Just Add Magic Travel

06/19/2026

“It’s an opportunity to both look back but to look ahead to make sure that that notion of freedom and the fragility of it is always protected and celebrated.”
– Lonnie Bunch, Educator and Historian

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the U.S. were finally told they were free, more than *two years* after the Emancipation Proclamation. It started in Galveston, Texas and is now a national holiday.

I'm going to risk sounding ignorant for a moment. I heard about Juneteenth for the first time in 2017 from an episode of "Black-ish." That's right...not from elementary school, high school, or college. From a sitcom. It IS a good episode and a nice introduction to the day. You can find it on Disney+ or Hulu. "Juneteenth" is the first episode of the fourth season.

As someone who holds a lot of privilege, I’m not sharing this to center myself. But I do think it’s important to acknowledge the day, to keep learning, and to show up. Today I'm focused on how to make the spaces I’m part of more inclusive and more kind and I'm appreciative of the generations who built this country and aware of how much progress still remains.

There’s joy in what this day represents, and a responsibility to keep doing the work.

06/18/2026

Earlier this morning we heard the most exciting news from Jamaica. After last year's hurricane, Sandals took advantage of the forced closure of three of their resorts and dropped $200m in renovations into these properties to bring them up to the next Sandals2.0 generation.

Sandals Caribbean Cay (formerly Sandals Royal Caribbean) and Sandals Montego Bay are both reopening on December 18th. Both have gotten new pool areas, new dining, and renovated rooms.

Sandals South Coast reopens November 18th and has new landscaping to bring the lush surroundings of the resort into the resort grounds. What may be the most exciting, though, is that they're also going to have some rooms with two queen beds instead of one king bed. My clients have been asking me about this bedding configuration for YEARS and I'm so glad it's coming!

There are some great offers for these resorts still available. As more of the public finds out about these overhauled resorts, they're only going to get more popular and more expensive. Let's get you locked in now for travel through 2028.

Reach out to your preferred Just Add Magic Travel advisor or DM to get started!

06/18/2026

I tell ya'...nothing shows off my husband's Tetris and Dr Mario skills like filling up a movie theater seating chart in a way that minimizes empty seats. My head is spinning and he's over here reading my chicken scratch and making magic with his mechanical pencil.
Three days 'till JAMT's private Toy Story 5 screening!

06/17/2026

I received this photo from a client today who boarded the Disney Dream near Rome this morning! They're off to Santorini, Mykonos, Chania, and Naples over the next week. Bon Voyage!

06/17/2026

Confession time...before I became a Travel Agent back in 2014, I had a great experience with an agent when planning my honeymoon. She gave my soon-to-be husband and me amazing advice and suggestions we had not even considered...which we then ran with and booked on our own.

I had NO idea how travel agents were paid at that time. I figured she was paid salary, she did her job, and that I "could do better" ... no harm, no foul, right? Oh, silly 2005Aileen.

It wasn't until I started working as a Travel Agent that I realized that I caused this woman to work for free, as I did not understand then that Travel Agents are paid commission after their clients travel. So I basically committed the number one cardinal sin of working with a travel agent...I took her knowledge and her potential business from her. Not my finest moment.

Other trips in my adulthood were also booked on my own before I knew better. Whenever I had issues, I was at the mercy of a call center or of a faceless, alias-sporting live chat rep. I never had anyone advocating for me or looking out for me to make sure that I had the best trip possible. Disney trips? I booked resorts without knowing how convenient (or not) they would be to parks and I read travel guides that were out of date almost as soon as they were typed by their author. Our trips were great, yes. But mostly because I didn't know what I was missing. You never know what you're missing until you experience it for the first time.

When you book with Just Add Magic Travel, you're supporting a small business, not paying for a corporation's third private jet to add to their fleet or for a CEO to buy yet another vacation home in the islands. You're getting an advocate who is here to make sure that your trip is amazing. You're getting the expertise of an agency that has planned thousands of trips for thousands of extremely satisfied clients. You're entrusting your precious moments with someone who is here to make them magical.

When it's time for you to start thinking about a trip, I'd love it to be with Just Add Magic Travel®.

06/16/2026

I still can accommodate a handful of families at my Toy Story 5 screening client appreciation event this Saturday, 6/20 afternoon in Orland Park, IL. If you've booked with us and an invite didn't get to you, please comment below, DM, or email me at [email protected].

06/16/2026

😍 If I hadn’t just gone to see LOJ’s return this past fall, I’d be jumping at this!
Did you know that we have some great offers with additional amenities at Broadway-area hotels?

Here comes the general. Christopher Jackson returns to Hamilton on Broadway from September 8, 2026 - January 3, 2027.

06/15/2026

First off, if you're not already subscribed to the Magic Kings Podcast, you should fix that immediately. You can find them on Apple, Spotify, Youtube...wherever you find your pods. They drop new episodes every Tuesday.

The Magic Kings Podcast is hosted by one of our travel advisors, Steve (steve_justaddmagictravel on IG and steve_justaddmagic on TT), and his friend Mike, a self-proclaimed Yorkshire County Fish Shop connoisseur. Together, they make up the Great Big Beautiful Dads (who ironically are less disappointed at the Carousel of Progress announcement than I am, despite their pseudonym).

The GBBDs ventured over to Rhode Island to check out a Fish and Chips place to see how it stacks up to Yorkshire County Fish Shop at Epcot.

Did it replace YCFS in Mike's heart? You'll just need to watch the clip to find out.

Have YOU ever found a fish and chips joint that can beat out Yorkshire County? If so, you'll need to drop their info below ⬇️

06/14/2026

Saw these clouds while we were driving down to Central IL for Special Olympics Summer Games this weekend. They look VERY Toy Story Coded/Andy's Wallpaper to me.

06/14/2026

Sports.