From Up With People to Up in the Air: My Journey to Rev Elite Travel

The year was 1999 and I’d been accepted to travel with an international outreach organization called Up With People. Noblesville had welcomed them into the community just a year earlier. I became so enamored by this artistic, musical, community service-driven group that I just had to join.  I’m so grateful I did because it was a life-changing experience I’ll never forget!

That year, I traveled across the United States, Sweden, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, and Portugal!  My mind was quickly expanded!  I listened to languages that sounded like music. Because I didn’t know what speakers were saying, I had to find other ways to listen – I had to connect with them to understand.  A lesson I’ve treasured since. I quickly understood how young the United States really is as I walked on cobblestone roads that had been there for more than 1,000 years!  I ate ice cream in Sweden (in January!), dined on schnitzel in Germany, and paella in Spain.  At one point, I understood history for myself as I placed one foot in eastern Germany and one foot in western Germany, straddling only a two-brick thick lane…a 9-inch division that kept loved ones and a nation torn apart for 28 years.  What I gained by visiting these countries was more than I’ll ever be able to really comprehend. 

I kept traveling after that year to Ireland, England, Italy, and even the U.S.’s Hawaii, and its territory, Puerto Rico.  Every plane ride there, every first glimpse of somewhere new is as thrilling as my experience in 1999. 

My love of travel was ignited and my love for connecting others with those experiences is coming true with the launch of Rev Elite Travel.  I hope you’ll allow me the privilege of curating a trip for you soon!