For more than 25 years, I’ve worked as a luxury travel advisor, entrepreneur, and educator helping people experience meaningful travel and build successful careers in this industry. My path into travel wasn’t traditional—it developed through experience, curiosity, and a desire to design work that supports a fulfilling life. This is the story of how I got here.

I did not grow up dreaming of a career in luxury travel. There was no family tradition of globe-trotting, no early exposure to exotic destinations. My path into this industry started by accident, evolved through hard lessons, and ultimately became something I could never have predicted: a career that combines my passion for meaningful experiences with my desire to help others build lives they actually want to live.

Today, after more than two decades as a luxury travel expert, I spend my time planning transformative journeys to Africa and training new advisors through The Deolix Academy. But getting here required more than simply learning the mechanics of booking trips. It required understanding what travel really means to people, what luxury actually looks like in practice, and what it takes to build a sustainable business around something you genuinely care about.

This is the story of how I became a luxury travel advisor, and what that journey has taught me about this industry, this career, and about building a life that works.

The Early Years: Where My Love of Travel Began

Growing up, my exposure to travel was limited to short flights to visit family. Nothing exotic, nothing that hinted at the career ahead. But what I did inherit was an entrepreneurial spirit. My father owned a mechanic shop, and I watched him pour himself into that business every day. He left early in the morning and came home late at night. There was never much time for me and my sister, but I absorbed something important from watching him: the drive to build something of my own.

I was always a high achiever. Top grades, captain of the football team. Looking back, I realize that a lot of that drive came from wanting my father’s attention, hoping that if I just hit the next milestone, he might make it to one of my games. That hunger for achievement would eventually serve me well in business, though I would also learn that unchecked ambition comes with costs.

My real introduction to travel came in my mid-twenties when my soon-to-be wife got a job with Canadian Airlines. Suddenly, we could travel the world on standby. We flew everywhere, exploring cultures and experiences I had never imagined. That was the moment something shifted. I started to understand that travel was not just about getting somewhere. It was about being changed by where you go. The people you meet. The perspectives you gain. The way a place can reshape how you see your own life.

That realization planted a seed, though it would take a twist of fate for it to grow into a career.

Building My First Travel Company

When my wife’s position at Canadian Airlines was relocated to Winnipeg, we made the decision not to follow. That meant losing our travel benefits. One day, while looking through job postings, we spotted an opening for a travel agent at Flight Centre, a multinational travel company. The thought was simple: maybe I could do this for a little while and get some discounted trips out of it.

I had no idea that decision would shape the rest of my life.

I started at Flight Centre in 1999, and what I discovered surprised me. I loved the work. I loved the puzzle of understanding what people really wanted from a trip and then creating something that delivered on that vision. Within a few years, I became the number one selling travel agent globally in a company with over 7,000 agents. The money was good. The recognition was validating. But I was working 60 to 80 hours a week, and my home life was suffering.

I told myself it would get better when we had kids. Then we had our first daughter, and I rationalized it differently: I had to work hard so my wife could stay home with the baby. After our second daughter was born and I was working more than ever, my wife had had enough.

So I opened Mason Horvath Travel, convinced that owning my own company would let me control my hours and be present for my family. Instead, we grew to $25 million in annual sales with 20 employees. I was working more than ever.

The hardest lesson of my career came when I finally understood that success without balance is not success at all. I restructured everything, converting myself and all employees into independent luxury travel advisors. It meant stepping back from the relentless growth trajectory, but it gave me something more valuable: the ability to be present. To drive my kids to school. To volunteer for field trips. To actually live the life I was supposedly building.

Working Inside the Luxury Travel Industry

Through all of this, I was learning what luxury travel actually means. It is not just expensive trips for wealthy people. Luxury travel is about creating experiences that match who someone is and what they need from a journey. Sometimes that is a first-class flight to a five-star resort. Sometimes it is a carefully crafted itinerary for a couple celebrating their 25th anniversary who saved for years to make it happen.

Working in this space means developing relationships with luxury suppliers, destination management companies, hoteliers, and local experts around the world. It means understanding the difference between a good African safari and an extraordinary one, or why a particular boutique hotel in Tuscany creates an experience no chain property can replicate. It requires learning to listen deeply to what clients say they want, then hearing what they actually need.

The skills I developed had less to do with geography and more to do with service. Listening. Curating. Managing complexity. Building relationships that last beyond a single transaction. The best luxury travel advisors are not walking encyclopedias of every destination on earth. They are professionals who know how to find the right answers, ask the right questions, and deliver experiences that exceed expectations.

That distinction matters, because it shapes what this career actually requires.

The Truth About Becoming a Luxury Travel Expert

Over the years, I have watched hundreds of people enter this industry with misconceptions about what it takes to succeed. Let me address a few of them directly.

You do not need to have visited every destination you sell. I have booked clients into properties I have never seen, using my network of suppliers, my research skills, and my understanding of what the client needs. Personal experience helps, but it is not a prerequisite for competence.

You do not need wealthy friends and family to get started. At an industry panel years ago, other host agency owners said the most important thing for a new advisor was a network of wealthy connections. I looked at the audience of teachers, nurses, and professionals stuck in draining jobs and knew that answer was wrong. I did not start with wealthy connections, and neither did most of my successful advisors.

You do not need to be a natural salesperson. In fact, the pushy sales approach fails spectacularly in luxury travel. What works is genuine curiosity about people, consistency in your service, professionalism in your interactions, and a willingness to keep learning.

What actually matters? Having a system to follow. Understanding how to build trust with potential clients. Knowing how the industry works, from supplier relationships to booking mechanics. And committing to the work required to build something real.

This is not a get-rich-quick opportunity. It is a legitimate profession that rewards those who approach it with seriousness and dedication.

Why I Began Teaching New Luxury Travel Advisors

After building five multi-million dollar travel brands and helping hundreds of people transition into travel careers, I saw a gap in the industry. Most new advisors struggle not because they lack talent or drive, but because they are trying to figure everything out on their own. They waste months, sometimes years, spinning their wheels without a clear roadmap.

Meanwhile, the training that does exist often falls into two categories: either surface-level content that does not prepare people for the realities of the business, or hype-driven programs that overpromise and underdeliver.

I built The Deolix Academy because I believe people deserve better. I wanted to create a structured, honest, and comprehensive pathway into luxury travel advising. Not a shortcut, but a real education. Complete luxury travel advisor training. One that respects where people are starting from while being transparent about what success actually requires.

The advisors I have trained include complete beginners who now earn six figures in luxury travel. Some have gone on to win industry awards like Condé Nast’s Global Top Travel Specialists. But more importantly, they have built careers that give them flexibility, purpose, and the ability to help people experience meaningful travel. If you are curious about training to become a luxury travel advisor, that is where my focus lives now.

What Travel Still Means to Me Today

After more than two decades in this industry, travel has not become routine. If anything, my appreciation for it has deepened.

I still travel with my daughters whenever possible, at least once a year. Last year, my oldest spent three months with me in South Africa, and those experiences, seeing the world through her eyes while sharing something I love, remind me why I do this work.

I have also developed a deep passion for wine that shapes how I travel. I hold a Level 3 Advanced Certificate with WSET, a certification most people only pursue if they work in the wine industry. But I did it purely for the love of it. Wine regions are my ideal travel destination because they combine so many elements I value: the romance and history of winemaking, the science behind it, the stories of the people who create it, and the cultural and culinary traditions that surround it. Tuscany, Napa, the Cape Winelands. These places offer exactly the kind of layered, meaningful experiences that I believe travel should provide.

And then there is Africa. What started as professional interest has become a genuine passion. I now focus my travel planning work on the continent through Athari Africa, creating meaningful travel to Africa that connects people with the landscapes, wildlife, and cultures that make it unlike anywhere else on earth.

Looking Ahead: Where I’m Putting My Energy Now

As I get older, I have come to understand something about myself. My passion for helping others change their lives was always part of what drew me to travel. Watching clients return from a trip transformed, hearing how an experience shifted their perspective or brought their family closer together, that has always been the reward.

But now that passion has expanded. Helping my students and advisors build careers in luxury travel, seeing how this profession can change their lives the way it changed mine, that is where my priority sits. The Deolix Academy is not a side project. It is the culmination of everything I have learned about this industry and this career.

I still plan safaris to Africa because I love it. I still travel to wine regions because they feed my soul. But the work that gets me up in the morning now is knowing that the advisors I train are building something real, something that gives them the freedom and purpose that took me years to find. To learn more about my background and how I approach this work, I invite you to explore.

If You Are Considering This Path

If you are exploring the idea of becoming a luxury travel advisor, you can learn more about the training and support I offer through The Deolix Academy. And if you are dreaming about a meaningful trip, especially to Africa, I am always happy to help you design something special. For more articles on luxury travel and this career, the blog has plenty to explore.