Our Family’s Creative Journey

Welcome to Creative Journeys! We are the Harrison-Buss family, and after 50 years of experience, we are excited to inspire your next journey. Creative Journeys actively curates our destinations and suggestions with the help of our three-generation family leadership team. Above all, our goal is to help customize travel experiences for other families and for small groups based on our family’s creative journeys. We are excited to share our own journey in order to inspire yours!

The Early Days of our Family’s Journey

Creative Journeys Travel was originally created by Dan and Shirley Harrison in 1970. Their goal was to provide opportunities for high school band students to see the World. To do so, The Harrisons provided students travel programs in Europe and Hawaii that offered training and performing opportunities. In addition to performances, the Harrisons focused on connecting students with cultural learning experiences. 

When Dan Harrison retired from teaching in 1980, the Harrison family evolved Creative Journeys. Instead of serving students, the Harrisons began to serve those that reflected their travel desires: families and small travel groups looking for memorable and informative travel opportunities.

Becoming a Family Journeys Company

The Harrisons began to explore the World as a family, quickly realizing that customized small group and family-based travel was very unique compared to larger tour-group options. But with their previous experience, and the help of their daughter, Karen Harrison Buss, they began to pivot their focus. Thus, Creative Journeys evolved to focus on the unique experiences of traveling as a small group or family. Over 40 years later, Karen and her daughters, Nicole and Shannon, now run the daily aspects of the company, but all three generations still contribute. 

As a family, we have experienced everything from multi-generational trips to individual backpacking trips. While we have traveled with only adults, we have also traveled with baby carriers, wheelchairs, and everything in-between. Similarly, we have had the pleasure of experiencing everything from a mother-daughter trip to a 10-person extended group trip. With these experiences in our back pockets, we love to use them to help guide your travels, whether your group consists of two or twenty. Regardless, our goal is to help you plan unique journeys that meet the needs of each individual person and the whole group.

Looking Forward to new Creative Journeys

We are excited to start the next leg of our journey, by bringing more information to readers and clients through our website and social media. By transitioning our travel tips and guides to the internet, we look forward to serving the general inquisitive reader. Additionally, our website will provide a unified place for clients check for everything from their destination spotlights to travel tips. Through our website and travel planning services, we hope to help plan your family’s Creative Journey.