Margot Kong – Founder, Travel Advisor
I get excited learning about different places around the world and how they are so unique, yet I also enjoy finding similarities among the people I meet all over the globe.
An advisor, a mother, a wife, a dancer, a foodie, a planner, an art lover…Margot is many things, but most pertinently, she is the founder of Journeys Unparalleled. She started the company in 2014 after having spent 15 years in sales and marketing in the travel industry. It had been a dream of hers to start her own business once she realized that travel was her passion and what she was meant to do in life.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa as a third-generation Chinese South African, and raised in Irvine, California, Margot was a global citizen from an early age, traveling back to South Africa with her family every few years. After university at Barnard College, Columbia University, she truly caught the travel bug and made sure she took time off to satisfy her wanderlust between every job. But it wasn’t until she left the investment industry and spent a year-and-a-half trekking around the world that she realized travel was something she should do for a living.
Initially, her plan had been to start a company organizing tours to South Africa, but after doing more research, she realized there were a plethora of companies already filling that niche. Wanting to learn more about the industry, Margot found her way to the owners of Imperial Tours – a company specializing in luxury tours to China – who convinced her to work as their head of sales and marketing until she got her own business up and running. She stayed with them for nearly 15 years before eventually going out on her own as a travel advisor and getting Journeys Unparalleled off the ground.
As a travel advisor, Margot’s main focus is on luxury family travel all around the world. Always eager to explore different cultures, histories and geographies, she journeys constantly to new locales, searching for hidden gems and surprising finds to share with her clients. “I enjoy talking about travel. It gives me a rush to be able to make other people happy and get them excited about an upcoming trip or a new destination. Also, it is fulfilling to me when people travel with their kids and inspire them to learn more about the world and the histories, customs and cultures different from their own.”
And with her background as a financial advisor, Margot also enjoys being able to offer services that other travel advisors are not equipped to do. By combining her travel knowledge with her financial planning expertise, she can design long-term travel strategies – considering annual vacation budgets and goals and putting together travel plans that give her clients the best approach to achieve all of their travel dreams.
Over the years, Margot has toured extensively throughout the world, visiting numerous countries spanning six continents. A few of her favorite destinations include South Africa, Portugal, China and Canada (highly underrated!), but New Zealand definitely ranks very high on her list. “I love the history, the culture, the food and wine, the people, and the scenery. It is an incredibly gorgeous destination; you drive a few hours and you have completely different scenery and sites.”
Margot currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children and loves being able to combine her passion for travel with time spent with her family. “These days, I get a kick out of experiencing new places through my children’s eyes and having them make new discoveries about themselves and about the world.”
My number one tip when traveling with kids is always have snacks handy!
– Margot’s Travel Tip
Kim Burns, Travel Advisor
There’s a whole, big world out there. Travel is a way to open your eyes to history, to get out of your reality and to immerse yourself in another culture.
Kim joined Journeys Unparalleled in 2017 after having spent more than ten years in medical sales and running two small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. Inspired by her grandparents’ stories of adventures in exotic lands, Kim discovered her passion for travel early on. She found her way to Journeys Unparalleled via a Facebook post looking for an intern to learn the business, responding, “I’m not a college student but I would love the opportunity to learn more.” And once she started, she quickly moved up the ranks to Curated Travel Advisor and is now our resident honeymoon, cruise, and sun & sand specialist.
Born in New York, raised in New Jersey, and now living in Northern California, Kim has visited almost every state in the US – with the Dakotas, New Mexico, and Arkansas still to be crossed off the list. She has also journeyed across the globe to Prague, the UK, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, the Caribbean and Taiwan. She loves beach travel – with Jamaica being one of her favorite destinations (not surprising since that’s where she got married!) – but she also appreciates the historical beauty of destinations like Paris and Prague.
As our honeymoon specialist, Kim has curated several honeymoon trips to Italy, French Polynesia and Greece, with Italy fast becoming one of her specialties. But she also enjoys planning trips for families as well, from beach vacations to rugged adventures to historical and cultural learning experiences.
Working as a travel advisor for Journeys Unparalleled has been a gratifying experience. “I love helping people; when they have that ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look because there are so many choices out there, I respond, ‘I got this.’ It’s rewarding to put something together and have your client come back and say it was the best.”
Kim now lives in Lake Tahoe with her husband and two children. She enjoys traveling with her family and likes to use the experience as a learning opportunity. “When traveling to under privileged areas with my kids we always find a local school that we can bring supplies to and spend some time in the classroom learning about their lifestyle and culture and sharing about ours – such a great experience for my kids to see that not everyone lives like we do.”
Besides always book through a travel advisor for added perks and benefits, I would say traveling during the shoulder season whenever possible will give you the best combination of better rates, fewer crowds and good weather.
– Kim’s Travel Tip
Amy Hess, Travel Advisor
Travel pays you back threefold: the anticipation, the trip itself and the memories you create and share.
It was a cultural exchange trip to China with her soccer team in the 6th grade that sparked Amy’s passion for international travel. “I met a 7-year old boy in a public square in Shanghai who wanted to practice his English. When I looked up, there was a crowd around us watching two young people from different worlds connect.”
Since that trip, she’s been plotting and going on adventures around the globe. She’s traveled extensively in Europe, South America and Asia; studied abroad in France twice (Nîmes, then Grenoble); and has a photo from a journey to Thailand published in the New York Times. To connect to the international community in San Francisco and prepare her daughters to be global citizens, Amy and her husband sent their girls to French immersion programs since daycare. Their daughters are now at San Francisco’s International high school where they’ll graduate with the bi-lingual International Baccalaureate degree (and some of their own amazing global travel experiences).
Amy turned her passion and skill for planning incredible cultural experiences into a career by joining Journeys Unparalleled. She regularly taps the relationship building, marketing, communication and project management skills she used in her long career as a Brand Marketing and Communications leader for companies like Google, Visa and Charles Schwab. “At Google, I had the privilege to start the real estate brand marketing team that helped tell the story of Google’s commitment to being a good neighbor and creating sustainably built, vibrant places for communities to connect throughout the world.” Amy also led the marketing and communications team that helped bring the culture of Google to life in more than 50 countries through office spaces and services (from food and fitness to well-being). She ticked off an item on her bucket list when leading an experience team for People Operations: circumnavigating the globe in one trip to spread the word about how to create incredible hiring experiences for candidates.
As a travel advisor, Amy enjoys seeking out off the beaten path, authentic experiences and boutique hotels with local character. “My favorite travel memories are always about the people I’ve met away from the tourist crowds.” She loves to help parents and grandparents make travel memories with their kids (at any age!) and empty nesters enjoy the freedom of traveling on the shoulder seasons. She also has expertise in health and wellness resorts and ski vacations.
Don’t try to pack too much into your suitcase or your itinerary. You’ll have a more relaxed and meaningful experience if you’re not switching hotel rooms and cities every night.
– Amy’s Travel Tip
David Goodman-Smith, Travel Advisor
I love that I get to research all the most interesting and exciting places in the world on a daily basis – there really are some amazing things out there, and I get to share them with our clients.
David joined Journeys Unparalleled in 2018, after a ten-year stint living and working in China. Now based in the Los Angeles area, he brings with him 15 years of experience in the hospitality and travel industry and an enthusiasm for both adventure and luxury travel.
Born in Hong Kong to an English father and American mother, David spent his early years living in the former British colony but moved to England when he was ten years old. Consequently, he was afforded a more cosmopolitan lifestyle, spending his middle and high school years at a boarding school in the UK and taking numerous trips throughout Europe. After graduating from college in Northern California, he landed a hospitality position at a luxury beach resort in Saipan “to try out adventure living for a year.” He soon realized his love for both travel and hospitality and decided he should be working in the industry. It was this thought (and his interest in China) that compelled him to seek out Imperial Tours, where he first met and worked with Margot, the founder of Journeys Unparalleled.
After two years at Imperial Tours, David moved to China, wanting to improve his Chinese and to “get China out of his system.” He not only studied (and mastered) the Chinese language, but he also nurtured his love of travel and his entrepreneurial spirit, starting several businesses – including one that specialized in bringing international students to university in China – and arranging weekend activities and tours for traveling scholars.
Needless to say, David’s area of expertise is Asia in general and China specifically. But he also has extensive knowledge of destinations throughout Europe and has done a considerable amount of travel throughout the world – in addition to most of Asia and Europe, he’s been to Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Peru. He counts the Maldives as one of his favorite destinations (he honeymooned there) for its range of water activities and “lots of relaxation.” But he’s also enthusiastic about finding local authentic experiences that foster cultural understanding. “I love the learning aspect of travel and the adventure of trying something new. There is so much out there to dive into and discover, whether it is the history, culture, philosophy or the food of a destination.”
A bit of an adventure fanatic (he’s skied throughout Europe, hiked Machu Picchu and even jumped off of a train in India!), David – along with his wife – also plays rugby and has competed in at least a dozen countries across the globe. And though their rugby playing days may be fewer and far between since they have their own active/adventure-seeking child, David still sees more travel in his future. “I’m looking forward to doing more family travel of my own now and being able to share my new insights with clients.”
If you come across moments of stress while traveling – just think about the story you’ll be able to tell about it later and the laughs you’ll get from it. That usually calms me down!
– David’s Travel Tip
Selina Lin, Travel Concierge
Travel, like life, should always be an adventure. And sometimes, the detours are the most interesting parts of the journey.
Selina joined the company in 2021. After spending the last 20 years in the entertainment industry as a documentary writer and producer, she is now putting her research and writing skills to use as one of the company’s travel concierges and resident writer.
Working in travel had never been part of Selina’s plan, but when the opportunity presented itself (she and Margot went to college together!), she couldn’t turn it down. As a documentary producer, she particularly enjoyed researching different topics and loved discovering new details – whether it was about a particular person or era in history or a specific location. And now at Journeys Unparalleled, she gets to foster that curiosity while combining it with her love of travel.
Though she was born, raised, and is currently living in Los Angeles, Selina actually has ventured beyond the boundaries of Southern California. She has traveled extensively throughout North America and has toured through Asia and a number of countries in Europe.
Also, as a teenager, Selina spent an entire glorious summer living in Spain as an exchange student, refining her Spanish language skills and immersing herself in the culture. A second-generation Japanese- and Taiwanese-American, she also spent an especially humid summer during college in Taiwan on the Overseas Compatriot Youth Study Tour, or what has become known informally as ‘the Love Boat’ among the students who attend it (and in case you’re wondering, no, she did not find love there). And throughout her life, she has traveled to Japan every few years to visit family and to tour different parts of the country, discovering something or someplace new, intriguing, or just slightly quirky each time. Her most recent trip found her on a sake train in the Niigata area, where she sampled different kinds of sake while listening to live music and enjoying the snow-covered landscape.
While Selina definitely counts Japan as one of her favorite go-to travel destinations, her most memorable travel experience so far has been watching the sunset in Santorini, Greece. “The sun was huge, and seeing it set from that iconic hillside was just magical – it was so beautiful I almost cried.”
Now that she’s getting to research new and exciting places for clients, she’s been bitten by the travel bug all over again and definitely would like to do more traveling in the future. “There’s nothing like actually discovering a new place. The sights, the sounds, the smells – all of it blends together to create that distinctive memory of a certain place and time that sticks with you for the rest of your life.”
Always remove at least two items from your suitcase while packing. Chances are, you won’t need all four pairs of shoes or 17 different outfits. And if you forget something, you can always buy it when you get to your destination.
– Selina’s Travel Tip
