Vacations that can change your life.  

     Malori L. Asman, CTC, MCC  

Travel is my passion.  My first recollection of my love of travel dates back to the age of four, when we took a family trip to Guadalajara, Mexico where we rented an apartment and stayed for a month.  Celebrating my birthday with my new "friends" and a piñata filled with candy was all I needed to create the enthusiasm in me that would last forever.

Traveling all over Europe on two family trips while I was still in high school sealed the deal for me.  "I want to be a travel agent," I announced to my parents at the age of 16.  So while still attending Beverly Hills High School, I took evening and weekend classes at a local college to learn everything I could about becoming a travel agent.

Amazing Journeys was born out of a dream.  Started in 2000, its President and founder Malori L. Asman, brings with her almost 30 years of experience in the travel industry.  In 1993, seeing the need to provide travel opportunities for single travelers, she presented the idea of Singles Cruising to a local organization.  The idea took off and over 70 cruises and tours have been successfully operated, leaving thousands of past passengers, “hungry for more.”     

Malori provides a solid base of knowledge in the travel field.  Beginning in 1979, she has worked as a travel agent as a corporate agent, international travel specialist, and leisure vacation planning expert.  She began the “Cruise Department” within a large full service travel agency in 1989, when she anticipated the huge growth potential in the cruise industry.  First as the Manager, and then Vice President of Cruises, Malori focused on large groups and corporate incentives.  Malori has successfully operated groups as large as 850 passengers.  

With a B.S. Degree from the University of Alabama, and some work in the Graduate School of Business from the University of South Alabama, Malori has a solid educational background.  Supplementing this, she received the prestigious CTC (Certified Travel Consultant) designation from the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, and her MCC Certification (Master Cruise Counselor) from Cruise Line International Association. 

In addition to having served on the Board of Directors at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh for 9 years, both as a board member and an officer; and on the Board of Directors for the Jewish Education Institute of Pittsburgh, Malori has also served on the Advisory Board of Cruise Shoppes of America, a large group comprised of retail 3,000 travel agencies.  In addition, Malori served on the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises Group Department Advisory Board.   Malori has had articles published in many trade publications, and has been asked to participate in roundtable discussions with the presidents of several cruise lines.   

Malori's travel experience speaks for itself--she has sailed on more than 70 cruises and has traveled to over 70 countries on five continents.

Malori says the best part about our singles cruises is that besides providing travelers with unique travel experiences, passengers tell her “they have made lifelong friends with people they met on our trips,”  Malori is extremely proud of the more than 45 marriages that had their beginnings on our cruises and tours.   

  Bill Cartiff  

Bill loves to tell the story of the day his life changed forever.  Back in 1992 having acquired a new job at the Jewish Community Center as Director of Adult Services, he received a knock on the door one afternoon.  It was a woman who introduced herself as Malori Asman; a travel agent "from the Agency up the street", and more importantly a member of the JCC's Board of Directors.  Ears perked after that introduction, Bill listened as Malori proposed the idea of organizing a "Jewish singles cruise". With the support of a good supervisor and persistence by Malori, the idea spawned an opportunity. "If you don't take a chance, you don't have a chance" was a quote posted on Bill's bulletin board and believing that to be the case in life, he took a chance and joined forces with Malori to create a travel program for Jewish singles. 

Bill is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in Health and Physical Education.  He taught for four years at both the elementary and middle school levels, all the while fulfilling a passion of coaching baseball as well as being a registered high school umpire and a player in adult leagues himself.  As things evolved, an opportunity to work in the Sports & Recreation Department at the JCC helped him establish himself as more than a teacher; he became an administrator and a supervisor.  In 1990 he was promoted to Assistant Director of the HPER Department and then again in 1992 with the opportunity to move into Adult/Singles programming. It was a chance to grow, learn more about serving an adult clientele and provide a service that peaked his interest more than sports ever did. It was an opportunity to show people the world! 

Running 8-10 trips a year and marketing to Jewish singles across North America and beyond...to destinations all across the world, the team of Bill and Malori has established themselves as leaders in an important market.  "We have a very hands-on approach and we always keep the client mind.  We design each trip  to meet the travel, social and adventure needs of every passenger; offering choices, fun and an overall carefree experience.  We  want each and every one of our passengers to have one of the best vacations of their lives."  With thousands of satisfied past-passengers, repeat business at over 60%... and a world without boundaries for exploring, sightseeing and adventure-seeking, Amazing Journeys has proven themselves as leaders in the field.

Sixteen years ago, Bill thought of himself as a teacher and coordinator of youth sports & recreation for life.  That knock on his door in 1992 changed everything; not only for him but for thousands of Jewish singles who have experienced vacations around the world, made scores of new friends, travel partners and even partners for life!  Amazing Journeys is proud to denote the catchphrase "Vacations that can change your life"...and we have for over 90 of our happily married passengers who met on one of our trips. 

   Michele L. Rosenberg

Michele graduated with a degree in Travel and Tourism, Hospitality and Business Management.  After an internship at Forbes Travel in Pittsburgh, PA she was hired full time.  In 1992 when Malori created the JCC Jewish Singles Travel program, Michele became involved with escorting a series of singles cruises over the next few years.
 
Michele has always had the passion for travel from a very young age.  As many of her family members live in Israel, she began traveling to visit with them early on in life.  Planning her family trips was a time she always looked forward to and being able to do this for others and provide “vacations that can change your life” was the perfect fit.  She recalls the day recruiters came into her school and spoke about the travel industry and it just confirmed what she had felt all along.  “This was the right career path for me.”
 
In 1996 Michele became the Vice President of Administration along with having involvement in her Jewish community’s singles program.  She was also charged with managing large incentive groups at Forbes Travel, of up to 3000 passengers.    Michele recalls the hesitation about expanding the local singles program into a national travel program, “Are singles going to commit to a 7-night singles event?”  Well, by 1996 we were providing travel services for multiple groups of over 100 passengers and our success story was well on its way to reaching the levels of success we achieve for each and every trip today. In most years, we provide vacations for well over 500 passengers each year. 
 
Not long after Amazing Journeys became a reality in the fall of 2000, Malori approached Michele with a part-time, and soon after, full-time opportunity.  Michele is often asked, "how long we have been doing trips and what kind of experience someone can expect traveling with us?"  There is always so much pride explaining to hundreds of potential passengers that we have been doing this for over 16 years, and that we are so proud of our reputation.
 
For the 16 years we have run this travel program, the travel destinations have changed often…but the team of Malori, Bill and Michele has not.  We are all proud to be able to say that we have all been doing this together since the very beginning!