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The LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday morning to celebrate the opening of Trips and Views Travel Agency.

Owner Violeta King said traveling has always been a passion of hers, and she wants to help others do the same.

“Ever since I was a little girl, you know, being born in a communist country after the big revolution, when we had it in 89, I really wanted to explore the world. My first opportunity to travel abroad was when I found a job on an ocean liner as a waitress. Docking for the first time in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico was just a life-changing experience for me. And since then, I always wanted to travel and connect with people.”

King is from Romania and moved to the United States after meeting her now husband while working on an ocean liner.

“I was born in the middle of Transylvania many years ago,” King said. “I grew up in a country in an era when everything was connected to magic, storytelling, costumes. I grew up with my grandmother, and she taught me everything I know, from cooking to taking care of the garden, and she taught me how to make some spells. But that’s a different story.”

King said after the revolution, she could travel, so she took full advantage of it.

“That really made a huge difference for me because I always learn from their life experiences, from their culture, and especially working on the ship, on ocean liners, and there were 35 different nationalities on board, they really opened my horizons,” she said.

Traveling for work helped her meet her husband, David,” King said.

“It’s a very romantic story,” King said. “We met in Paris on the river cruise. He was a passenger, and I was a hotel manager of the ship. He was the saddest person I had ever seen in my life. So I kept checking on him, and he just realized she really cares about me. We started talking for a couple of years, and when I came to visit him, he asked me to marry him in the airport.”

“I never thought in a million years that I’d meet my better half traveling, but you can we can find your love traveling,” King said.

King said Trips and Views specializes in river voyages, ocean cruises and tour packages all over the world.

For more information, visit www.tripsandviews.com.