Sonder Travels

This month's business feature for Black Line News - Salisbury is Sonder Travels (ST). The owner shares with The Info Hub (TIH) about her travel experiences and services. Read below to learn more about this amazing business.

TIH: Thanks for granting Black Line News – Salisbury this interview! Let's get started by introducing yourself and your business.

ST: My name is Toronda Daniels and I am a traveler. I honestly think that I was born to do it. Travel is my passion and it gives me life. If I had to choose between traveling and any other thing, traveling would win hands down. It is definitely my passion and it is what makes me feel completely alive. If I am not traveling then I am planning to travel or planning travel. The one activity that is almost as gratifying as traveling is assisting other people with traveling. I love connecting people with fulfilling experiences through travel. That being said, I decided to make my passion for travel and turn it in a business. After 10 years of working as a travel agent in one capacity or another, I launched Sonder Travels, an online travel business.

As I searched for a name to embody the spirit of adventure and wanderlust that I want to portray with Sonder Travels, the process became arduous. Because the travel business is highly saturated, every possible word combination I could think of was taken. That is because none of those names were for me.I took a break for a while. Then after a few months, I came across the word sonder and it was perfect! The word sonder means "the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as yours". When I read it, I knew the word was perfect for me. Every place that I have traveled was more of a quest to meet the people than to see the place. For me, I have not truly visited a place unless I connected with the people. Whether it was Jamaica, Antigua, Paris, or the other Caribbean islands I have visited, I have always made an effort to know the locals. Until I have heard the dominoes slap the table or sampled the national dish while listening to the accent of another tongue, I have not yet tasted the place. To satiate a longing for connection, I have traveled through the bush and up in the hills of Jamaica, eaten at the beach fish fry in Freeport, sought out Madiba's (an African) restaurant in Paris and mixed it up with the locals at the Rum Shack in Turks and Caicos. Put me anywhere on this planet with my people and I will feel like I belong. That is the experience that I seek to create through Sonder Travels. It is my belief that we should not just visit a place but we should be cognizant of the fact that we are visiting its people too.We should have conversations on the trains, buses and in the markets. Then, we would find out how much more we have in common than the many things that separate us.

TIH: I LOVE it…Now that is how you travel! I too enjoy engaging with the local people and culture when I travel too. Please share about your connection or what brought you to the Salisbury/Rowan County area.

ST: I was born and raised in Salisbury, NC.I spent all of my formative years in Salisbury. I am a proud alumna of Salisbury High School, home of the Hornets.As I reflect on my time growing up in Salisbury, I remember a time when everyone knew one another. Few were the strangers and even those we had not officially met were greeted with a nod as we passed going along our days activities. Fast forward 30 years later and I am living a life that I could have never imagined. My time is now split between Kenya and the United States. However, Salisbury is and always will be home. My family and roots are firmly planted.

TIH: I know you addressed some of this in your introduction, but sum up in a nutshell for our readers the services your travel business provides.

ST: Sonder Travels specializes in group travels for families, churches, sororities/fraternities, etc. We book cruises, land vacations, honeymoons, destination weddings, family reunions, girls' trips, fundraising cruises and church trips. My niche is Kenya. I have spent the last 4 years traveling exclusively within the country building connections and basking in its beauty. As a result, I can now create the perfect itinerary for would-be-traveler seeking to sample the joys of being in Kenya ranging from the exciting wildlife safaris to the calm and breathtaking beaches on the coast.

TIH: Black Line is an advocate of uniting and empowering the black community. What do you believe is the best way to accomplish this with our local community?

ST: For years, I have pondered the state of the black community. I was born during the 60's, a time when we were united by common causes and needed one another for survival as a people. As I reflect on this time as well as my time in Kenya, I believe as a people we have abandoned our sense of community. We need to get back to the village and community mentality. One of the things needed most is strong leaders in the black community. We have been in a constant state of outcry for years but we lack leaders that can map out a plan as Martin Luther King, Malcom X, and others did for us during the fight for Civil Rights. Involved in that plan should be a means to take care of our own needs. Once we integrated, we stop "shopping black" and lost our businesses. With this we lost our ability to sustain ourselves and now we depend largely on sources outside of the black community to manage. The strength of the black dollar is greater than we imagine. If we could keep it in our own community, we would have the ability to support ourselves and have political leverage when it comes to getting our needs met as a community.Everything rises and falls on the dollar. We just have to decide how best to manage ours and the power that comes along with it.

TIH: YES! I totally agree. I'm excited about the shifts I'm seeing in our local community towards unity. Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about you or your travel business?

ST: I think that I have covered all of it.

TIH: Yes, you have! This interview has truly been a blessing and I thanks for sharing. Where can our readers connect with your business at?

ST: More about my business can be found at sondertravels.com and I can be followed on social media with the following links:

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/sonder.travels/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/the.sonder.experience/

Twitter

https://www.Twitter.com/SonderTravels?s=09 

I hope Toronda and Sonder Travels much success! I'm also looking forward to the cruise I booked with her this year. Black Line News readers, be sure to support this business when you plan your next vacation, get away, or travel event. Also, if you or someone you know would like to have their business or organization featured please contact Black Line News - Salisbury for more information.

The Info Hub - Black Line News - Salisbury