What or who inspired you to become a tour director?
I’ve often said I was a tour director before ever being paid. I love showing people my home, and I love showing people new things. When I discover or am shown something new, I automatically think of other people who would appreciate it. So, it was logical to progress in this career. But like so many things in life, a twisting series of events led to my discovery of ITMI and tour guiding. I met the right people at the right time in the right places, and things unfolded serendipitously until I was settled as a tour guide.
How do you balance your personal life with your travel career?
One of the reasons I became a tour director was to have a good source of income and lots of free time to pursue my other passions. It just so happened that I fell into a sector of tourism that provided me with both. I now work about 5 to 6 months a year. During that time, I often disappeared from the world and worked without much contact with my non-working life. However, when I’m not working, I maintain my relationships with friends and family, pursue projects, travel to places I want to go in the way that I enjoy, and am afforded a freedom that not many people get.It’s a trade-off as my working months are not easy in my personal life, but I’ve been happy with the trade-off so far.
What qualities do you feel make for a good tour director?
Extroversion. If you don’t like talking or being the center of attention, this might be a hard career. However, if you enjoy people, this might be perfect. Tour directing is for you if you see the bright side of situations. Talking, relating, and connecting with people are this job’s best and most important aspects, so enjoying those things is paramount.
Passion. The greatest asset any tour director has is their personality and passion. These are contagious. If you’re excited, your guest is excited. If you’re enthusiastic, so is your guest. When described with passion, the most boring rock or uneventful town can transform into something filled with wonder.
Patience. Not everything is going to go right. Not every guest is going to be easy. There will be obstacles. It is the nature of the game. A cool demeanor and loads of patience are essential in getting through tough situations.
Thick skin doesn’t hurt, either. Let’s face it: we work in customer service. The ability to move past things and not dwell on the negative (whether it’s happening in your personal life or on your tour) is incredibly important.
What advice would you give to a first-time traveler?
Push your limits, if only a little. I once read that “While travel is about the unexpected, and giving oneself over to disorientation, tourism is safe, controlled and predetermined. We take a vacation, not so much to discover a new landscape, but to find respite from our current one, an antidote to routine.” Well, it doesn’t have to be like that. Knowing your boundaries and testing them is good for your soul. It fights entropy, routine, and boredom. It is the first step in discovering the world’s complexity, profundity, and mystery. As Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
What would it look like if you could design your own customized tour to reflect your passions?
I think it would be cool to design a tour that includes every form of transportation: walking, biking, driving, flying, swimming, boating, riding animals, etc. That would be fun.
I would also design something to create a deep cultural interchange between a place’s people and my guests. In the US: a day on a stock ranch, a day on a hippy commune, a day at an evangelical church, and a day with an immigrant. Or in Mexico: a day with a campesino, a day with a Huichol medicine man, a day with a police officer or politician, and a day with an entrepreneur. To understand a country and its people, you have to look at the complexity of the society. I would like to design a tour that creates empathy and understanding for a place and its inhabitants.
Name someone famous you’d like to travel with and where you’d like to take them.
Barak Hussein Obama and Kenya. I think we’d travel well together, and traveling around Kenya with him would be…interesting.
How has tour directing impacted your perspective of the world?
I lead tours in my professional life. I travel in my personal life. There is a distinction. I used to hold a certain amount of judgment towards my guests for their lack of imagination when doing group tours. In a sense, I used to hold judgment towards myself as well. Over the years, my view has softened. People are not all like me, and I am not like all people. Some people work ridiculous hours and don’t want to spend their free time planning a complex trip and trying to find hotels in peak season. Some people find their lack of linguistic skills a terrifying prospect in a foreign country. Some people enjoy a group dynamic. People go on tours for a variety of reasons and, in the end, it doesn’t really matter why. Even if you only put your toes in the sand, the important thing is going to the beach. Any form of travel is better than not traveling at all.
What advice would you give someone if they wanted to become a tour director or guide?
Talk to someone who has done it and get a complete and honest description of what it actually entails. Be patient, as your dream job may take a few years to get into, and you might have to shop around to get the experience and qualifications for the niche you’re looking for.
Be honest with yourself. I love being a tour director, but there are negatives. Are you prepared for these difficulties? Do you have the necessary attributes to be successful? Are you extroverted? Are you patient? Can you talk in front of people?
