Today, we’re bringing you two young female Texan wave-makers! Diedra Pyle (Houston) and Lindsay Messina (Austin) are millennials who recently launched Rove Travel Co to address the shift in how (specifically, young) people now want to travel. Specifically, they are aimed at travel planning for influencer, millennial and Gen Z audiences. Let’s hear about how they curate the most creative itineraries! 

Tell us how you are moving and shaking to meet a niche need for Texas travelers?

Coming off the edge of the pandemic, we realized a few things that ultimately drove us to start Rove. The first is that people really realized the value of human and personal experiences, and second is that people were going to be ready to invest in those experiences on the other side. 

We felt like we deeply understood how to curate the type of unique, bespoke experiences that modern travelers want nowadays. So, we took this thinking and Rove was born out of it. And we have a very different perspective and approach to how we think about the client experience – we don’t just want to book your hotel and your flight and send you on your way – we want to advise you on where to go based on your travel style, make surprise dinner reservations, book your excursions and activities, and personalize the trip every step of the way. We strive to go the extra mile and provide a truly white-glove-level service, which we think is a strong differentiator for us. 

What do you see are the differences between how Texans in their 20s & 30s are traveling now versus 10-20 years ago?

There are a few major factors at play here. One thing is that people today value time and convenience and are willing to invest in services if it saves them either. Another important factor is that Gen Zers and Millennials, for the most part, would rather spend their money on experiences than materialistic items. So, you have a whole subset of people that are more than happy to leave the planning to the experts and want a curated, personally crafted experience. This is especially true when we think about the rise of social media and the added pressures to appear to always be living life to the fullest or having amazing experiences. Those are a few of the major shifts we see in clients from different generations – and there’s not one that is better or worse than the other – just different. It opens the door for new ideas and new ways of doing things to fill that need, which is what we saw when we started Rove. 

What drives you? What inspires you about your work?

It’s cheesy, but our shared love and passion for travel, and the experiences we have been fortunate enough to have, are what inspired us to start Rove. Being close to something that we feel is so paramount to the human experience fuels our fire for what we do. We want to curate that same feeling, passion and excitement for our clients. Both of us also love to travel and the idea that we can live out our travel bucket lists, too, makes it even more exciting for us. 

What’s your best travel tip for booking a vacation? 

Think about the things you want to do and see and how you want to feel before thinking about where you want to go, and base the trip off of that. Be open to having a travel expert consult you on where you should go based on your desired experience. We often hear people say they want to go to a certain destination because someone they know went there and loved it – however, we caution against this because everyone has different travel styles, passions and budgets and just because a friend loved it, doesn’t mean you’ll love it too. So it goes back to being true to yourself (and having trusted advisors to help!). 

Tell us a little about the different types of vacations you book. 

Absolutely! Babymoons, honeymoons, influencer and corporate trips, bachelor and bachelorette parties, family vacations, we do it all! Here are just a few examples from our fabulous clients: 

“I was so busy planning our wedding that planning our honeymoon got pushed to the wayside. But we connected with Diedra and Lindsay who put together multiple two-week, multi-destination options for us to pick from based on our style. We were able to just share our vision and they got right to planning, listened to our feedback along the way and booked the perfect trip to St. Lucia and Barbados for us! It was a weight lifted off my shoulders.” – Clara Schlemeyer, Austin, TX

“Rove Travel Co. made it so easy! They gave us so many excellent recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and activities in each of the cities we traveled to. Lindsay and Diedra are so personable and really listen to the experience you want to have on your trip.” – Meagan Willingham, Austin, TX

“As someone who was raised on technology, it’s easy to assume you don’t need a “travel agent” to plan your trip. – This is an incorrect assumption. Hospitality is an increasingly complex field to navigate, especially when traveling internationally in a fast-changing world.

Having a team of experienced traveler pros to point you in the right direction proved to be indispensable, as the team at Rove got us in to things we never would have found otherwise, like a private van excursion drinking wine deep in the hills of Tuscany.

Lindsay and Diedra performed mountains of prep work for our trip, even though we wanted to keep the schedule flexible. Knowing that there was always someone to message with questions was extremely valuable to us, since all we wanted to do was focus on spending time with each other, and not Googling various identity document requirements that pop up out of nowhere.

Our wedding was the best day of our lives, and thanks to Rove, our honeymoon was the pinnacle to the best week of our lives.” – Michael Messina, Austin, TX

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Cover Photo courtesy Rove Travel Co.

Marika Flatt, Outstanding Austin Communicator 2021, is the Travel Editor of Texas Lifestyle Magazine. She began her travel writing career in 2002 with Austin Woman Magazine and now writes their “The Texas Traveler” section. She can be seen as a contributor on TV shows across Texas, offering travel tips.