Many years ago, I was going out with a gentleman who wanted to take me to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica for my birthday. I had traveled over most of the world and was quite the travel snob. I asked him why he thought I would want to go on such a vacation. After all I had been to the finest places and mixed with locals in London, Istanbul, Prague, Italy, Austria, Germany, Greece, and Mexico.

I'm surprised that he took me anywhere after the way I acted . . . however, we did go to Sandals Ocho Rios and fell in love with it. So much so that we went to six different all-inclusive resorts over the following few years. I was Executive Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for two states at the time. Yet I was so taken with the concept of helping others expand their world with adventures to far off lands, so I decided to leave my job and start my own travel agency. At the time that I opened Penny Sheldon Travel, the home-based travel agent community that is around today did not exist. I was truly a pioneer in this area of the travel business. It was a grass-roots effort to follow my vision and launch my one-woman office. My daughter, Ashley joined the agency in 2004 and with the arrival of three boys she has made her area of expertise in family resorts.