Frequent Traveler University Dallas 2025: Finding Joy in Travel: Beyond Points, Toward Purpose
What does joy in travel really look like?
At Frequent Traveler University Dallas 2025, I had the honor of speaking on a topic that’s deeply personal to me: Finding Joy in Travel. While the weekend was packed with brilliant conversations about points, miles, elite status, and travel hacks, I offered something a little different—a return to why we travel in the first place.
In a room full of travelers chasing efficiency, I invited us all to slow down and remember the feeling of discovery. The courage it takes to step into the unknown. The meaning behind the miles. My talk centered on the belief that travel isn’t just about upgrades and optimized itineraries—it’s about connection, transformation, and joy.
I spoke from experience: I’ve traveled solo and with family, worn a backpack through Asia, and sailed on cruise ships across oceans. What I’ve learned along the way is that bravery isn’t measured in distance—it’s about being open. Open to new cultures, new people, new experiences, and even new versions of ourselves.
This isn’t about checking countries off a list. It’s about saying yes to places that change you. It’s about embracing discomfort, trusting detours, and finding beauty in both the chaos and calm of the journey.
I was deeply honored to be part of the FTU speaker lineup alongside travel legends like Rudy Maxa, Peter Greenberg, Tommy Danielsen, Jamie Larounis, John Ryan, and Tom Stuker—who’s flown over 24 million miles. Sharing my perspective among such seasoned travelers reminded me just how universal the search for meaning is.
WATCH MY TALK HERE which includes my expeditions to Antarctica with Quark Expeditions and walking with polar bears with Churchill Wild:
If you’re organizing a conference or event focused on travel, wellness, storytelling, or personal growth, I’d love to bring this talk to your audience. Finding Joy in Travel is ideal for anyone looking to reconnect with the emotional heartbeat of why we explore—not just where we go, but how we go.
In a world focused on speed and perks, I’m here to remind us that joy is also a worthy destination.
Here’s to miles that move us—and moments that truly change us.
Travel All-Stars at Frequent Traveler University 2025
Loved being in Dallas with all the Travel All-Stars at Frequent Traveler University 2025! ✈️ What an inspiring weekend with legends like Rudy Maxa, Tommy Danielsen, Peter Greenberg, John Ryan, Jamie Larounis, and the incredible Tom Stuker—who’s flown over 24 million miles!
Truly honored to be invited as a speaker at FTU 2025. Grateful for the opportunity to share stories and connect with such a passionate travel community. Until next time!
Hula-hooping with the world’s most traveled man Tom Stucker with 24 million miles
Frequent Traveler University 2025
May 3 @ 3:35 pm – 4:15 pm PDT
Finding Joy in Travel
Lisa Niver, a world traveler and expert diver, shares her knowledge and expertise with uncovering all of the positives and joy that there is in traveling the world.
Speakers:
Lisa Niver
May 3rd, 2025 3:35pm
Since 2010, more than 20,000 people have attended Frequent Traveler University (FTU), making by far the most popular travel hacking seminar in the world. In addition, the FTU faculty contains some of the brightest minds in the industry.
Come join us at our FTU event on May 2-4, 2025, in sunny Dallas, Texas. You won’t want to miss this event, chock-full of learning and networking opportunities!
You’ll enjoy dozens of sessions for all skill levels hosted by over 35 speakers.
A new feature this year is select sessions and Fireside Chats, where you can hear from industry insiders from airlines, hotel programs, banks and other leaders.
Denouncing my invitation, anti-Zionists smashed over 25 plate-glass windows in two nights of vandalism. Their graffiti proclaimed: “Stop your Zionist war propaganda” and “stop zios.”
Crazy as it might sound, it all started with the Dodgers, and how they won back-to- back World Series in 2024 and 2025. That year, with those two championships on either end, is the exact same year l became a practicing Jew. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
From Los Angeles to Thailand, Israelis are sitting anxiously, waiting for a notice from El Al or other airlines, hoping for a chance to board a flight back to Israel.
We are delivering hands-on learning and building resilience for a generation growing up under conflict in a region that lacks a dedicated children’s museum.
American malaise involves gloomy thoughts about spiking gas prices, or depressing flashbacks to previous wars where days stretched into decades. Israeli malaise is accompanied by gloomy thoughts about the Americans.
Even those self-described human rights groups that are strongly biased in favor of the Palestinian Arab cause acknowledge the PA’s systemic mistreatment of women.
Jews today do have a voice. For the moment. But we have not used it where it counts – in the mainstream media, the halls of power, on campuses, on school boards, in the public square.
After years of terrorizing Israelis with existential threats, the Islamic regime is now worried about its own existence. In a region where the projection of power is everything, that is humiliation.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
Finding Joy in Travel at Frequent Traveler University
Lisa Ellen Niver
Frequent Traveler University Dallas 2025: Finding Joy in Travel: Beyond Points, Toward Purpose
Frequent Traveler University 2025
May 3 @ 3:35 pm – 4:15 pm PDT
Finding Joy in Travel
Speakers:
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
The Unusual Urge to Meet a Stranger
Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Engel’s ‘Shabbos in a Gas Station’
Sinai Akiba Masquerade Ball, Builders of Jewish Education’s 2026 Annual Benefit
The Architecture of Will: Decision and the Structure of Transformation
We Need More Jewish Babies
Congregation Beth Israel: Fond Memories of My Childhood Synagogue in LA’s Fairfax District
A Moment in Time: “When Losing an Hour Inspires Holiness”
A Bisl Torah — The Story You Need to Tell
May the story you share be a reminder that through our fears and uncertainty, alongside the bitterness we experience, redemption awaits.
Is Religious Knowledge Receding or Revealed via Tephilllin, Phylacteries?
Dutch Mistreat: Anti-Zionists in the Netherlands Tried Disrupting My Zoom Lecture
Denouncing my invitation, anti-Zionists smashed over 25 plate-glass windows in two nights of vandalism. Their graffiti proclaimed: “Stop your Zionist war propaganda” and “stop zios.”
Dancing While The War Raged On – A poem for Parsha Vayakhel-Pekudei
I just returned from B’nei Mitzvah in Chicago … War broke out in the middle of the festivities
Suspect Dead after Car Crash, Shooting at Detroit-area Reform Temple, Largest in North America
The director of security at Temple Israel was injured in the attack, the Reform congregation said.
Print Issue: The Year Everything Changed | March 13, 2026
Crazy as it might sound, it all started with the Dodgers, and how they won back-to- back World Series in 2024 and 2025. That year, with those two championships on either end, is the exact same year l became a practicing Jew. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Rabbi Jerry Cutler, 91
In 1973, he founded Synagogue for the Performing Arts, drawing the likes of Walter Matthau, Ed Asner and Joan Rivers.
Racing Back to War: Israelis Stranded Abroad Desperate to Return Home
From Los Angeles to Thailand, Israelis are sitting anxiously, waiting for a notice from El Al or other airlines, hoping for a chance to board a flight back to Israel.
Healing Through Play: Mobile STEAM Unit Delivers Trauma Relief to War-Affected Communities
We are delivering hands-on learning and building resilience for a generation growing up under conflict in a region that lacks a dedicated children’s museum.
Friday Night Star – Spicy, Saucy Salmon
We made this recipe Passover-friendly because who doesn’t need an easy one-skillet dish that is healthy and delicious!?!
Pies for Pi Day
March 14, or 3/14 is Pi Day in celebration of the mathematical constant, 3.14159 etc. Any excuse to enjoy a classic or creative pie.
Table for Five: Vayakhel
Funding The Mishkan
The Light of Wonderment: A Letter to My Sons
Crazy as it might sound, it all started with the Dodgers, and how they won back-to-back World Series in 2024 and 2025.
Rosner’s Domain | Why Israelis See the War Differently
American malaise involves gloomy thoughts about spiking gas prices, or depressing flashbacks to previous wars where days stretched into decades. Israeli malaise is accompanied by gloomy thoughts about the Americans.
God: An Invitation
No single philosophical system can contain God.
For the Dogs? The Delightful Surprises of Jewish Medieval Art
Canines’ renowned loyalty was a natural representation of the “loyal transmission of the divine mandate from generation to generation.”
Honoring Palestinian Women Terrorists on International Women’s Day
Even those self-described human rights groups that are strongly biased in favor of the Palestinian Arab cause acknowledge the PA’s systemic mistreatment of women.
It Didn’t Start with Auschwitz
Jews today do have a voice. For the moment. But we have not used it where it counts – in the mainstream media, the halls of power, on campuses, on school boards, in the public square.
Regime Humiliation: No, You Won’t Destroy Israel
After years of terrorizing Israelis with existential threats, the Islamic regime is now worried about its own existence. In a region where the projection of power is everything, that is humiliation.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.