Meet Michael Rockwell
I was born in London on Dec 31st, 1961, to a Swiss mother and English father. In addition to an awesome family life, my most precious memory from my youth is visiting my Swiss family and the Alps, sometimes twice a year. My most eye-opening experience was visiting Israel and volunteering on a kibbutz, and on one occasion hiding in a bomb shelter as the missiles landed all around. My most fanatical memory was (and still is) being soccer crazy and, for some reason, being exceptionally loyal to supporting one particular football club, even though they didn't win very much. Bubbles burst is my hint should you follow Premier League Soccer.
I wanted good weather and adventure, and I moved to Los Angeles, USA (which looked so glamorous from England), in 1989. I established a direct mail advertising company; however, after one too many earthquakes, of which the 1994 Northridge earthquake really scared the dickens out of me, I moved to Denver, on the doorstep of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. 11 blissful years in a wonderful town, frequently going up to high country, and most important of all, meeting my indescribably wonderful wife, who gave birth to our precious child in 1999.
So why rock the boat and move? Well, happy wife, happy life! We moved to Miami in 2005, and after a few hurricanes and throwing out old patio furniture for new, I suddenly started liking it. An exciting city with beautiful bays and beaches, on the doorstep of the Caribbean, where it feels like being on a vacation every time I step out of the office. OK, that works.
After a few kicks and bumps trying to get reestablished, I was hired by a small travel agency specializing in top-end 5-star resorts throughout the Caribbean. It was an excellent way to learn the travel business, especially with multiple visits to experience our top-selling resorts. However, the office was almost one whole mile away from my home. Way too far! After multiple conversations about working from my home office, we went separate ways, and here I was, back in business for myself.
My wife also works from home, and I calculated over the remainder of our careers, we will spend 40,000 more hours together. Amazingly, it works great, and I love it.
I continued focusing on Caribbean resorts for my first couple of years, but as I switched host agencies to Avoya Travel in 2012, I started specializing in high-end, small-ship cruises. One of the best business decisions I have made. Amazing training, a network of like-minded independent travel agents, wonderful events, and the icing on the cake: Avoya provides the customers, of whom many have big ideas and budgets for luxury cruises, expeditions, and tours.
I am somewhere around the top 20 of over 2,000 agents in the network and in Avoya Travels' 'Best of the Best' category. I still havesome way to go to get into the 'President's Club,' but that's not why I do this.
After 15 years, I know the ins and outs of putting together an outstanding vacation, and my number one goal is to make a good living putting big smiles on customers' faces. I love being my own boss and choosing to work however long or little I like. The truth is I work much longer hours from a home office than I did in my job, but I love it.
Even though I am 63 (as I write this), I have no intention of retiring before my mid-70s. It's a fun, relatively stress-free business with so many benefits. Developing long-term relationships with happy customers is the icing on the cake. Here's what a few of them wrote about me.
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