My Story
Life is fun when you travel!
Hi, I am Dana,
Born in a small town in Transylvania, Romania, in Eastern Europe, I was raised to appreciate life’s simple pleasures and treasure earthly joys – the wonders of nature, art in all its forms, fresh food, and most importantly relationships. I spent most of my time playing outside in the mountains, reading books of all kinds, delving into our history and traditions, cooking traditional meals, and especially crafting my toys. This sparked my curiosity about our world, my creativity, and my imagination.
By the time, I graduated from Geography University in Timisoara, I explored most of the Romanian pristine landscapes and I had a strong desire to see the world and learn from working with other cultures. A career in tourism seemed to be the right path for me.
This is how my journey started
I embarked on a few roles in hotel management, and travel agencies in Timisoara, Romania with a high focus on luxury travel. I married my husband who was living in Canada and moved to Toronto. 16 years later, I am still in Toronto, with my happy family, and often travel to Romania to visit my family and friends and places I left behind.
Leaving Romania was the most difficult decision I ever made; however, I embraced the journey entirely, determined to give back and promote my beautiful country, its rich culture, and its people in any way I could.
My biggest takeaway from this experience is “never say never” … a story for another time.
Life in North America
Three weeks into my Canadian life, I started a role at a start-up American company specializing in tailor-made travel as their 5th employee. 12 years later, the company became one of the largest in the United States specializing in luxury travel, with over 800 employees and millions in revenue.
As a key member of the leadership team, I led various projects including the development of global travel experiences and innovation in 90+ countries, visited and developed products across the globe, and built teams in sales, product, and procurement. We regularly won awards from Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast, and National Geographic Traveler. Some of my favorite destinations I explored included Antarctica, Galapagos, Peru, China, Norway, Iceland, Croatia, Switzerland, Greece, and Turkey to name a few.
From stargazing beside glaciers Antarctica, swimming with sea turtles in Galapagos and culinary odysseys through Greece to trekking to Machu Picchu in Peru, exploring scenic drives, majestic waterfalls, and fjords in Norway, or flying in a hot air balloon in Turkey are some highlights of my experiences.
My favorite part of my tourism career was matching travelers’ individual desires with the best local experiences and guides while providing infinite personalized possibilities.
Inspired by the challenge and after years of intense work, I knew there will come a time to slow down.
COVID
The pandemic impacted the travel industry like no other, and all of us were
forced to limit our interactions with each other and restrict travel. It kept families and friends apart for a long time. It forced us all to re-evaluate our lives and priorities and reinforced the importance of family, time, human connection, well-being, and most importantly the need for travel.
With so many global restrictions, additional stress, loneliness, and the inability to work for so long, many professionals left the hospitality industry. So much expertise was lost. For me, the pandemic was a perfect time to give back to my family, take a break from traveling, and explore other passions, such as coaching, personal development, teaching, and consulting.
Terra Journeys- A new beginning
My passion for travel, product design, and well-crafted itineraries combined with a strong desire to help people make their travel dreams come true, contributed to my desire to continue my journey as a travel entrepreneur and bring the best experiences to life to our travelers looking for inspiration, authenticity, and transformation through the power of travel and connection with yourself and others.
Combining my experience and creativity with your desire to explore local and authentic cultures we can create your next memories-filled journey. Be part of this journey with me!
With love and gratitude,
Dana