Shari Erasmus wanted to explore a career change. She’d been working as a speech pathologist for over 25 years, later working in special education advocacy, before taking a break to focus on her family. Combining her innate wanderlust and love of helping others, she founded Inspired Escapes by Shari in February 2023, and hasn’t looked back. Specializing in customized luxury travel, Inspired Escapes operates as an affiliate of SmartFlyer, a full-service global luxury agency.
Shari has always been a travel planner, beginning with childhood trips in the family station wagon. Creating folders filled with activities, packing lists, meals, and even the local weather report, that detail-oriented little girl never lost the thrill of planning adventures and continued doing it as a hobby for friends and family.
“Everyone would suggest I should do this for a living. And I thought, ‘I have a master’s degree in speech pathology. I can’t become a travel advisor!’ But then I thought, well, why not?! This career has really allowed me to explore a missing part of myself that I suppose has always been there.”
Shari, a mom of four, encourages travel with kids. “The memories you make are so much more meaningful than anything tangible that you can buy.”
The love of exploration runs in Shari’s family. “For birthdays and holidays, my kids always ask for experiential vacations instead of gifts. Traveling is the greatest thing you can do with your family.”
Giving her clients that luxury of customization is what Shari enjoys most. Whether exploring family roots in Europe or eating your way through a farm-to-table experience in upstate New York, everything is possible with Shari’s expert resources. The benefits of her relationships with top hotels and travel providers around the world give clients the highest level of service, many valuable perks and amenities, and VIP treatment at no additional cost. “You have nothing to lose and so much to gain by working with me. There’s a big world to explore. Why wait?”
"Traveling is the greatest thing you can do with your family.”