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