I’ve always had a wanderlust spirit from an early age, which continued to grow into a passion for travel. In high school, I took a career test to see what job best suited me. My results stated that I should be a travel agent and I was assigned to a local travel agency for my work experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, I didn’t follow that path right away after high school. Over the years, I did a bit of corporate travel for an engineering firm I worked at, raised a family, taught piano, and went back to college and became an educational assistant and a behaviour therapist. It was several years later, when I was laid up for several months, that I decided to pursue my passion for travel. I began the educational process and put the pieces in place to get my business started, while also working two other jobs.
I officially started my company, SeetheWorld365 Travel in 2012, as an independent agent working in correlation with one brick and mortar company, one marketing company, two host agencies as well as a global consortium. I called my company, SeetheWorld365 Travel, because I wanted to help others discover and experience this beautiful world we live in. The ‘365’ is because there are no limits to when you can go.
I always enjoyed the challenge of putting together and booking the details of my own vacations. At age 16, I booked my first flight and thereafter, I continued organizing my trips once I was married and had a family. Back then, when we had to call in to book, I would often ask the person on the other end of the phone if they’d been to this particular destination, experienced a specific cruise, or resort, and found it unusual that they hadn’t. How can they offer assistance without personal experience or knowledge? I decided to immerse myself in continuous learning from not only reading and watching educational materials on travel, but to get out there myself, and personally experience the wonders of this world and obtain first hand experience to better serve my clients.
My first impression from my high school work experience until starting out as an agent, working hard with very little reward over the years, did not meet my expectations of what I envisioned being a travel agent to be. However, it took putting in over a decade of hard work, perseverance, gaining extensive knowledge of this industry, hands on experience, building up my clientele as well as embarking on my own, personal global travels, to arrive at a place where I can honestly say, I love my chosen career and can’t imagine doing anything else.
My favourite aspect of being a travel agent is two-fold. Receiving an email, phone call or message from a client that wants to book a trip. Even after 14 years, I still get excited to see “you’ve got mail.” Each trip is important and unique to me and I treat it as such. The second part is when I hear from my clients while in destination or when they get back home, excited to tell me what a fantastic time they’ve had and send me pictures of their experiences. That is what this job is all about, and what brings me joy.
My least favourite thing about my job would probably be all the paperwork that comes not only with the job itself, but with being a business owner. This takes away from the time that I’d rather spend engaging with my clients, planning and putting together their exciting travel itineraries.
I’ve mentored new agents in the past and one piece of advice that I would give these new travel advisors would be to put everything in writing. I have created forms for my clients to fill out, such as a travel request form, booking form, authorization and waiver forms. I always include as much information on their statements to include all the details discussed, what is included, excluded, recommended and advice. It is important to have everything in writing when operating a business for liability reasons.
Once the world opened up after the pandemic, there were many travellers who were very cautious about resuming travelling and those that just jumped right back in with both feet. This desire and demand for travel has continued to expand since then, with people wanting authentic experiences to destinations that they’ve only dreamed of going to. They no longer want to wait for someday, but embrace life and book those bucket list destinations.
The subject of using a travel agent VS booking their trips themselves will always have a difference of opinion in our society. There are a lot of misconceptions on what our job entails, how we operate and if we can get them a better deal. My clients have learned the value my services offer — the time, energy, resources and investment I put into their individual itinerary to meet their ideas, needs, requests, medical or dietary requirements and budget. They know that I am here for them to plan, organize, book, and manage their itinerary beginning-to-end or if they have any issues in their destination. They know I’m in their corner. I regularly receive requests from people who have previously booked things themselves and were so disappointed. An online booking platform doesn’t get to know you, your dreams, travel style or what is the best fit for a guided tour, cruise or resort. An agent is an experienced, educated, knowledgeable person who has access to so much more, uses reputable, preferred suppliers, global contacts and resources to help find the best possible option for each client’s request.
I have some pretty amazing clients that I work with. Many are long time, loyal, repeat clients. However, I regularly receive new requests from referrals, my website, google or social media. I have two different demographics of clientele. The first one is 30-45 who usually request sun vacations and honeymoons. The second demographic is 60-85 who enjoy tailor-made, global bucket list trips. I’ve had travellers right out of high school that have no idea what to look for or how to plan a trip. I love working with these fresh new travellers and educating them with travel tips and information, opening their eyes to see the world.
I’ve had the privilege of travelling to some wonderful places. I would say that the most memorable adventure for me was when my husband and I took our trip to Kenya in 2018. Words cannot describe all the experiences we had. After personally researching and planning every detail of our customized itinerary for 18 months, we embarked on and experienced a trip of a lifetime. My advice to people is don’t wait for someday. Dream, plan and go!
The most expensive trip that I’ve ever booked was approximately $70K. It took a year of meticulous planning and organizing every component of the incredible first class, tailor-made itinerary to three Asian countries.
My company has a fee schedule for the different types of itineraries I put together. I charge these fees just like any other professional business because I know the value of my services, the time and energy I invest in every travel request I receive. I’ve invested in my education, business, licenses, memberships, insurances, marketing and personal travel for the sole purpose of being able to better serve my clients. I specialize in global tailor made itineraries, which requires a minimum of 30 hours. If clients cancel, and any commission that might have been made, is not only lost, but I’ve worked those 30 hours for free. A lot of our bookings are for a year or two in advance. If our clients do travel and the trip is not canceled, we have to wait until after they travel to receive anything from the suppliers. In the meantime, we have bills to pay, just like anyone else. The only guaranteed form of income is the professional travel planning and management fees that I charge up front.
