05/06/2026
With a few new faces to our community I thought it might be timely to revisit our story, how Chasing Dreams Travel began, , and our very core values: helping more people explore more of the world, while keeping prices as lean as possible.
For a long time I worked in the exercise industry. It’s fair to say that with my personality I can’t just “do” something; I have to go all in, dedicating everything to it… putting my all in and aiming to doing something.. well.. remarkable. That’s what happened with the exercise industry. I moved up the ranks, had amazing roles in London, Australia and New Zealand. Eventually I was tasked with managing larger scale gyms, working on their profitability. My final role in the industry was performance driving 13 gyms multi-region.
When I wasn’t managing P&L’s, customer satisfaction and team engagement, I travelled. During my industry tenure I ticked off around 25 countries.
But the exercise industry eventually required all of my time (literally 24hours) and travel became increasingly restricted. My passion for business metrics that involve customer satisfaction was still very alive.
In around 2016 I booked a trip to Nepal and left 5 days later.. solo. I hiked the Annapurna Trail – something i’d always wanted to do. During this trip I felt compelled to rethink life’s direction.
Interestingly, on my return I heard recurring comments along the lines of “whaaatt?? you went there on your own??” as though I was a kind of mad woman! But to me it seemed crazy that some people don’t feel able to explore the globe when there are so many amazing places out there!!
So I studied a Diploma in Travel Journalism on the side and started a blog called Alex Chasing Dreams. There I wrote about the places I find really interesting. I thought that through my words people might feel inspired to visit some of them.
Except.. my blog caught more attention than I expected and I needed to think about how I can assist people to actually get to these places. So… I went door knocking.
I contacted all the Travel Agency’s I could find with a “Hey I’m Alex. I’ve got a ton of business experience and a ton of travel experience.. fancy training me up to be an agent”? A few knock backs, and then voila.. Travel Advocates said yes.
Within days I was on a plane to Auckland learning Airline Reservation Systems and studying a Cert 4 Travel & Tourism. My blog site became my website.. a slight name change.. and the rest is history!
What started as a dream to help people see more of the world without limitations, remains exactly that to this very day. Designing and booking the travel experience, while stripping back the fat to make the trip as lean on the pocket as possible for the customer. Operating a business that relies on the satisfaction of our customers.
Every year Chasing Dreams Travel has grown. And we never, ever take our foot of the pedal to be the very best.
Yours in travel
Alex xx
