Brenda Phelps and her husband Mike started Push Pin Travel Maps five years ago after unsuccessfully trying to find a travel pin map to track their adventures. Today the company, based in Denver, CO, is going strong and the couple is still traveling together. We caught up with them between trips to talk 2017 travel trends.

Q: Tell us about yourself and your business in a few sentences.

A: My husband Mike and I LOVE to travel. To date, we have visited 14 countries and 20 US States together. We started Push Pin Travel Maps almost 5 years ago after we weren’t able to find a map that we liked to track our travels. We decided to make our own and got so much positive feedback from friends and family that we decided to make another one and list it for sale. We grew slowly that first year and then things really took off to the point where we needed to get a warehouse and quit our full time jobs in order to focus our full attention on growing a small business. We absolutely love what we do and are having so much fun expanding by creating new map designs and working with customers to create the perfect gift for a loved one.

Q: Tell us about the different products offered on your site.

A: We sell framed and unframed maps for people to pin their travels and to help them plan out future trips. We mostly sell maps of the United States and the World, but we are constantly adding new regions based on customer feedback. All of our maps can be personalized with a name or favorite quote to make them even more unique. We recently launched our Canvas map collection, where we print some of the maps on cotton canvas, which gives the map a nice rich textured finish.

Q: How is your company changing the way people travel?

A: I’m not sure if we are changing the way people travel, but we are definitely inspiring people to travel more. We hear from so many customers, who after pinning their maps, realize how many more places they want to visit someday and how they want to fill their maps with pins, which we find pretty cool because we too have a quest to do the same! 

Q: Speaking of the way people travel, are there any overall trends to watch for in 2017?

A: 2017 should be a great year for travel. With budget airlines offering killer deals, it is making it easier then ever to travel internationally. The trick is to snag these deals when they pop up as they usually don’t last more then a day or so. Being flexible with travel dates and destinations makes it easier to take advantage of these deals. 

Q: If you could travel anywhere next year, where would you go and why? 

A: We have been dreaming about visiting Iceland for several years now. Every picture we see from there is just breath-taking. Iceland is known for having dramatic landscapes filled with glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls, geysers and hot springs. There is so much to do there! We are torn between going in the summer where we can do a lot of outdoor activities or visiting in the winter so we have a chance to see the famous Northern Lights. We will likely try to book our first trip there in the next year or two. 

Q: You travel with your partner a lot. Do you have any advice for couples traveling together?

A: Compromise is essential to traveling with your partner. It’s important to pick activities and destinations that interest you both. Both parties should provide input on what they want to do on the trip so that there is a balance of activities and neither person feels like they didn’t get a say on what you did on the vacation.