Travel Agent Training- Go With Someone New!

Miss Leslie was a travel agent for many years. Part of her travel agent training included taking chances and being adventurous! Enjoy!

For the first time my two sisters and I recently took a trip together. Not only did I get to know my sisters, to my surprise I discovered we are actually fun people!

As mothers it seems our sole purpose of planning a vacation has revolved around keeping the kiddies entertained. For this we’ve endured noisy and chaotic kid-friendly accommodations. We squandered insane amounts of money on crowded activities maneuvering around random children not our own. We spent copious time packing, unpacking, starting, stopping, standing in lines and stopping again- all this while strategically juggling vast amounts of random STUFF (and every variety sunscreen and water bottle) wondering, “When did I become a Sherpa?” Now really, do I resemble an octopus with six arms? Looking back, even the meals we planned nauseatingly enough resembled cuisine found in a school cafeteria!

We managed. We did it. The Family Trip! We all know that a “Trip” is a journey or excursion. Don’t forget it also means to “stumble or fall!”

Let’s look at the word “travel.” The origin stems from the Latin word “travail”-  meaning “torment, to torture, hard labor”. Yikes!  Does that sound like the foundation of fond memories with our children?

Someone once told me a trip is with your children-  a vacation is without them.

Think about the word “vacation” for a moment. It actually stems from the word “vacate.” To vacate an area is to go away from it. One is no longer responsible for our everyday, a respite. No running errands or getting up for work. No shuttling kids from activity to activity.  No offices. No dishes!

So with this in mind, try it! Go with someone new.  Leave the kids at home. The spouse too!  Find someplace crazy adventurous or easy and relaxing.  Eat whatever your heart desires! Maybe you even want to go alone? Sleep whenever YOU want! Carry only YOUR bags! Or pay someone to carry them for you. Get to know someone else. Maybe even yourself. One thing that you can always count on is that the real world will all be still waiting for you when you get back from your vacation.