by Gwen O’Neill

Bean Hollow State Beach in Pescadero, one of the visitor attractions on the Coastside. Photo by David Baron, licensed under Creative Commons: tinyurl.com/3a8gew.

Will your next vacation be the trip of a lifetime, or are you considering a staycation? If you talk to an experienced travel agent like Toni Kinsella, your travel dreams may be fulfilled.

Kinsella decided to become a travel agent when she was living in Hawaii. She said, “While I loved living there, I was also looking for a way to avoid rock fever.” Rock fever is how Hawaiians describe what happens to people who move to Hawaii for the weather and lifestyle, “but get a little crazy missing the kinds of options you have living on the mainland, like driving for more than two hours without running out of island, like Giants baseball games, great sourdough bread and Mexican food.”

A favorite part of Kinsella’s job is “the satisfaction that comes from matching the client to the destination and helping create memories.” Kinsella said she helps clients choose destinations through conversation about their interests, their bucket lists, activities and past travel experiences.

Bay World Travel, where Kinsella works, occasionally get requests from people who travel from other places to plan their stay on the Coastside or in the Bay Area. “We are planning ways to promote inbound tourism that will introduce travelers to the beauty of the coast,” she said. The Coastside is becoming a popular eco-friendly destination. Kinsella said, “It rates very well, with so much to offer: from the beaches and ocean for active lifestyles to all the other points of interest and the great food.”

When it comes to faraway places, Kinsella said that people are looking at Vietnam and Cambodia for land trips, Antarctica for distant ocean cruises and Mozambique for the beaches and national parks. Two places she mentioned that surprised me were Iceland Farm Tours and Ferrari World — which is not found in Italy but in Abu Dhabi, and is the world’s largest theme park.

What causes stress for travel agents? Seeing clients “come through the door with their arms full of print-outs. You know right away they have been searching the net and want you to either match or validate their findings. We love working with clients that are informed and want us to partner with them in their trip planning, but our strength is our experience of over 25 years and our knowledge of destinations,” she said.

Kinsella has her own favorite destinations; in the Bay Area, those are AT&T Park, Bean Hollow Beach and Duarte’s. When it comes to places further from home, she said: “My far-away places include going back to Hawaii to visit my ‘Calabash Family.’ I’ve been to Alaska four times — by plane, ship and camper — and I love England and Italy. I would like to introduce travelers to the Adriatic side of Italy: its small towns and villages, national parks and miles of beaches. I also love Thailand with its beautiful vistas, lovely people and great food. Closer to home, the National Park System can keep one traveling constantly, and New England has a piece of my traveling heart.”

But Kinsella also says, “I haven’t met a destination that I didn’t like!”