About Global CommUnity

Our mission is to create a Global CommUnity first by fostering meaningful connections among family members and then by engaging families with other cultures, all while leaving a positive footprint at home and abroad.

Founders and Owners

"We wanted more purposeful trips for our own families. Something that reframed how our kids experience the world while they were having the time of their lives. That is how Global CommUnity was born. What we came up with was too good of a thing to keep to ourselves, so we started selling these trips to our clients."

Christie Holmes
Co-Founder/Managing Partner

Christie's passion for other cultures began when she was a child living abroad. International exposure as a child not only opened her eyes to the sights and sounds of other cultures but was the germination of her curiosity for others. As an adult she continues to explore cultures starting in her own hometown of Nashville. As a yankee hailing from New Jersey with solid northern roots, she encountered her own version of cross-cultural immersion when she married a 5th generation southerner and permanently transplanted to the south.

Fostering of a broader worldview and exploring culture at home and abroad continues to grow in importance as she is raising teenage children of her own. She believes that travel is not only a valuable tool for crafting life-long family memories, it is an essential conduit to forming globally-minded children that will become the next generation’s leaders. Her hope and desire is that Global CommUnity will be an essential resource for families as they seek to explore the world, traveling on amazing trips, learning how to engage culture at home and abroad and making lasting impactful memories.

Christie received a BA from Furman University, 1990 and a Masters in graphic design from Portfolio Center, Atlanta, Georgia in 1993.

Keith Waldon
Co-Founder/Advising Partner

A native Texan, Keith Waldon began his career in luxury travel while still in college in Dallas as an intern for Rosewood Hotels. He continued his career there as a marketing manager after graduating from Southern Methodist University. Keith later spent 16 years as a senior executive for the international luxury travel network Virtuoso, where creating the Virtuoso brand and elevating the awareness of travel advisors were among his accomplishments. With 25 years in the luxury travel industry and a bit of a maverick Texan personality, Keith developed the Departure Lounge retail travel concept as a new way to engage travelers where they live. Based in Austin, Departure Lounge is now a franchise concept expanding to other cities.

Waldon has a 21-year-old daughter, who has traveled around the globe with him since she was born, and she is part of the inspiration of Global CommUnity.