Your World - Your Trip: Travel How You Like!

Some people retire. Chessine Nugent started a travel company during a global pandemic and hasn't slowed down since. After seven years on cruise ships, two decades in international IT, and visits to more than 35 countries, Chessine launched Chessine's Travels from the Big Island of Hawaii with a simple philosophy: your world, your trip, your way. Small groups, private experiences, and cultural immersion that goes well beyond what any tour bus can offer. In this episode we cover a lot of ground — Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Patagonia, Hong Kong, and a medical wellness program she's building in Thailand that pairs world-class head-to-toe health screenings with authentic cultural immersion. We also talk about her blog, which is genuinely one of the most practical and well-written travel resources out there, and she drops a credit card tip that I had absolutely no idea about and immediately filed away. And then there's the collaboration. Chessine and I — along with the team at The Table Less Traveled — are hosting a virtual cooking class the first week of August 2026, with a live chef joining us from Portugal. You cook along at home, I talk wine, and we all have a very good lunch together. Details and registration link below. This is the warmup act for a private Portugal wine and food trip we're planning for fall 2027 — harvest season, small group, sommelier on the ground. Information coming soon to both of our websites. In the lightning round: the best thing she's eaten recently is New Zealand ice cream — specifically hokey pokey, which is vanilla with toffee pieces — and she says it's creamier and lighter than anything else she's tasted. Her carry-on always has a small medical kit. And her best piece of advice? You don't pay a travel agent. The suppliers do. So there's absolutely no reason not to use one. Connect with Chessine: chessinestravels.com chessinestravelsblog.com Instagram: @nugentchessine Facebook: facebook.com/chessinestravels LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chessinenugent4155 YouTube: @chessinestravels6402 Virtual Cooking Class — Aug 08, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:45 PM PDT: https://www.thetablelesstraveled.com/products/august8-sofia-portuguese-cooking-class  Portugal Trip — Fall 2027: thewineguy.vin + chessinestravels.com Nick Elliott — The Wine Guy: thewineguy.vin [email protected] Instagram: @the.real.wine.guy TikTok: @realwineguy Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn | link.content360.io/thewineguy