Privacy Policy

Planning a trip means sharing a lot about yourself and the people you travel with. This policy explains what I collect, why, who I share it with, and the choices you have.

Who I am

Trips by ’Chelle is the name I use for my travel planning work. I’m Michelle (’Chelle) Ham, an independent travel advisor based in Holdrege, Nebraska. I book travel through Penyak Travel, my host travel agency, which provides the booking systems and supplier relationships I use. In this policy, “I,” “me,” and “my” mean me, and “you” means anyone who visits this website or plans a trip with me.

What I collect

When you fill out the planning form

The form asks for your name, email address, and phone number, and how you’d like me to reach you. It also asks about the trip you have in mind: the kind of trip, who’s traveling (including how many children and their ages, if any), roughly when you’d like to go, your budget, and anything else you choose to tell me. When you send the form, your answers are emailed to me. If it can’t send for some reason, it offers to open a pre-filled email in your own email app instead.

When you contact me directly

If you call, text, email, or message me on Instagram, I receive whatever you send, along with your phone number, email address, or account name.

When you book a trip

To make reservations, I’ll ask for the details travel companies require, such as each traveler’s full legal name, date of birth, contact information, and, for some trips, passport or loyalty program details. I collect these directly from you, not through this website. This website doesn’t collect payment information.

When you browse this website

Like most websites, this one automatically receives basic technical information, such as your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you visit, and the site that referred you. See “Cookies and analytics” below.

How I use your information

• To reply to you, understand what you’re looking for, and recommend trips that fit
• To book and manage your reservations, and to help before, during, and after your trip
• To keep records of your trips and preferences, so planning your next one is easier
• To understand how people use this website and improve it
• To keep the website secure and meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations

I don’t send marketing emails or newsletters, and I don’t sell your information or share it with anyone for their own advertising.

Who I share it with

I share information only as needed to plan and book your travel and to run this website:

• Travel suppliers. The resorts, cruise lines, airlines, tour and excursion providers, transfer companies, travel insurers, and similar companies you book with receive the traveler details they need to provide your trip. Their own privacy policies apply to how they use it.
• Penyak Travel, my host agency. Your contact details, trip details, and booking records are kept in Penyak Travel’s booking and client management systems.
• Service providers for this website. Cloudflare hosts the site and receives planning form submissions, and Resend, an email delivery service, sends those submissions to my inbox. Google provides the site’s fonts and analytics, and Unsplash serves some of its destination photos. My email provider receives anything you email me. These companies receive technical information, such as your IP address, when your browser connects to them.
• When required. If the law requires it, or to protect the rights or safety of you, me, or others.

Cookies and analytics

This website uses Google Tag Manager to run Google Analytics and similar tools that help me understand how visitors use the site, such as which pages are viewed and how people find it. These tools may set cookies in your browser and send this information to Google, which processes it under Google’s privacy policy. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or install Google’s Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

While you fill out the planning form, your browser keeps your answers in its session storage, so they aren’t lost if you move between steps or reload the page. That copy stays on your device, isn’t sent anywhere until you submit, and is cleared when you close the tab or send the form.

How long I keep it

I keep your information for as long as I’m helping you plan or travel, and as long as I need it for booking records, tax, and legal purposes. If you’d like me to delete your information sooner, ask and I will, unless I need to keep it for one of those reasons. Information held by travel suppliers and Penyak Travel is also subject to their own retention practices.

How I protect it

The website uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and I limit access to your information to what’s needed to plan and book your trips. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so please don’t send full payment card numbers by email or text.

Your choices

You can ask me what information I have about you, ask me to correct it, or ask me to delete it. Contact me using the details below, and I’ll respond as soon as I reasonably can. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under your state’s privacy laws.

Children

This website is meant for adults planning travel. The planning form asks for children’s ages so I can find the right rooms and activities, but it doesn’t ask for their names. When you book, I collect children’s traveler details from their parent or guardian, only as needed for the reservation.

Changes to this policy

If my practices change, I’ll update this page and the “Last updated” date above.

Contact me

Questions or requests about your information? Email [email protected] or call (308) 991-0888.