Helping Sonoma Travel the World – Craig Adryan
Craig’s Sonoma Journey
This is the third of three stories about Craig’s relationship with Sonoma.
🟩 Chapter 1: I Visited Sonoma for 50 Years
🟥 Chapter 2: A Weekend Escape That Became Home
🟦 Chapter 3: Helping Sonoma Travel the World (You are reading this story.)
Helping Sonoma Travel the World begins below.
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After retiring to Sonoma, Craig Adryan discovered that one part of his career never really ended. Although he sold his travel agency, he continues helping many longtime clients—now including Sonoma friends and neighbors—plan memorable trips. Along with his love of local art, restaurants, and community, travel remains an important part of the life he has built in Sonoma.
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When my wife and I retired to Sonoma, we weren’t looking for another career.
We were looking for a community.
We found that community almost immediately. Our neighborhood became our social life. Our neighbors aren’t just neighbors—they’re our closest friends and the people who look after one another.
One of the pleasures of living here has also been discovering Sonoma’s arts community. One of my favorite collections is the artwork hanging in my home, almost all created by Sonoma artists I discovered through the Art Trails.
Good food and good wine remain part of everyday life here. I still have favorite restaurants around the Plaza, and I probably spend more time thinking about where to eat than I should.
Before retiring, I spent my career in finance and eventually owned a travel agency. I always joked that there is no such thing as a hobby business. It either makes money or loses money. Mine became a real business, and even after selling it, I kept many of my favorite clients.
Today I still organize trips for longtime friends from Sonoma, San Francisco, and even college friends from Ohio. Travel remains one of the great pleasures of my life, and it’s even better when you can share it with people you’ve known for decades.
Over the years, something else happened.
Many of the people I now help are my Sonoma friends and neighbors. Helping them plan special trips has become another way I stay connected to the community. I enjoy knowing they’re about to experience a place they’ve always wanted to visit, and I like hearing the stories when they return.
Looking back, I realize Sonoma has always represented the same thing for me.
First it was a weekend escape.
Then it became the place where my wife and I imagined retirement.
Today it’s the community where I continue doing many of the things I enjoy most—traveling, sharing good food and wine with friends, collecting local art, and helping people discover the world.
Helping people travel may not seem like building a community.
But communities are built through relationships.
Every trip begins with people, and every trip ends with stories.
I’m grateful that Sonoma has given me both.
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A career can continue after retirement.
Although Craig sold his travel agency, he still enjoys helping longtime clients and Sonoma friends plan memorable journeys.
Community is built through relationships.
Craig’s travel clients are more than customers. Many have become longtime friends, making travel another way he stays connected to the Sonoma community.
The arts enrich community life.
Collecting artwork from Sonoma artists allows Craig to support local creativity while surrounding himself with reminders of the community he loves.
Home is where passions continue.
Travel, good food, local art, and friendships all remain part of Craig’s life, demonstrating that retirement can be a time to deepen long-held interests rather than leave them behind.
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This story was developed from a recorded conversation with Craig Adryan. It is the third and final chapter of Craig’s Sonoma journey.
Sonoma Stories publishes stories soon after they are prepared so they can be shared with the community. Storytellers are welcome to revise, expand, or correct their stories at any time. If they ever decide they no longer want their story published, they may ask for it to be removed at any time.
