Goal in Reach: I Got My First Over-the-Road Trip!

Although the biggest turning point in my career has happened in the last two weeks, I have yet to write about it, thinking that no one was really reading these blogs anyway. Every once in a while there is a comment -- thanks mostly to one of my former students (thank you, Gillian!), but most of the time I have no idea if anyone is reading this. Someone told me there is a way to see if blogs are viewed; I guess I need to figure that out. Then last night at my elementary school reunion (yes, elementary school, and it was an absolute trip -- this one figuratively rather than literally), one of my former classmates told me he enjoys reading my blog! Really, Ron...you are actually reading these? It made me feel so good that I decided it was time to carry on (thank you, Ron!).

I got a job! (Can you hear my exhilaration?)

About two weeks ago I stopped at Fireflies, a small restaurant in Del Ray that specializes in pizza; I almost never order pizza, but I had a craving for their upscale specialties. As I sat at the bar waiting for it to come out of the brick oven, I was checking my e-mail on my iPhone as I always do, and there is an e-mail from Globus Tours saying that I was highly recommended from ITMI, and they had some fall tour openings. If I were interested and available, they would set up a phone interview. It was all I could do to contain myself in the restaurant, but as soon as I walked out, I was on the phone calling everyone, starting with my dad: I had a job interview! And it sounded very promising.

That was a Friday, and since I got the e-mail around 7:30, I knew I had to wait until Monday to get a response. By 5:30 Monday night I was getting anxious, until, finally, there it was -- an e-mail asking me for a time and date for the call. About the same time I learned that Bob, my friend and colleague from ITMI got the same e-mail. His interview was set for Tuesday at 5:30; mine would be Wednesday at the same time. I asked him to call me immediately and let me know the questions; he followed me on the DC and NY tour guide tests, and I gave him all of the questions I remembered. When he called he told me that it wasn't much of an interview; she asked what he had been up to since graduating ITMI and then told him he was recommended and asked which tour he wanted! Now I was even more excited and assumed I would have a similar experience. 5:30 the next night I received the call. But she didn't even ask me what I have been up to; perhaps that is because I sent her an updated resume just a few weeks before or perhaps she was just so tired of interviewing and anxious to get her tours filled. First question was which tour I wanted to do! I told her that even though I would love to travel the National Parks of the West (she had previously explained that she had openings for three tours -- the national parks, fall foliage, and Eastern U.S./Canada), I should probably stay with what I know. I was booked on the Eastern U.S. and Canada Grand Vacation Grand vacation.




At first I was disappointed that the tour was with Cosmos, the budget division of Globus. The tour itself was almost exactly the same as the higher end Globus version, but it includes no meals and a lower class of hotels. When I thought about it, as a tour director with a per diem for food, no meals was good. I could eat when and where I wanted during "free" time or what I wanted on our lunch stops. When I looked up the hotels online, they were all fine, although in a few cases a bit out of the way of the town center. Most importantly, I had a tour despite my concern that it wouldn't come for months, or even years.

I would do the tour three times: the first time is a training tour. I get paid to take the tour and learn. Then, after two days in New York, just in time to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, I fly home for another two days before meeting my first over-the-road tour back at the Skyline Hotel for two back-to-back 14 days tours of 9 cities in the Eastern U.S. and Canada.

Who would take this tour? We start in Manhattan for a night and a morning city tour with lunch at Grand Central Station before heading north to Boston for two nights where we have a city tour and an optional harbour cruise. The hotel is out in Brookline, so it's not an easy walk to the city center. From Boston we have a long drive past the Canadian border to Quebec for two nights followed by a night in Montreal and another in Ottawa before stopping for two days in Toronto. Each stop includes a city tour, most with a step-on guide. However, our bus tour of Toronto is guided by the TD (me), so I have a little learning and research to do. Our last stop in Canada is Niagara Falls before making the very long trip south to Lancaster, PA and home of the Amish. After a night at the Lancaster Host Hotel, where I spent a few family vacations as a child, we continue to Washington, DC. It is a wonderful coincidence that the DC hotel is actually in Alexandria, just a few blocks from my condo, giving me time to go home, get my mail, and do some laundry before heading back to New York by way of Philadelphia and picking up the second tour. A total of 9,000 miles in 45 days! It made sense that many of the clients are from Great Britain, New Zealand, and Australia, people who flew far distances to see as much of the countries as possible.

When I was in Napa Valley this winter I purchased a 98-point Cabernet, planning to hold it until I got my first tour. I truly thought it would have at least a year more to age. Now I just have to decide with whom to share it.

Beyond the Tourist

The state of the economy has made breaking into tour directing difficult at best, so I decided to concentrate on two avenues: developing my own tours through Beyond the Tourist Tours LLC (I actually followed through and not only got my Alexandria business license, but also became an LLC to protect my assets) and ensuring student tours in the spring. The summer heat wave has made the walking tour quite undesirable, so I am concentrating on evening tours in hope that the cooler night will be more enticing. I also am concentrating on Old Town Alexandria; this is where I live and know the best, so why not start right at home.

The work starts with research. I am very surprised how much I love the research, almost as much as the tour itself. When I find a story that I think would be a great addition to a tour, it's like finding a hidden jewel. But I also learned that a lot of people aren't as interested in the historical aspects as I am. The tour of historic homes in Old Town was great, although the wine-tasting at Prince Michel's on King Street was what really pulled it together. On that tour I asked for ideas, and Randi Adleberg had a great one: Sex and the Old Town.

I started researching immediately. I learned that there were 75 brothels in Old Town during the Civil War, a great place to start. I already knew the story of George Washington's love interests in other local women, and I could bring that to the tour. In my research I learned the legend of the Female Stranger whose husband carried her to Gadsby's Tavern (then City Hotel) where she died. She was buried in an expensive funeral in the Old St. Paul's Cemetery; when they came to collect the $1,000 from her husband, he had disappeared. Her ghost is said to still roam Gadsby's Tavern.

A trip to the local history room at the Barrett Library was particularly helpful. The librarian helped me find some great resources, and when I located several of the brothels with good stories, he also helped me translate the addresses since the streets were all renumbered after the Civil War. A tour of Sex and the Old Town wouldn't be complete without the biggest modern scandal -- the sex shop on King Street (now there are actually two of them, but Lotus Blossom, the more upscale one, closes too early for the tour). I have tried several times to contact the central office of the store as suggested, but they don't call back, so we will just visit the store at the start of the tour. We will end the tour with a fancy cocktail at PX, the speakeasy in Old Town. Reservations are limited to 6, so I limited the tour to 12 and will make two separate reservations. You can preview the tours with pictures on Facebook on Beyond the Tourist Tours page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Beyond-the-Tourist-Tours/119823191393227?ref=ts

At this point I am happy developing the tours (and very happy that I can live on my retirement since I am not making any money yet) and knowing that the student tours will come in the spring. World Strides has promised employment for the student season which is fron March 1 through July 1. Gerber Tours has said that they would hire me as well, and Capitol MusicFest, who gave me my first break, said that they would give me as much work as they can, but they are a small company. My priority is to work for Capitol first; I like them and I like the way they do their business. Gerber Tours has a great reputation, and I like the way that they organize their tours, still using a tour leader for each group. World Strides, being the largest student tour company, has gone to hourly leaders rather than dailies, so I hope to be able to figure out a way to work for them to "fill in the days."