when I leave my apartment to when I'm heading onto the plane. If I do not touch the plane, I am not flying.

[00:24:28] That's no joke, by the way. You mean like before you get on as you're boarding outside of the plane? Yes. That's not a joke. That's, that's like, yeah, call me superstitious. I don't care. I'm talking to the plane. So. And then I. And it hasn't crashed on you yet. So that's working. And I have, I, I, every minute I, I read the, what do you call it? You know, the instructions that never changes. I always read them.

[00:24:56] And I've been to over 55 different countries. So something's worked, but sorry. That's what I meant, Joy. So definitely, you know, growing up in, in Zambia, you do see the, the strength of evil more than you do in developing countries. Right.

[00:25:25] So, uh, the, like demon possession is, it, it's more open. You mean voodoo. Clear to see there. You mean voodoo. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, um, so that was definitely like coming from the United States where it, it, that's not just like, that's, that's like on TV. Not. People don't believe that. Yeah.

[00:25:51] Not someone who you're talking to that all of a sudden, like sacrifices and stuff. Yeah. Um, you know, becomes like a, not become snake, but starts acting like a snake or something like that. Right. So that, that's very, uh, prevalent. And so you do feel like, uh, you need to have a stronger prayer life to have a stronger connection with God in order to like, it kind of be a defense against the, the voodoo that you see.

[00:26:20] But beyond that, just like miracles, for example, we had this friend and they were going on a, coming back from being out. It's called crocodile Island. They're driving back. They had an accident. Their, their eight year old son, um, his head got gouged on the ground as it rolled over.

[00:26:46] Like it, he hit his head on the window and like, so like half of his scalp came off and they were like no cell phone, cell phone service there hours away from the nearest main road. Somehow their cell phone worked. And on top of that, somehow they were able to convince the army to fly a helicopter in there,

[00:27:12] the Zambian army to fly the helicopter in there and, and, um, airlift the boy out. Right. So like cell phone service didn't work at all until that moment that, that they needed it. And then, yeah. Yeah. Until they needed it to work. So when you see things like that, it's like, okay, there's, there's gotta be a higher power that is making these things happen. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:27:40] But even, even if you're just traveling to, let's say, for example, the Holy Land or Egypt or, uh, Turkey and you can, you, you can see the biblical story in real life. And so that can be really faith building. Or if you're just, you know, um, spiritual, like a Buddhist, if you go to India or some of those other places in Asia, like that is really great for strengthening that spiritual

[00:28:10] aspect of your life as well. If, if you're of, of that, um, spiritual persuasion. So if we're talking, if we're talking about that in those situations for you and your faith, um, if you don't mind me asking, um, which do you feel resonate more, um, with your, with your, I guess, um, your feeling of Christianity? Um, is it those moments where, um, it's quiet or where it's very evident if you're visiting,

[00:28:37] say Jerusalem or somewhere that, you know, something has happened? Um, what, what is that? What is that for you? Sorry. Is it, is it better for me for like the miracle with, like with the boy or when, when we're like in Jerusalem? Right. Yeah. So, um, so I definitely think like when I see, um, I want to say miracles happen, like

[00:29:06] things that really shouldn't have turned out the way they should have. When I see those turned out in a positive way, I think that is divine, divine. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I want to see that divine intervention. Like that, that strengthens my faith more than I'm going to, I mean, looking at old buildings, but for some people that, you know, for some people, they really like to walk in

[00:29:32] the footsteps of Paul or walk in the footsteps of Jesus and, and, and that really builds their faith. I, I guess like, I'd never doubt those things aren't real. And so seeing them, it, to me, it wasn't as faith building. Right. Right. Yeah. Okay. I understand. Cause like for some, like we interviewed a woman and she had gone, um, to Jerusalem and done, um, a lot of walking on those historical sites and that for her really like to be on

[00:30:02] the ground was really, um, faith building and to just be in the story or in the history. Um, but yeah, I can see both. Yeah. Exactly. I can see both ways. Yeah. Jesus Christ.

[00:30:29] Like, yes, it did something to me or did something for me. And then walking in the Jordan river, even though monkey, but cold and muddy. Yes. But it was something like in my body that says, okay, I can handle this. But then my subconscious mind is like, how much of this is really accurate? You know what I mean? Like they said, this is exactly where Jesus was baptized.

[00:30:58] And it shows a whole, that's what, you know, it gets to me sometimes. And then of course I have to get some kind of validation. And then, you know, whether it's from the priest or someone to say, yep, this is it. And then I'm like, okay, I'm good now. You mean the historical accuracy. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that's, that goes for almost any location, right? Even at the Vatican, even, you know, all these.

[00:31:26] Well, I mean, I have a similar story as well. I mean, with joy, with you being, uh, have, have gone, have gone to Portugal. Um, I'm sure you've done trips to Fatima, um, within your, your travel agency. I was in the kitchen in Portugal. Oh, wow. Okay. The whole time. Wow. Yeah. So you were in jail. Joy, what's going on? I know, come on. Yeah.

[00:31:53] But I mean, I, I understand those stories in that sense. And I should say, honestly, what I, I, I'm interested to know your challenges, uh, that you've had, um, in, in planning for, uh, in planning and working with mission trips. Um, do they ever ask for your guidance as, uh, as far as what, what would be the best place to travel or where they feel that is needed? Have you ever been asked that question? You know, if they're trying to see where would be the next place, do they seek your advice?

[00:32:25] So sometimes they do ask us like, Hey, we're thinking of going here or here. What would, what would be better? And we're like, well, you just so you know, like there's a thousand dollar difference in the plane ticket kind of thing. But most, so we're not a sending organization. So we're not organizing the mission that they're doing. Uh, we, we sometimes refer sending organizations, but most of the time when they come to us, they've already reached out to a sending organization. They have a project. Got it.

[00:32:54] Most of the time. Sometimes they're like, Oh, we don't know anything. And so then we do like, Hey, here's some things you could look at these different organizations and then come back to us, but we don't necessarily give them advice on like, Hey, there's been a lot of people going to Peru. Maybe you should go to Ecuador. Right, right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, and a lot of our, the, the main organizations that we work with are actually hospitals and

[00:33:21] they're going to their sister hospitals in different countries as well. Okay. That makes sense. So it's not just all like church groups. So we, we do, do a lot of work with doctors who are in doctors across borders kind of people. Humanitarian. Yeah. Yeah. Humanitarian. Yeah. Okay. Without borders. Yeah. And in that case, you know, we have no organization with their, their hospitals. Yeah. That's all within them. Yeah. Well, good. Good. Okay.

[00:33:50] That's awesome. Well, how long have you been in business? Just so sorry. Butler travel has been around for almost 30 years. Oh, wow. Butler travel for 30 years. Okay. Wow. I didn't. Okay. And so you bought the business when then? Two and a half years ago. Okay. Oh, okay. Amazing. That's incredible. What a great opportunity. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:34:14] I mean, it was, you know, I had a, obviously a solid foundation of great clients and, and had a great mission. And it was easy for my husband and I to say, okay, let's do this instead of teaching. It's gotta be a lot of fun, especially to do something that it's what you wanted to do. And it's, you know what I mean? It's not like it, it doesn't, I'm hoping it doesn't feel like work to you because it's, you know what I mean?

[00:34:41] You can, Hey, I'm not going to work for this many hours or something like this. It's the best feeling in the world. We went skiing yesterday. See? It's the best feeling in the world. Best feeling in the world. You can't, you can't go wrong with it. But then also, you know, you're facilitating, um, you know, as a Christian, you're facilitating other groups that want to, you know, be able to express their faith and, and, uh, be able to reach out. So that, that definitely has to be fulfilling. I'm sure. Yeah, exactly.

[00:35:09] It's just not like we just have a business that's, you know, focused on making money and has no mission to it. So it was important for us that, that we, we still feel like we are serving through this business, even though we might not actually be leading a trip or going on the trips. We, we have gone on trips with our kids last summer. Well, I think you are. I think you are. I think you're, you're definitely serving still and, um, you know, for the good as, as well.

[00:35:36] And you're not, I don't want to piss any other travel agents off or anything saying you're in it just for the money. Right. Yeah. And so on. But this is actually, I think a good mixture of what you're doing. And I, I, I hope others are doing the same or even considering to do things slightly different

[00:35:59] where it has a little, um, humanitarian feel to it so that, you know, you're giving, you're getting, but you're giving back in some, in some capacity. So. Yeah, correct. Yeah. So Joy, can you let us, uh, our audience know how they can contact you if, uh, they're looking to book a trip, um, that is faith-filled and within mission, um, you know, whether it's through the church or through a humanitarian effort. Yeah, for sure.

[00:36:28] So if you're thinking about planning a trip, we, um, would love to have you reach out to us. You can go to butlertravel.com and backslash. Well, you could just go to butlertravel.com and you can see the book now button. It's pretty clear. Or, and, um, if you want, yeah, you can go to Google and type in butlertravel. And so if you do reach out to us, uh, I am giving our listeners a 10% off our booking services.

[00:36:57] So you would use the code, um, Rome10 and. That would be great. Thank you. Yes. And, and so, um, reach out to us with your group needs and we will get you taken care of. Fantastic. Thank you guys hear that. So that's, that's great. And, um, you know, book your next travel with, with, with, with Butler please. And, um, get some great advice and great, great adventures going and stuff like that too as well.

[00:37:27] This was so educational for me, for one, as a person that really, really enjoy, um, experiencing and traveling a lot of different places and immersing myself into things. So thank you for this. And it makes me not think the way I thought of some travel agents, um, and, and the, come on. I'm not the only one. I'm just saying it out loud to, to include you too, Joy.

[00:37:55] I mean, everybody knows, everybody has a story or two or something like this. So, but thank you for that because this sheds a lot, a light on a lot of misconceptions that people may have around, uh, travel agencies as well. Thanks, Joy. Definitely. Thank you for having me. Yeah, for sure. I'm so glad that you reached out and we can do this conversation. Yeah. I, I assume had been a lot of questions and just curious about, um, how travel agencies

[00:38:24] work. And I thought that was, it was good. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was, it was a, it was a definitely a good mixture of, um, you know, the divine intervention, uh, you know, humanitarian. Yeah.