A travel advisor must often wear many hats, from ticketing agent, financial advisor and life coach, to entrepreneur, concierge and, in my case, military personnel. It’s true. When I first began my career as a travel agent nearly 20 years ago, I was also serving full time in the Canadian Air Force. I am a mother of four, and had always dreamed of travelling the world with her family, something that proved to be very difficult with a limited vacation budget. So, when I heard about a coworker making some extra money as a travel agent, I jumped at the chance. In 2006, after returning to Canada from an overseas deployment, I began researching how to become an independent travel agent and, before I knew it, set forth on a new career path.
I made the decision to leave the Air Force in 2012 and take on travel full time. Since then, I have seen over 30 countries with my husband, Rick, who also owns fareconnect.com and is the CEO. The travel industry is everything I have imagined it to be and even more every day. Coming to work is not work, I pack my passion on the drive to the office.
Being a travel agent is worth it many times over. It’s a career path where you get to set your own schedule, make people happy, live out your clients’ dreams and your passion for travel. It does take effort and commitment, but the work is enjoyable and rewarding in so many ways. Never a dull moment in our world.
Happy to say I love every day in my job!
Life balance is so important in our job. I learned early on how important it is, especially new to the industry agents. Plan out your training either weekly or monthly. Set goals and use a vision board to meet your goals. By working on your business instead of in your business you will have no problem succeeding.
Since the pause we have had in our industry, I am still seeing a lot of clients travel outside the normal travel lifestyle. Between cruising, river cruising and land tours is still our highest demand.
My referrals have increased in the last few years. Clients are wanting the safety blanket for travelling knowing that they have a contact from the beginning of their planning until they return home.
The average age of my clients is 45 plus. I do have the younger generation that are using my services mainly for FIT travel. Why? They are wanting more of a security blanket while travelling on FITs and deal with my experience travelling eases their travel experiences. Any surprises? Surprisingly enough they absorb all the advice they receive.
One trip, however, stands out among many experiences over 30 countries in 12 years. Rick and I spent our 30th wedding anniversary on a Seabourn cruise in 2021 with only 68 passengers on board. Shane Buksh, Seabourn’s Director of National Accounts-North America, arranged a wonderful surprise for us, gathering most of the passengers in the theatre to watch a heartfelt video sent to us from our children, family and friends back home, wishing us a happy anniversary. The tears were flowing! We felt like royalty during the entire cruise, and we got to spend it with our close friends who are also in the industry. It’s a memory I’ll cherish every day.
The most expensive single trip was a Uniworld River Cruise for a couple.
Since the pause in travel we had, it has been easier to explain to clients the reason behind charging a plan-to-go fee. They appreciate the value they receive on charging a fee.
