Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Schelinski

Hi Charles, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

We started by using a free airfare search service that sent us deals. We were sent a great deal, booked it, and had the best time walking around Europe and taking the train between cities and countries. We enjoyed it so much we decided to adjust our lives to traveling more.

I am the type of person who cannot sit on a beach for hours on end. I will get up and have a look around, go for a walk, explore. So I started journaling our trips and writing my thoughts down. From there we made a website, did the social media thing, and started buying cameras and other paraphernalia to augment our adventures. Everything kind of snowballed from there.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

Absolutely not. There is not a lot of money in taking trips. I don’t call them vacations because there is a lot of work that goes into our trips. We do not go on cruises or to resorts, and we have never been to anywhere close to something that could be called all inclusive. We travel as much as we do by saving money on each and every trip, and that means bargain accommodations, sleeping in the car, and skipping meals. If we’re in Ireland we shop at Tesco or Aldi, we don’t go out to eat every day. If we’re in Panama we go to the corner store or a fruit stand, and then we keep moving.

Any money we make by selling prints or a mug with our name on it, or by helping someone plan a vacation, goes right back into the company.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

Charlie is a manager at a home improvement store, so that means we have a schedule to keep at home and vacation days we need to work around. Heather does homeschool with Sephora and that allows us to be much more flexible with our time. A lot of the administrative responsibilities of running a business we have down already from our work experiences, and the creative side has come fairly easily. When you have subject matter from around the world, it is hardly difficult to come up with pictures and videos and words to go with it.

We specialize in helping people find ways to make their travel wishes come true. We are not traditional travel agents, we do not like to book things for people, though we will if that is what they want. We subscribe more to the “Teach a man to fish.” school of thought. You’ll be much happier if you know how to navigate your travels on your own, rather than having to depend on us.

That might be finding cheap flights, or it might be learning what levels of hotels and other accommodations are available, or how to find a train in Italy, or how to use the Metro in Paris. Whatever it is, either we have been there or we know someone who has, and we can find the answers.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Risk taking is just a part of owning and operating a business. Capital markets are built on risk, and working in management, Charlie has a good handle on what is acceptable and what is not. There is an emotional risk in putting ourselves out there into the world for people to judge and look at, recording our words and thought on the internet for all time. That has only helped us to grow and formulate our opinions and thoughts in more sound ways, and we do not regret growing in that way.

Then there is the risk of taking our money and using it to fund our travels and our purchases to better enable our efforts, which are not guaranteed any sort of return. That is a little harder, though we would never consider the adventures we have gone on to have been losing propositions. The consideration of money makes every endeavor more difficult.

We do not consider ourselves to be great risk takers, but we are stubborn and we do like traveling. So we will keep investing our time and money into our projects, and trying out new ideas. Nothing wagered, nothing gained.

Pricing:

• Itinerary Planning $50
• Travel Consultation $30
• Merchandise Varies

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gildedgosling.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gildedgosling/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092467369994
• Twitter: https://x.com/GildedGosling
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GildedGosling/videos