Meet Natasha Rust | Travel Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natasha Rust and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natasha, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Travelling has always been an integral part of my daily life. I was born in Panama to a Panamanian mother and a father who was in the Navy. We spent the typical 3-5 years in each post and from there I lived in 5 different countries, until I went to college in Rome for archaeology. Within these years I found my passions in studying and just enjoying the different facets of these cultures that I was exposed to, from their language to their food and cultural heritage.

I found comfort in travelling and learning about all these beautiful things the world has to offer. The idea for my business just naturally fell into place and honestly I don’t know what took me so long to get here. I want to offer people the same privileges I had growing up, experiencing things they had no idea were available to them. Even now those memories of trips with family and friends are ones we all hold. We get to learn together and find new things we love about others as well as ourselves. The world becomes a little less of a scary place when we step out of comfort zones and try to understand things beyond them.

Having said all that: I also know how stressful travelling can be. It can feel daunting enough to make someone want to say no to a trip all together. I like to make sure that isn’t the case. I want my customers to know those memories are worth a lifetime.

What should our readers know about your business?
La Vie Passage Travel’s byline is “We deliver memories” and at the end of the day, that’s what sets the business apart. I live what I preach and I am surrounded by some of the best creative minds that I could possibly ask for. My whole life up to this point has just felt like training for something I was meant to do.

Travelling is such a good reset–for the mind and body. I remember when I was young I was told to “work to live” not ‘live to work.” I think its easy to bypass something like that with the stresses of daily life. We invest in things daily and travel should be seen as an investment for ourselves. It is a healthy way to give back to ourselves. Overall I think it can just make you a better person at the end of the day.

If you had a friend visiting you in New York, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Brooklyn and for me the best way to do it would be to start from the bottom up: make my way from Brooklyn to Queens, into Manhattan, and end it with a trip to the Hudson Valley to see Sleepy Hollow or the Storm King Art Center Sculpture Park.

Since there’s too many, I’ll throw out some of my Brooklyn highlights.

Brooklyn:
-Pizza at Rosa’s in Williamsburg
-Stroll through Cobble Hill
-Stopping by the Brooklyn Promenade in Brooklyn Heights at sunset (after getting ice cream from the Häagen-Dazs down the block)
-See the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
-Enjoy an Omikase experience at Neta Shari in Bensonhurst
-Grab some gelato or granita at Gelateria Gentile in Williamsburg
-Catch a movie at one of the Nighthawk Cinemas

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to thank my family for all the support that they have shown me throughout the years and for inspiring me to learn and love and not to be afraid. I also want to thank all those friends and family that I have adopted along the way throughout my travels: including my greatest of friends (they know who they are!) and my S.O.’s family who have shown me so much love and support, as well as how to cultivate those inner strengths. I had some amazing professors at Uni and they pushed me to go beyond what I thought were my limitations. I am proud and thankful to have had the honor of learning from all these wonderful people.

Website: https://www.evotravelagent.com/laviepassagetravel

Instagram: LaViePassageTravel

Linkedin: Natasha Rust

Facebook: Natasha Rust

Image Credits
Daniel Stoddard Sarah Lagersted Gloria Rust