1. What do you do?
SerVacations is a group travel community celebrating service tourism that welcomes families, solo travelers, couples, and groups of all ages. Our trips combine volunteering with a fun-filled and uplifting vacation, leaving you feeling more connected to one another and the community you visit.
We specialize in single-day trips around Florida and other states and multi-day trips around the country, helping groups connect their members through travel — whether they are homeschool family groups looking for curriculum-based travel, seniors looking for a great way to see the world and give back, alumni associations looking to connect alums through travel to athletic events or destinations, or corporate groups that prioritize corporate social responsibility.
2. What's the coolest part of your job?
The coolest part of my work is seeing our guests' excitement at various tourist attractions and watching them connect with the partner charities we volunteer with as part of our itineraries.
3. Why are you passionate about it?
If you had asked me when I was seven, I would have told you I wanted to be a travel agent. My mom used to take our family on glorious summer vacations across the United States while my dad stayed at home to work.
That was pretty brave at the time without Waze, the internet, cell phones, or dependable roadside service! She would hand me a few maps and an AAA guidebook, and it was my job to decide where we would go, including our hotels and our route. It was also my job to navigate. I fell in love with building travel itineraries, all the wonderful destinations in America, and discovering hidden gems.
As I got older, I became interested in math, science, and computers. I decided that civil engineering may be a good career and that, with the advent of the internet, travel agents may be a thing of the past. I never realized what tour operators did or became knowledgeable about the industry.
After graduating from Georgia Tech with a degree in civil engineering and getting a certificate in economics at Ivan Allen College, I worked in heavy civil road construction while planning to return to the Scheller College of Business for business school. There, I studied real estate and finance and started a company that owned and operated bagged ice vending machines around Florida. After 20 years in business and real estate development, God gave me the vision in 2020 for a company that would combine my love for travel, volunteer service, and connecting people to new communities, and we created SerVacations.
4. Which skills from your IAC degree have helped you be successful in this career?
I was very blessed that the late William Schaffer called me at my dorm one day during my freshman year and asked me to consider the economics certificate program. It seemed like a great way to get the humanities classes I needed and a foundation in economic theory that would benefit me in business.
The skills I learned at Ivan Allen that have helped me the most across all of my previous careers were the study of urban and regional economics and the history of economics, which helped me analyze business cycles and see how politics impacts the markets. Most recently, in tour operations, I appreciate supply and demand more than ever, as well as negotiation and international economics.
5. What's your #1 tip for students and alumni interested in your field?
If you're trying to gauge whether a career in travel is right for you, what better way than to study abroad or co-op for a travel company? With so many online travel agencies, booking engines, and cloud-based travel-related companies out there now, graduates who are experienced in the intersection of history, technology, and international affairs and also have technical know-how are in very high demand.
Fred Carlson graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a certificate in economics in 2001. Check out what more of our Economics alumni are up to!
