Ann Parent has lived in the Midwest her entire life. After college graduation, she worked on ad campaigns for Bud Light, Maybelline and Yoplait but retired after she met her husband, Mike, and had kids. “I stayed home and raised my children but always seemed to be researching places to travel and take the family. We left town as often as our schedules allowed.” Now she uses her travel expertise to create itineraries for Andrew Harper clients. She and her husband live in Naperville, IL, and have two grown children.
Three words that describe you:
Fun-loving, determined, happy
Leisure-time pursuits:
I obviously love to travel. For my travels, I go where I can find moose. I have been all over North America and Alaska — twice — to find moose. I have been everywhere, including Newfoundland, with the highest concentration of moose in North America, and I have never seen one!
Why do you love moose so much?
I don’t know! I have always just been partial to them.
Areas of the world you specialize in:
North America, the Caribbean and Mexico; also, Italy
Most unexpected thing you’ve ever discovered on a trip:
I’ve tried to go to Greece three times now. The first time was a cruise and as I was leaving the house to go to the airport, I got a call that the ship had run aground. They were offering other destinations, and I had 5 minutes to decide where to go. We ended up on a cruise that toured the Baltic capitals. I didn’t have a ton of interest in going there, but it was amazing.
Country you’d most like to visit:
Greece, eventually!
If you had to live in a hotel forever, which one would it be:
Hands-down, Blackberry Farm, in Tennessee. They know what you're thinking before you do!
Most out-of-the-way place you’ve ever found yourself in:
St. Petersburg, on that Baltic cruise.
What makes you a smart traveler:
I guess I don’t overthink; I don’t schedule my days so much that I’m just paying attention to the clock. I like to explore and go with the flow — leave some things up to chance and find out what the locals are doing.
Natural wonder you can’t wait to see:
Old Faithful. In all my travels, I still haven’t seen it.
Most breathtaking scenery you've ever witnessed:
Alaska or the Canadian Rockies — both are so stunning. Even the Caribbean has breathtaking scenery. I was on a Caribbean cruise, and while you might think of the Caribbean as a place to relax, it is much more than beautiful beaches.
You wish you would have traveled here sooner:
Alaska. I still think of my first trip there — on a cruise — I was just so taken aback by how beautiful the scenery was. So when I got the chance to do the Un-Cruise to Alaska, I couldn’t have been happier.
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