I have just finished one of the hardest tours I have ever done. I had a very nice 88 year old gentleman losing his mind while traveling on my coach. At times he thought he was in London, others he wondering where to get a meal when we all about to sit down together and eat. It was a struggle.
The fist indication of trouble was when he handed $110 US dollars thinking is was $2. I knew it was going to be a long week! I helped him to separate his money, broke up a few of his large bills and filled out the immigration card to enter the US from Canada. See the signs!
I had to help him into his hotel room as he couldn't find his room that night. The following morning he asked me to his room to help in look for things he had left behind - pants, shoes, jacket, passport..... This wouldn't be the only time during the week.
Of course as a Tour Manager/Leader my job is to look after the needs of the guests. Sometimes this means providing commentary, organizing a dinner reservation, taking their picture or even pointing them to the toilette. The problem with a person is a little out of their mind is they will get lost in the shuffle of a big group. Although tours stick together most of the time, they do have some time on their own particularly at major attractions, in the evenings and during lunch breaks. I have so many logistical things connected to running a tour, holding the hand of a guest is not possible. Even if it was, I deserve a break for lunch too!
Poor man was lost at the Rockefellar Center after I gave the group an hour to look around. He was on 49th and 6th as required but the NE corner rather than the NW corner. He could not see the bus waiting for him for over 30 minutes. Unfortunately I could not see him in the crowd even though I had half the coach, and all security in the local area looking for him! We did find him that day.
But eventually he really disappeared. Lost in Niagara Falls I had to leave him behind. Fifty people were flying out of Toronto and if our bus didn't leave we would not make the flight. After reporting him missing to every security guard, hotel, restaurant, and the police we departed. Ten minutes later he showed up and the hotel manager sent him in a cab to catch us. He was no longer the man the passengers were laughing about. Everyone was angry!
He made it home I hope, a little light in the pocket (I think he gave the NYC Tour Guide a $40 tip - gave me nothing!) I am sure his family was rightly concerned.
He was very close to being abandoned. Don't let your loved ones travel when you think they may be confused. If they are at all off in their home town, it will be a disaster overseas! This man almost didn't make it home.
Kirsten
Friday, April 5, 2013
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tour Guide Training - International Guide
Tour Guide Training - International Guide: "Travel Leader"
What does a Travel Leader really do? Are they supposed to be paid or simply be someone who travels for nothing in exchange for a free trip. Well as far as I am concerned the old cliché holds true. Nothing in life is free! A Travel Leader is a hard job and a "free vacation" it is not. Travel Leaders are expected to be a friend, mentor, doctor, and even psychologist. We host parties, take people to hospital, secure the best rooms in the hotel and even look after diet requests. We fight with hotel personnel, restaurant managers and coach drivers all in the name of our guests comfort. Does this sound like a free trip? Not to me. The job is actually very difficult and can have a lot of legal implications as well. A Tour Leader could end up in court if a passenger blamed a problem on them. How do you protect yourself? Well liability insurance helps, but more importantly how about avoid being blamed for a problem.
Tour Leading is a great career but, not without its downsides. Do it right and do it well. All the best in your travels!
Kay
What does a Travel Leader really do? Are they supposed to be paid or simply be someone who travels for nothing in exchange for a free trip. Well as far as I am concerned the old cliché holds true. Nothing in life is free! A Travel Leader is a hard job and a "free vacation" it is not. Travel Leaders are expected to be a friend, mentor, doctor, and even psychologist. We host parties, take people to hospital, secure the best rooms in the hotel and even look after diet requests. We fight with hotel personnel, restaurant managers and coach drivers all in the name of our guests comfort. Does this sound like a free trip? Not to me. The job is actually very difficult and can have a lot of legal implications as well. A Tour Leader could end up in court if a passenger blamed a problem on them. How do you protect yourself? Well liability insurance helps, but more importantly how about avoid being blamed for a problem.
Tour Leading is a great career but, not without its downsides. Do it right and do it well. All the best in your travels!
Kay
Sunday, June 28, 2009
I often wonder about what it would be like to be a Tour Guide in a bus crash. I wonder about the loneliness of being hurt and by myself. Having recently smashed up my car traveling alone, and feeling scared and hurt, I wonder how I would feel with a group of clients around me. I can't imagine wanting to be left alone any more! I would just want the moment to be about my getting well, of course the tour guides needs are not relevant on the trip!
Here is an interesting article about a bus crash in California involving French and Canadian tourists. Pretty scary. It seems that the driver was pretty bad. At what point do we as a guide insist the driver is pulled?
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/24/20090624buscrash24-ON.html
Kirsten Snowdon
www.traintheguides.com
Here is an interesting article about a bus crash in California involving French and Canadian tourists. Pretty scary. It seems that the driver was pretty bad. At what point do we as a guide insist the driver is pulled?
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/06/24/20090624buscrash24-ON.html
Kirsten Snowdon
www.traintheguides.com
Monday, December 15, 2008
How I got started Tour Directing
Tour Directing is never boring, well actually it can get tedious at times. But for the most part it is pretty eventful. I write about my experiences. The good, the bad and completely idiotic that goes on.
This blog is for all of those folks who can relate and all of the people that dream about working as an international guide. Oh, one more group may like this blog, the folks that take tours. It may shed some light about what really goes on behind the scenes. Whether I stretching out money somehow, working double overtime to get something done, or trying to get through the tour with copious obstacles I will write it here.
So how did I get started in the job? I wanted to get out of the small town I grew up in. That coupled with the idea that men around my town were boring, most of them couldn’t care less if they ever saw Rio’s beaches. I knew by about 17 I didn’t belong. I just didn’t quite know how I would get out.
I conducted a few student tours locally, taking 12 year olds down nickel mines. I loved being out on my own in a foreign place, even if it was just a few hours away. After attending a Tour Guide School and getting certified my life really took off. I started working throughout Ontario and Quebec. I took people to Niagara Falls regularly and to Montreal and Quebec City.
My first trip was actually a training tour. I had to observe the experienced Tour Director in action and learn the ropes. He put me through my paces making me do all his paperwork and treating me like a second class citizen. He was hard on me and I hated him. Funny enough we have grown to respect each other and 20 years later he is one of my biggest allies on the road! Once I was done I was starting my own tour.
The deal was I needed to be in a Toronto hotel to meet the guide upon departure. I would accompany the tour through Niagara Falls, Philadelphia and Amish Country before ending up in New York City. I would get one night there and fly to Montreal and begin my tour. Sounded simple enough, but nothing is ever simple in the coach tour business.
I arrived at the hotel the night before departure and left a message for the Tour Guide I was observing. I needed to know what time we were leaving in the morning. I didn’t hear back for a few hours so I hung out in the lobby around dinner time hoping to catch the bus tour coming or going. After 4 messages and several checks to the front desk I resided to my bed. If the guide wasn’t going to return my calls, I would show them how responsible I was and simply show up at 6:30 AM ready to go.
Visit me at www.traintheguides.com
This blog is for all of those folks who can relate and all of the people that dream about working as an international guide. Oh, one more group may like this blog, the folks that take tours. It may shed some light about what really goes on behind the scenes. Whether I stretching out money somehow, working double overtime to get something done, or trying to get through the tour with copious obstacles I will write it here.
So how did I get started in the job? I wanted to get out of the small town I grew up in. That coupled with the idea that men around my town were boring, most of them couldn’t care less if they ever saw Rio’s beaches. I knew by about 17 I didn’t belong. I just didn’t quite know how I would get out.
I conducted a few student tours locally, taking 12 year olds down nickel mines. I loved being out on my own in a foreign place, even if it was just a few hours away. After attending a Tour Guide School and getting certified my life really took off. I started working throughout Ontario and Quebec. I took people to Niagara Falls regularly and to Montreal and Quebec City.
My first trip was actually a training tour. I had to observe the experienced Tour Director in action and learn the ropes. He put me through my paces making me do all his paperwork and treating me like a second class citizen. He was hard on me and I hated him. Funny enough we have grown to respect each other and 20 years later he is one of my biggest allies on the road! Once I was done I was starting my own tour.
The deal was I needed to be in a Toronto hotel to meet the guide upon departure. I would accompany the tour through Niagara Falls, Philadelphia and Amish Country before ending up in New York City. I would get one night there and fly to Montreal and begin my tour. Sounded simple enough, but nothing is ever simple in the coach tour business.
I arrived at the hotel the night before departure and left a message for the Tour Guide I was observing. I needed to know what time we were leaving in the morning. I didn’t hear back for a few hours so I hung out in the lobby around dinner time hoping to catch the bus tour coming or going. After 4 messages and several checks to the front desk I resided to my bed. If the guide wasn’t going to return my calls, I would show them how responsible I was and simply show up at 6:30 AM ready to go.
Visit me at www.traintheguides.com
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