This is Paul and this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome RacQuelle and Ron, creators of the fast-growing MH Family Adventures, YouTube channel, Instagram platform, and Facebook Group. MH Family Adventures is a growing YouTube cruise channel with 15k subscribers, and 55k followers across their various social media platforms. Feedspot lists MH Family Adventures as #40 on their recent list of the world’s top 90 cruise influencers. RacQuelle has cruised at a torrid pace since 2019—44 cruises and preparing to go on her 45th as a volunteer with Autism on the Seas (the special needs community is near and dear to RacQuelle and Ron).
RacQuelle Major-Holland is a Cruise Content Creator/Travel Influencer & Travel Agency Owner. She spent 19 years as an educator—uh that’s Dr. Major-Holland—before stepping out on faith to establish with Ron, Major Adventures Travelwhich focuses exclusively on cruise travel. RacQuelle’s first cruise was just in 2019 and now she has dozens of cruises behind her on a diverse selection of cruise ships. Ron is a workaholic and with the family traveling as much as they do, it has really forced him to learn balance (something he didn't have before, and RacQuelle feels is extremely important in life). Ron has worked in accounting for the last 25 years and has served as a business consultant for small to medium sized businesses.
As the name implies MH Family Adventures is truly a family affair. RacQuelle and Ron’s 3 children, Andrew, Dice, and Jo are seemingly in every video and photo although RacQuelle travels a fair bit solo or with relatives as the kids have school schedules and Ron has to work and watch the kids. And on several videos, I've seen where RacQuelle cruises with each of the children, one at a time.
I consider Cruise Bloggers, Vloggers, and Content Creators as Cruise Community Champions and have featured them throughout The Joy of Cruising Trilogy and on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Passionate cruisers like MH Family Adventures epitomize the joy of cruising; they are so passionate about cruising that they want to share it with the world!
It is my pleasure to chat with RacQuelle & Ron, and to share their story with the listeners of The Joy of Cruising Podcast.
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Paul C. Thornton started writing at 58 years old incited by the task of delivering a father-of-the-bride speech at his daughter’s wedding. Told to talk about memories of Kina growing up; among Disney trips, high school sports, proms, and first boyfriends, Paul divulged the most powerful memory of all, when Kina was six and his life changed forever. At the end of the talk—as they say—"there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.” It was both liberating and cathartic to release secrets that had tortured Paul for 30 years. Needing to hold on to that feeling of release and empowerment, when he returned to his hotel Paul started his memoir, provocatively titled White Man’s Disease.
Paul’s just completed book, The Joy of Cruising Again, is his fourth; the third in The Joy of Cruising trilogy, and follow-up to the fun, upbeat, award-winning The Joy of Cruising, and Cruising Interrupted. The Joy of Cruising Again is the finale of the series but Paul won’t give up his passion. Besides continuing to cruise as much as possible, Paul hosts The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a weekly conversation with one of the dozens of passionate cruisers featured in the books and other global cruise personalities.
The cruise-themed books are a stark departure from Paul’s debut: White Man’s Disease, a memoir described as “gripping and inspiring” in the press release announcing it as the winner of the North Street Book Prize for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction about Paul’s harrowing brush with death, the journey of recovery from trauma, resilience and ultimately transformation. White Man’s Disease is at once poignant, sad, tragic, funny, and compelling. (And, if I could get a dollar for everyone who asks what White Man’s Disease means, I would be a wealthy man!) Despite their very different subjects, at the heart of White Man’s Disease and The Joy of Cruising Trilogy is passion and how passionate people do wondrous things. Paul just started a sequel to White Man’s Disease; a fun, and hopefully inspirational tale called Gracefully. In addition, he is planning a podcast series that deconstructs White Man’s Disease.
Paul is originally from Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. After serving in the US Army and simultaneously earning a bachelor's degree in business, he attained his MBA and then spent concurrently, 17 years in corporate management, and 23 years in small business ownership. After leaving corporate, he started a career in higher ed. He earned a doctorate, attained tenure as a business professor, and subsequently moved into administration in Dean or Executive Director positions before retiring in 2021.
Paul lives in Mooresville, North Carolina with his wife Cheryl and considers cruising with their children and grandchildren life’s ultimate escape. Paul longs to cruise as much as the people he writes about in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy.
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