I thought I would begin my first every blog on my newly designed website with how it came to be that I ended up in this crazy world of being a travel agent for the past 37 years!
After about 2 years of college it was evident that there just wasn't anything on the campus, degree wise that appealed to me... I mean my grades were OK but nothing jumped out at me that I could say, YES, I can see myself doing that for the rest of my life.
My mother, who was a hairdresser, who had a client who's daughter was a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, actually mentioned the whole "how about something to do with travel?" idea to me. You see, each week she would listen to her client tell of how her daughter was off to these exotic places and having life experiences to die for, and it sparked my mothers interest for sure. It was 1982, and to date the only thing I had experienced was a cruise aboard the T.S.S. Festivale (yes that's me top left, with the yellow dress on in the picture below) with my senior class, so I was an inexperienced travel to say the least.
After looking into the whole Delta Stewardess (stew·ard·ess//noun: stewardess; plural noun: stewardesses
The year was 1980, and the travel bug had bitten!
a woman who is employed to provide meals for and otherwise look after the passengers on a ship or aircraft. ) thing, and making it to the 3rd level of interviews where they are about to fly you over to Atlanta for some pre training/personality screening, I decided being a glorified waitress at 30,000 feet was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. That and the fact that the only base camp openings they were currently offering was out of Cincinnati Ohio, I decided to look for something else. Keep in mind that this is WAY before the time of internet, fax machines or cell phones. So I dug deeper into this possibility of travel, and inquired with the girl who had handled our senior class trip, who said she had booked it through this travel agent at Scott Travel on Veterans Highway in Metairie, Louisiana. Now you know I picked up those Yellow Pages, looked up Scott Travel and proceeded to call that agency. Introducing myself to whomever answered that phone, I explained that I wanted to look into how I could become a travel agent. I was transferred to a nice lady who informed me that there was actually a "Travel School" run by two men, at a restaurant turned travel school. Their next enrollment, I found out, was to begin in just 3 short weeks, so we paid the $895.00 (which was a lot of money in 1982) and I was on my way to travel school!
Sitting in what use to be The Red Caboose restaurant in Metairie, Louisiana for an 8 week course I learned how to hand write airline tickets, Miscellaneous Tour Orders (something used to pay for vacations before electronic bank transfers lol) and figure international and Alaska taxes. With no internet in site I began to purchase travel books by the greats like Thomas Cook, Fodor's and several Pan Am World Guide books. I read them cover to cover, exploring the destinations and means to get around in exotic destinations, these books were my "Google", and my only means to gaining knowledge. There were no Travel Channel, so I couldn't be enlightened by Anthony Bourdains No Passport Required and any of the now many travel shows that take you to far off places from your couch.... if this was going to work, I had to become a sponge on all things travel, my adventure was off to a great start. I was a single, 20 year old, still living with my parents, looking for a job as a Travel Agent!