Why Your Travel Business Feels So Hard (And What Human Design Has to Do With It)

There’s no shortage of business advice out there telling telling travel advisors how to structure your day, batch your content, or “just be more consistent.” There are 5 a.m. clubs, 12-hour hustle schedules, and more productivity frameworks than we could ever implement in a lifetime.

But what happens when you try to build your travel business on top of everyone else’s energy instead of your own?

In a recent episode of The Art of Selling Travel, I sat down with human design expert Rachelle Buskas to explore that question. What started as me being nosy, about why she could get more done in two hours at Starbucks than two days at home turned into a deep dive into energy, alignment, burnout, and the very human side of running a travel business.

What Is Human Design (And Why Should Travel Advisors Care)?

Human design, in Rachelle’s words, is your “unique energetic blueprint”, the way your energy is wired to operate in this lifetime.

Most of us have been heavily conditioned to work, sell, and show up in ways that are completely out of alignment with that blueprint. We push, we force, we hustle, and then we wonder why our nervous systems are fried, and our businesses feel like a fight.

Human design hands you a roadmap and basically says, “Here’s who you are. It’s safe to be that person. Your success actually depends on it.”

For travel advisors, that’s huge. Because you’re not just managing bookings and itineraries; you’re managing people’s money, emotions, family dynamics, and expectations. If you’re doing all of that out of alignment with your energy, no wonder you’re exhausted.

Types, Authorities, and Why Your Mind Is Not the Boss

Human design looks at several key elements, but the big three are:

• Type – your overall energetic role (for example, I’m a projector)
  
• Strategy – how you’re designed to interact with opportunities and people
  
• Authority – how you’re designed to make decisions
  
  

Here’s the kicker: not a single type is meant to make decisions purely from their mind.

We’ve all been trained to “think it through,” make pros and cons lists, and gather more information. But your authority lives in your body — in your gut, your emotions, or, in my case, your spleen (intuition).

Those “I don’t know how I know this, but I know” moments? That’s your authority. For years, I discounted it as being “too emotional.” Human design reframed it as deep intuitive knowing that’s actually meant to lead.

Bitterness, Frustration, and the Emotions You Can’t Explain

Every type has an emotional signature for being in or out of alignment.

As a projector, my aligned state is success: feeling light, happy, free, and accomplished at the end of the day. My misaligned state? Bitterness.

Reading that language was like someone turning the lights on in a room I’d been stumbling through for years. I suddenly had words for why certain volunteer roles, relationships, and situations were draining me beyond “normal” frustration. It wasn’t just annoying. It was making me bitter.

That clarity is what gave me permission to finally resign from boards that no longer aligned — even when I’d never quit anything in my life.

Rachelle also explained why some of us feel “too emotional” when we’re actually just undefined in our emotional center. In plain language: we absorb other people’s feelings and amplify them.

If you’re a travel advisor soaking up every client meltdown about flight delays, family drama, or holiday cancellations, that matters. It doesn’t make you weak; it makes you wildly empathetic — and it means you need stronger boundaries and better recovery.

Split Definitions, Starbuck Sessions, and Working From Home

One of the pieces that finally made my brain go, “Ohhhh… that’s why,” was split definition.

If you’re split definition, your energy doesn’t flow in one continuous circuit. You often feel like “something’s missing,” and you work better when you’re around other people — even if you’re not talking to them.

That’s why Rachelle gets more done in two hours at Starbucks than two days at home. And if you used to crush it in an office and now struggle to focus working solo at your kitchen table, this might be you too.

For advisors, that can look like:

• Coworking days at a café
• Zoom coworking rooms with other advisors

Intentionally choosing environments that feel warm and energizing, not dead and draining (sorry, library). It’s not a character flaw. It’s your wiring.

Fun, Structure, and Why Vacation Is a Business Strategy

One of the most validating pieces in my own report was the Gate of Ideas: loving mental stimulation and big downloads of ideas… as long as my mind is clear enough to receive them.

And you know what clears my mind? Vacation. Rest. Actual fun!

On a recent Gen X cruise, I realized I hadn’t truly had fun in years. That trip gave me so much clarity that “fun” is now not just a word of the year, but a core value. Fun for me looks like more structure, so my business supports freedom instead of chaos.

Here’s what I know for sure:

The way my husband and I came home - relaxed, inspired, planning future trips on the plane and is exactly what your clients are craving too.

You’re not just booking travel. You’re giving people space to breathe, reset, and remember who they are outside of the dumpster fire.

Why This Matters for Selling Travel

When you understand your own design:

• You stop trying to force yourself into someone else’s version of productivity
  
• You set better boundaries with clients, family, and even volunteer roles
  
• You recognize what feelings are actually yours and what you’ve absorbed
  
• You design your workdays, marketing, and offers around how you actually function
     

And when you understand that about yourself, you’re in a much better position to serve your clients as humans, not just as bookings.

If you’re curious, go run your chart, grab your mini-manuscript from Rachelle, and just notice what lands like, “Oh… that explains a lot.” That’s where the real work (and the real freedom) begins. https://www.limitless-you.ca/ 

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