This Talented Travel Advisor Takes Her Business’ IG Reels To the Next Level

12.03.2024 - 19:37 / travelpulse.com / Laurie Baratti

Just when you thought you’d seen everything imaginable on Instagram, one woman comes along and defies all expectations. Ever seen a professional musical theatre actor-turned-travel advisor? Well, there’s one out there, alright, and she’s attracting plenty of attention with her cleverly written original lyrics about the world of travel, which she flawlessly sets to the tune of famous songs.

Owner of Travel With Character, Lauren Quirk is gaining even more popularity among her peers for her music video parody reels on social media. In fact, last year she took home a Gold accolade at Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, winning in the category of ‘Individual Travel Advisor Marketing – Social Media’.

From the first few notes of any reel you start with, it’s obvious that Lauren has a highly trained voice, which led me to wonder about her background and how it might lend itself to these comical, yet admirably performed, pieces. As it turns out, she studied Music in Theatre in college (Washington and Lee University) before moving to New York City to pursue a career in musical theatre. And, she built one, too! She worked as an off-Broadway actor for 5 years in the Big Apple, performing in various musicals and workshopping new shows.

Nowadays, she still treads the boards, but does so as SAG-AFTRA actor in Los Angeles, where she moved in 2013. There, she studied improvisational comedy with the world-famous Groundlings theatre troop in Hollywood, and graduated from the comedy theatre and education center Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). She also works as a vocal coach, with several of her students being active in the entertainment industry.

Of course, that’s on top of her regular work as a travel advisor, but it all seems to blend together pretty seamlessly, if her social media presence is any indication. After watching some of her witty pasquinades online, we at TravelPulse decided that this fascinating human was someone we needed to meet for ourselves. We sat down with her to find out how and why she began posting these attention-grabbing little satirical videos to social media.

TP: Have you always been into writing your own song lyrics?

LQ: Writing parody songs comes pretty easily to me. I think my brain just works that way! I hear a song and often immediately know how I can change the words to be about... well, travel!

TP: When did you start using them to supplement your business' social media reach? 

LQ: The first song that I created for my travel business was in 2021 when Olivia Rodrigo's "Driver's License" was super popular. My version was "(I forgot my) Driver's License" about not getting through TSA security, and also being ill-prepared in general for a vacation without using an Travel Advisor. At that time