Glamorous Jobs
There are those jobs that we all think "Wow, that would be SO cool to do that!" For each of us, they're different. Donna has one of those jobs that people think is awesome. She's a travel agent.
Granted, it does have some awesome qualities. She gets to immerse herself in going other places. However, its for other people, not her. Kind of a drag sometimes. She has to keep on top of what the hot destinations are, where it isn't safe to travel, where company XYZ is having their annual convention and basically keep track of a lot of stuff like all of us do in our jobs. However, there's a lot of information she's got to keep on top of that isn't as great. When's the rainy season in Europe? Is there a drought in Greek Isles? What's the conversion rate versus the dollar, anyway?
Still, sometimes, if you're lucky, there are some nice perks. She finally has an employer who believes that their agents should have first hand experience with the packages and tours they book. They have 'Familiarization Trips' and each TA gets to go on one each year. She's spent about 10 years in the business and this is the first employer that has sent her on trips. The previous employers all thought that reading about destinations was good enough.
Last fall, she spent a few days in Napa as her first employer provided trip. Was I wishing I was in her luggage? You betcha! Wine country, villas, pampering-sounds like my kind of vacation. She loved it. I got perks from it-she brought us some wine, woohoo! The pictures and the stories? To me, it just gave Donna more to fuel her passion for her job.
She called me the other day, very excited. She got approved for another trip, this time to Europe! She'll be spending six days in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. I'm so excited for her-that passport is finally getting some activity!
For 49 weeks of the year, she works at a desk-and one week, she gets to experience what all her clients do. She'll see someplace new and different that she's never been before. It's cool that her employer provides it and understands that it's easier to sell a vacation when you've experienced it yourself.
It's a bummer that those luggage weight limits are 50 pounds for European flights, otherwise, I'd be squeezing my butt into her bag. Just take lots of pictures for me, pretty please?
Granted, it does have some awesome qualities. She gets to immerse herself in going other places. However, its for other people, not her. Kind of a drag sometimes. She has to keep on top of what the hot destinations are, where it isn't safe to travel, where company XYZ is having their annual convention and basically keep track of a lot of stuff like all of us do in our jobs. However, there's a lot of information she's got to keep on top of that isn't as great. When's the rainy season in Europe? Is there a drought in Greek Isles? What's the conversion rate versus the dollar, anyway?
Still, sometimes, if you're lucky, there are some nice perks. She finally has an employer who believes that their agents should have first hand experience with the packages and tours they book. They have 'Familiarization Trips' and each TA gets to go on one each year. She's spent about 10 years in the business and this is the first employer that has sent her on trips. The previous employers all thought that reading about destinations was good enough.
Last fall, she spent a few days in Napa as her first employer provided trip. Was I wishing I was in her luggage? You betcha! Wine country, villas, pampering-sounds like my kind of vacation. She loved it. I got perks from it-she brought us some wine, woohoo! The pictures and the stories? To me, it just gave Donna more to fuel her passion for her job.
She called me the other day, very excited. She got approved for another trip, this time to Europe! She'll be spending six days in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. I'm so excited for her-that passport is finally getting some activity!
For 49 weeks of the year, she works at a desk-and one week, she gets to experience what all her clients do. She'll see someplace new and different that she's never been before. It's cool that her employer provides it and understands that it's easier to sell a vacation when you've experienced it yourself.
It's a bummer that those luggage weight limits are 50 pounds for European flights, otherwise, I'd be squeezing my butt into her bag. Just take lots of pictures for me, pretty please?
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