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What the shoes beside us can teach us about the people we lead.
I just returned from the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA) conference, surrounded by over 1,000 people who share a love of travel.There were conversations everywhere. Old friends reconnecting. New introductions. Ideas being exchanged. People hurrying from one meeting to another.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, my attention wandered.I started looking at people’s shoes.
It may sound a little odd, but try it sometime. Sit in an airport, a restaurant, a hotel lobby, or find yourself in the middle of a conference with hundreds of peopleand look down.
There are comfortable sneakers, polished shoes, sandals, boots, heels, well-worn favorites, and perhaps a brand-new pair bought especially for the occasion.
And I found myself wondering:
Why did they choose those shoes today?
Were they expecting to walk for miles on the conference floor? Did they want to look professional? Were they headed somewhere afterward? Or were these simply the shoes that make them feel most like themselves?
Some looked as though this might be their first SYTA conference, ready for whatever adventure came next. Some looked ready for business. Some looked wonderfully comfortable.And having lived long enough to make a few questionable shoe choices myself, I must admit, some looked like they might hurt by lunchtime. I chose comfortable ones.
But then my mind wandered somewhere else.
Maybe shoes tell us a little about someone. But they don’t tell us nearly enough. They don’t tell us what road that person traveled to get here.
For a Tour Director or Tour Guide, a trip may begin when the first guest arrives.For the traveler, the journey may have begun years earlier.
The woman in the walking shoes may have dreamed of seeing Italy since she was a teenager. The gentleman in the hiking boots may be taking his first trip since retiring after 40 years of work.
Someone may have saved a little from every paycheck to be there. Someone may be traveling for the first time without the person who was beside them for decades. Another traveler may have wondered whether age, mobility, finances, fear, or simply lifewould keep them from ever taking this journey.
And yet, here they are.Their shoes made it to the same place yours did.There is something rather beautiful about that.
Those of us who work in travel probably think about shoes more than most people realize. We remind travelers to pack comfortable walking shoes, be mindful of cobblestones, weather, and terrain, and be prepared for what the day ahead may bring.
But perhaps shoes can remind us of something, too.Everyone experiences the same road differently.
We often hear that you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes.Maybe.But I think there is something much more important to remember: you can’t know the road someone has traveled simply by looking at them.
A guest walking slowly isn’t necessarily being difficult. The person who keeps asking questions may be nervous rather than demanding. The traveler hanging back from the group may be shy, overwhelmed, tired, or simply taking everything in.
Someone who seems quiet on the first day may be the person making everyone laugh by day five. And the guest who appears completely confident may be quietly wondering whether they belong.Great hospitality begins when we stop assuming we know someone’s story and become curious enough to discover the person.
Same Itinerary. Different Journey.
Imagine 40 travelers beginning the same walking tour.On paper, everyone is having exactly the same experience:
9:00 AM — Guided Walking Tour
But they aren’t.
One traveler can’t wait to get started. Another is looking at the cobblestones, wondering whether their knees will hold out. Someone is thinking about the history they are finally going to see, while someone else is wondering where the nearest restroom might be.One person wants to photograph everything. Another wants to put the camera away and simply take it all in.And somewhere in the group may be a traveler thinking:
I can’t believe I’m really here.
Forty people may be following the same itinerary, but each is having a very different human experience.Understanding that is part of what separates simply managing an itinerary from truly leading people.
We’ve All Worn the Wrong Shoes
Most of us have probably made this mistake at least once.You put on a pair of shoes in the morning, and everything feels fine. Then there’s a little rubbing. A little discomfort. A few more blocks and suddenly those shoes are the only thing you can think about.The person walking beside you may have absolutely no idea.
Travel can be like that, too.We don’t always know what another person is carryingor what is making their particular journey harder that day. The discomfort may be physical. Or it may have nothing to do with their feet at all.
That’s why empathy matters.
We’ve all heard the expression “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” Maybe there’s a reason it has lasted so long.
For a Tour Director or Tour Guide, we may never know exactly what it feels like to walk someone else’s road. But we can notice. We can listen. And sometimes, we can simply slow down and walk beside them.
This Is What Professionalism Looks Like in Travel
A professional Tour Director or Tour Guide needs to understand the itinerary, timing, logistics, destinations, and countless details that keep a tour moving.But some of the most important skills are harder to put on a schedule.
To stay human and connected as a Tour Director or Tour Guide in this fast-paced world, notice who may be struggling without making them feel embarrassed. Listen long enough to understand the question underneath the question. Recognize when someone needs information and when they may simply need reassurance. Know when to lead from the frontand when to slow down and walk beside someone.
These may seem like natural qualities, but turning them into consistent professional skills takes training, practice, and experience. Professional Tour Director and Tour Guide training isn’t only about knowing where to go. It is also about learning how to lead the people going there with you.
Sometimes the Smallest Moments Become the Story
Ask someone about a trip they took ten years ago and see what they remember.Of course, they may remember the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon, the Colosseum, or their first glimpse of the ocean.
But listen a little longer. Often another story appears.
The guide who noticed they were nervous.
The driver who helped with their bag.
The stranger who became a friend.
The shopkeeper who stayed a little longer.
The person who made them laugh when everything had gone wrong.
The Tour Director who remembered their name every day and to this day.
The moment someone simply made them feel seen.Those moments rarely appear on an itinerary. Yet sometimes they become the part of the journey we remember most.This may be one of my favorite things about group travel.People arrive from different places, different generations, different backgrounds, and very different lives.
At first, they are strangers.Then someone saves another person a seat. Someone offers a hand getting off the motorcoach, stepping onto a train, or navigating a subway. Someone notices that a fellow traveler hasn’t come down for breakfast. Stories get exchanged over dinner. Laughter starts appearing in places no itinerary could ever schedule.
And by the end of the journey, the people standing together for that final photograph may look very different from the collection of strangers who arrived on day one.Not because their shoes changed.
Because their relationships did.
People often ask what makes someone good at being a Tour Director or Tour Guide.You have to care about people.
You don’t need to know someone’s entire story. You don’t need to fix everything. And you certainly shouldn’t assume you understand someone because of their age, appearance, ability—or the shoes they are wearing.
You simply need to remember:There is a story there.
That is what makes working in travel a little like jazz to my soul. No two days are ever really alike. The people you meet bring lessons, stories, and new experiences you never thought possible.And perhaps that unpredictability is part of what makes this work so extraordinary.
What Story Do Your Shoes Tell?
Since returning from SYTA, I’ve continued thinking about all those shoes. And, well, that’s how you ended up reading this story, and of course, if you are still reading.
Hundreds of pairs gathered in one place because, in one way or another, travel brought us there.Some had probably crossed continents. Some had hurried through airports.And I’m quite certain a few were kicked off under the dinner table during luncheons.But every pair belonged to a person with a story.The next time you’re at an airport, a restaurant, a conference, or simply walking down a busy street, look down.Not to judge. Just to wonder.
Where have those shoes been?What did it take for the person wearing them to get here?Where might they be going next?And then, before you walk away, look at your own.
What story would your shoes tell someone about you?
Where have they taken you?What have they helped you through?Were there times they were uncomfortable, but you kept walking anyway?And where are you hoping they’ll take you next?
Perhaps that is one of the beautiful things about travel. For a little while, people who have walked very different roads find themselves walking the same one.
So, thank you, SYTA, for becoming part of my shoe story. And yes, after spending all that time noticing everyone else’s shoes, I have to confess, I brought two different pairs myself. Apparently, even my shoes needed a change of scenery.
Different shoes. Different stories. One journey.
And to the Tour Directors and Tour Guides who have the privilege of leading those journeys, never forget: You may not know the story behind every pair of shoes.
But you have the privilege of becoming part of where they go next.
Explore what it means to become a professional ITMI Tour Director and Tour Guide.
