Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Carr.
Hi Casey, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born into the travel industry. My mom owned and ran Sharon Carr Travel, and we had a radio program with Ron Chapman on KVIL for 30 years until he moved over to KLUV and we went with him, and that’s where we’ve been ever since. My sister and I grew up on those tours, traveling abroad from the time we were babies. We weren’t wealthy, but we had extraordinary travel opportunities – Europe, Africa, Asia, Mexico, all over the US, Cruises every year – it was an amazing education and I’ve been able to watch these destinations grow and change over the years. My first trip to Africa we drove hundreds of miles on dirt roads, and all of that has changed now and I feel fortunate to have seen it before it did. I grew up at Sharon Carr Travel, stuffing envelopes after school, and later delivering tickets around the metroplex when everything was still done on paper.
I studied Film and got my degree in History at the University of North Texas, and played hockey & lacrosse there. After graduation I spent around 9 months on the road driving & camping around the US & Canada, and then went to work in the cruise industry; first for Cruise West in Washington & Oregon sailing the Columbia River on the Lewis & Clark Trail, and then for Carnival in the Caribbean aboard a ship called the Pride. I learned a lot about the travel industry there, a lot about customer service, and it was hard work. Onboard cruise ships the officers are all former European Navy, and those guys will whip you into shape pretty quickly.
When I left the cruise industry in 2003, I went to work full time at Sharon Carr Travel. It was a natural fit for me, and soon I was prodded into doing the on-air with KLUV in my mom’s place. She had done it 35 years by that point. I started with Ron Chapman, then spent 13 years on the air with Jody Dean, and now I’m on KLUV with Jeff Miles and the “Miles in the Morning” show since Jody left in 2017. 2021 marked 50 years on the radio for Sharon Carr Travel, and 17 years on the radio myself.
My parents were both creatives; mom had a music degree from TCU and my dad was a writer and owned a newspaper in the Panhandle. They nurtured our creativity when we were kids; we went to a lot of musicals, I spent several years as an actor at the Dallas Theater Center, played in a band in college. My first love was always film, and I began making films of our trips at Sharon Carr Travel, mostly for fun and to give to our clients. In 2012 I sold my first film to Uniworld River Cruise Lines – “Timeless Wonders of Vietnam & Cambodia” – and then started my production company Globe Trek Productions. I have since made dozens of films for various cruise lines & tour companies among other clients and won 6 Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly. I also created a music series with the Dallas Observer called “Busking” and have been able to work with a lot of bands I love – The Toadies, Robert Earl Keen, The Bacon Brothers, Charley Crockett, the Old 97’s and many others. We’ve shot more than 40 episodes of that series. It’s been on hiatus for a couple of years since I had kids and then the pandemic hit, but we are planning new episodes in 2022.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. I felt about my mom’s career & industry the way a lot of kids do; “that’s your thing mom”. I wanted to play professional hockey and work in the film industry, but I wasn’t good enough, and I needed money after college. Working in the cruise industry led me to Sharon Carr Travel.
Travel is wonderful but a volatile industry. The internet changed everything, then 9/11 changed everything again, and of course, the pandemic has been absolutely devastating to tourism around the world. We survived, and are thankfully busy again, but we are still in this pandemic, and things are changing constantly now. It can be difficult to keep up, but in a strange way, the pandemic was helpful for travel agents. We have really shined in the years since 2020, guiding our clients through a tumultuous time. I have an amazing staff of seasoned professionals, and their knowledge & expertise is so valuable to our clients.
We’ve been impressed with Sharon Carr Travel, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a full-service Travel Agency and in 50 years have sent half a million people to all corners of the globe. Our specialization is really group travel, although we book an enormous amount of individual vacations as well like honeymoons, family vacations, safari, Disney, and everything else. Personally, I am probably most known as the host of the KLUV World Tour on the Miles in the Morning Show, and the travel guru on WFAA’s Good Morning Texas. We all have our own specializations and destinations that we focus on. I have always loved the exotics, I like a destination that is radically different from my home, one that challenges me. India is like that; I love it and have made two films there. I’ve been to Africa many times, I made 4 films there and consider myself an expert on Safari in East Africa and South Africa. I would also consider myself an expert on ocean cruises, river cruises, guided group tours, Alaska, French Polynesia, and exotic animal encounters. I’ve been fortunate to trek with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, dive with great white sharks in South Africa, swim with penguins & iguanas in the Galapagos Islands, and walk with polar bears and swim with beluga whales in the Canadian Arctic.
I think what sets us apart is the breadth of our experience. All of my staff have been in the industry 20+ years, and of course, my sister and I grew up at Sharon Carr Travel, it’s in our DNA. I’ve been to every continent, most of them many times over.
I am most proud to carry the torch for my mom, who put her heart & soul into this company and taught us to always put our clients first. That commitment to our clients, and the real affection we feel for them, is a big part of our success. We are in the business of making dreams come true, it’s incredibly fulfilling, and I owe this life to my mom. I am very proud of her name on the door. She travels a lot now and does what she wants, but is still coming into the office twice a week and still taking groups around the world.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
As my dad used to say, I’m a part of the lucky sperm club. I won the lottery being born to Sharon Carr, to be given the travel opportunities that I have, and to be handed a business that was already established and well-known when I got there. I was born on 3rd base and I try not to forget that. My mom is so beloved by the people who know her and who have traveled with us now for decades, and I strive to live up to that and to carry on her legacy. After my wife and our boys, Sharon Carr Travel and our clients are the great love of my life, and I am grateful for every moment.
Contact Info:
- Email: casey@sharoncarrtravel.com
- Website: www.sharoncarrtravel.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/globetrekpro
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/casey.carr50
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharoncarrtrav
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/sharoncarrtravel
