Departures

It's that time when one can let go of all the stresses, to do lists, anticipation: it's now! Lock the door behind you and off you go!
This is probably one of the reasons I ended up in the travel business. Because it doesn't matter to me if I am leaving with a group on a long tour or with friends on a weekend jaunt. It is the unknown that is exciting.

I remember when I left on a first class flight (first and only time!) offered by Singapore Airlines to join their top managers for a meeting on Public Affairs. Actually I was so concerned about the business that I didn't quite take full advantage of that luxury. But I ended up in a cockpit used for training, wow! That other time when I went for my Christmas vacation to Burma for the first time (I hate the new name Myanmar!) -it was the year 2000- where I met a group of women with whom I'm still friend after many years.

Bagan, year 2000

And when alone I drove up the Black Mountains looking for quilts (I was so terrified that I took a one way road on the wrong direction that was only for trucks!).            

On all these occasions I had no idea of what the trip was going to be, what kind of people I was going  to meet or travel with, next to whom I was going to be sitting for hours on the plane. Every single time I met interesting people I thought I would never forget, but of course I did. But not all. For some small details -a comment, a gesture- they stay in my memory and appear from time to time in my mind to say hello.

Once I was flying from Milan to London and next to me on the other side of the aisle a man was sitting looking very pale. When the plane started moving he turned to me and said "can I hold your hand?" He was terrorized. We held hands until we landed, then said goodbye.

Recently I joined a small group of really great people for just a weekend adventure. Jaunts and road trips are for me the best, but only if they are in the Southwest desert. Nothing can beat the amazing landscapes of the Four Corners!  I knew only a few but it seemed that we had grown up together. A weekend made of simple things: one found some fun stuff in a highway store, another one sang cowboy songs all along, some had a bit of dope, and others just discovered each other. We were alive, happy, and worry-less.

Even when I ride on a coach with some 20 or 30 people, despite the tension and long days, we create a sort of micro-world that becomes our cocoon for some time. Suddenly we share personal stories, memories, photographs, always medications (!) and often sing and cheer at the old CDs I bring on my tours.

Strangely, it's when you are with someone you never met before that you feel you can be yourself. Together, in those moments, or days, we share everything: excitement, discoveries, music, food and everything else around us. It's magic!

Departures are for me the salt of life.

A Day in the Life of a Travel Designer

My life is intense and very exciting. I love it!
Not a day goes by without speaking with someone interesting or stumbling upon news during my Google searches that capture my imagination or that are useful in one way or another.
Although I often feel I would like to turn off the phones -and cell- to avoid all those irritating marketing messages, throw my computer in the deepest canyon with everything in it, and leave the tablet in my cats' paws, I must acknowledge that Internet is an amazing tool, that Skype makes my life easier, and, yes, the phone can be a great communication tool.
I never know what follows a sound announcing an e-mail or a phone call! I love suspense!

Let me give you an example of a typical day in my life.

After the shower, with three minutes left before meeting my clients...a Skype call (darn...forgot to turn it off).

An old biz friend starts with "remember me?"  Me thinking: kind of, but said "of course" with my best enthusiastic tone of voice. Brief: he needs a French speaking driver/guide for a couple of seniors (75 and 80 yrs old!)  who have already a pretty good idea of their two weeks tour of the Southwest. Oh dear, there is no such figure around! Have to ponder later. Stuck a Post-it on the computer. "thank you for thinking of me, I will get back with you with a positive answer asap!" How? Where? Who? I don't have time now.

On that sunny but chilly morning I was with a group of lovely people talking about agricultural traditions in New Mexico when my cell sent a gentle sound announcing a new message. As soon as I was able I took a quick look:

someone looking for a "reptiles" tour! What?!!

A sudden text message drops in my cell...someone is in Taos and wants me to get the Pueblo to open. I know I told them it was closed for a while and in any case I don't have THAT kind of power. But I had to listen to all their complaints and then repeat what they already knew. Done.




I get back at my desk by mid afternoon and find a message on the answering machine: a group wants a tour of churches. They said that they found it on our website...ehm...really? True, but it is just a short tour idea published back then; it will require some work and updates. Tomorrow?

Often I think that I should learn to delegate more, but I always come to the same conclusion: no. The main reason is that I love solving problems and finding solutions. I like designing travel programs!

Before leaving in the morning I set aside a message from an Italian tour operator asking for a botanical tour in California. Now I'll have to deal with it. Too bad I have such a tour almost done, but in Arizona!

The day, day light, comes to an end. Time to sit quietly at my computer and work on an endless budget. I know there are mistakes there, I have a special gift for feeling this kind of things; though not to solve them!
Dinner? Maybe later. What's in the fridge? I know the answer: nada! Oh well, I'll come up with something, I certainly have some jam and crackers.

So I open the damn document that has all the colors of the rainbow and their nuances to remind me of my thinking. Black=the base I have to work on; Red (shades of)=wrong/re-do/control; Green=to do; Purple=danger/recalculate; Brown=set aside for later; Turquoise (my favorite)=income;

What was THAT sound? Sure, an e-mail! How could I forget for a moment my client from "down under"? The voice at the other end of Planet Earth says the usual: can you please include another stop there? We got a new participant (who by the way only eats gluten-free food...!), maybe he will be joined by his son but we'll see about this later (my mind immediately has a question: King bed or 2 Queens bed?). Could you make rosemary bouquets to give to our guests at that dinner...you know, it's a tradition. Speaker xyz will not be with us at the dinner but if you arrange a Skype call he will be with us that way. Me: yes, of course, no problem, doable....

So I open the itinerary document and begin making the changes and realize that some are impossible. I write back to the client right away who answers immediately...and this goes on for a lo-o-o-ng time. It's almost Midnight, I MUST eat something and get back to the budget.
                                                                                            
At this point I start dreaming of soft pillows and scented sheets.... 

Not all my days are like the one I just wrote about (thank you, Universe!), but I can say that life, my business life, has often surprises for me that explain why, as once my doctor said to me, I function on adrenaline. I wish it tasted of vanilla!

All this requires flexibility, in the brain! Luckily I developed this skill over my years as a communications consultant when my clients spanned from fast-moving consumer goods to banking, computers, fashion gurus and automobiles.

Where else but in New Mexico (and the Southwest) can one address this variety of requests knowing there is an answer?

Now that I told you the story of a day in my life, I want to add something: there are much more important businesses, much more consuming jobs, many more people who with their work make important positive changes in human lives. Mine is just an interesting and stressful kind of work that I happen to like but I don't feel it helps humanity. Maybe, just maybe, it may open some people's mind!