Privacy Policy

Effective Date: August 11, 2026

Website: https://www.southerlandjourney.com

Owner: Paige Gearing, d/b/a Southerland Journey

Contact Email: paige@southerlandjourney.com

At Southerland Journey, accessible from https://www.southerlandjourney.com, the privacy of our visitors and clients is one of our top priorities. This Privacy Policy outlines the types of personal information collected and recorded by Southerland Journey and how we use it.

1. Who We Are

Our website address is https://www.southerlandjourney.com. Southerland Journey is operated by Paige Gearing (sole proprietor), offering travel blog content, downloadable travel resources, affiliate recommendations, and custom travel planning/advisory services.

2. What personal data we collect and why we collect it

A. Personal Data Provided for Travel Advisory Services

When you work with us as a travel planning client or complete a travel inquiry form, we collect personal information necessary to plan and book your travel. This may include:

  • Names, phone numbers, and email addresses.
  • Dates of birth, passport information, loyalty program numbers, and travel preferences.
  • Payment preferences (processed securely via encrypted payment gateways).

B. Email Subscriptions & Contact Forms

If you sign up for our newsletter, contact us via email, or download a free resource (such as a packing checklist), we collect your name and email address.

  • Email Marketing Provider: Email newsletters and downloadable lead magnets are delivered via Mailchimp (or our designated email service provider). You may opt out of marketing emails at any time by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email.

C. Comments & Gravatar

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to assist with spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

D. Cookies & Automated Data Collection

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience, analyze site performance, and serve relevant content:

  • Comment Cookies: If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies for your convenience. These last for one year.
  • Login Cookies: If you log in or edit content, temporary cookies are set to handle login sessions and browser display choices.
  • Analytics Cookies: We use tracking tools (including Google Analytics) to understand how visitors interact with our content. These tools automatically record IP addresses, device types, operating systems, referring URLs, and pages viewed.
  • Social Media Pixels: We may use Meta (Instagram/Facebook) Pixels or Pinterest Tags to measure ad performance and deliver relevant content across social platforms.

3. Affiliate & Third-Party Disclosures

Amazon Associates Program

Southerland Journey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

  • Tracking: As part of the Amazon Associates Program, third parties (including Amazon) may serve content and advertisements, collect information directly from visitors, and place or recognize cookies on visitors’ browsers to track qualifying purchases for affiliate commission.

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties. We only share data with trusted third parties under the following conditions:

  • Travel Suppliers: When you book custom travel with us, your personal information (e.g., names, dates of birth, passport details) is shared strictly with the necessary airlines, hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, and destination management companies required to fulfill your bookings.
  • Service Providers: Data is shared with automated service providers necessary to operate our website and business (e.g., website hosting through Bluehost, email delivery through Mailchimp, and automated spam detection services like Akismet).

5. Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g., videos, images, social media posts). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

6. How Long We Retain Your Data

  • Comments: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically.
  • Client & Subscriber Records: Personal information provided for email marketing or travel planning services is retained for as long as necessary to provide services, maintain tax/administrative records, or until you request deletion.

7. What Rights You Have Over Your Data

Depending on your location (including rights under GDPR and CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to:

  • Request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Request that we correct, update, or permanently delete any personal data we hold about you.
  • Opt out of email marketing communications at any time.

Note: This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

8. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding your personal data, please contact:

Paige Gearing Southerland Journey

Email: paige@southerlandjourney.com

Website: https://www.southerlandjourney.com