Travel Blog

IMPORTANT – If booking international travel, PLEASE make sure you have a valid passport at the time of book. Also, COVID Travel, Testing and Health Requirement information is provided by your Travel Advisor as guidance only and can change without notice. Always reconfirm information by checking government & airline websites before booking and traveling.

Salt Lake City, UT (March 25, 2021) — Morris Murdock and Columbus Travel announced a merger agreement to strengthen and enhance travel programs and opportunities available to the traveling public. The combined company will be the largest seller of leisure, vacation, cruise, escorted tours, meetings and incentive travel in Utah and the intermountain area.

Morris Murdock Travel Columbus Travel mergerMorris Murdock and Columbus Travel are well known travel companies in the intermountain area. Both Morris Murdock and Columbus offer strong vacation and family travel and escorted tours to domestic and international destinations. Additionally, Morris Murdock operates Black Pearl Luxury Services. Morris Meetings & Incentives (MMI), a division of Morris Murdock Travel, enjoys a national and international presence for incentive, award, and meeting travel. The incentive travel departments of MMI and Columbus will be combined.

Morris Murdock's president at the time, Brian Hollien, commented on the merger, “We are excited to combine the strengths of both companies and offer the traveling public and companies increased value and more destinations and travel options.” Hollien will serve as president of the combined travel company. Mark Faldmo, president of Columbus Travel, echoed Hollien’s statement, “We have always had a great respect for Morris Murdock Travel and are looking forward to combining the strengths of both companies to enhance the travel experience of our clients.”

Read more ...

In the last ten years I have clients who have asked me to build a trip around a concert they wanted to attend somewhere in the world. I think it is a fabulous idea. For many of us music is a part of life and is interconnected with travel. Music has the power to transport you to faraway lands, lyrics can inspire you to explore new cultures. Listening to a particular song can take you back to a memorable journey.

When I listen to The Buena Vista Social Club, I think of my trip to Cuba. When I listen to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, I am transported to Africa. When I listen to Andrea Bocelli, Italy comes alive. When I think of Prague, I relive the classical music concert I attended in a small church. Every trip I have taken is linked to music.

I can help you discover the world one music at a time.

I would be honored to help you plan your next vacation wherever your dreams might take you! Please contact me at (801) 483-6533 or to view my full travel biography, please click this link.

Bon Voyage!

Murielle Blanchard
Black Pearl Luxury Services
A division of Morris Murdock Travel
(801) 483-6533
email me

I am not a shopper at home and even less when I travel. If I bring back any souvenir at all, it must relate to somebody I met, an event I attended or an experience that changed my life.

On the island of Ua Huka (Marquesas Islands) I bought a Tahitian ukulele. I met the old man who made it. He is the last one of the ukulele sculptors on the island. In Kenya I bought a beaded intricate necklace used by Masai women during their traditional dances. I bought it from a woman who comes from the village of Umoja Uaso ("unity" in Swahili, the Uaso Nyiro is a nearby river). The village, founded in 1990, is an all-female matriarch village located near the town of Archers Post in Samburu County, 240 miles from the capital, Nairobi.

Twelve years ago, I helped a refugee family from Myanmar to adjust to their new life in Salt Lake City. To this day they are still a second family for me, and I have a strong bond with one of the daughters. When I visited Myanmar, she asked me to bring her back a traditional Burmese wedding dress. Looking for the dress added a meaning to my trip.

Read more ...