Life: my journey so far (and how I can help you reach your destination)

I really don't want to state the obvious, but for many of us it's been a parlous 18 months or so. Some people's suffering has been more grievous than others' – but there can be few who haven't been affected in some way.

Nor do I wish to stand accused of self-centredness; but it occurred to me that perhaps my own personal story might serve to encourage those whose industries, like mine, have been particularly hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many strands of the economy have had a tough time of it; but the travel sector has taken an absolute hammering.

A bit of background.

I've always been into sport (tennis especially), and interested in seeing the world – and in my late teens and early twenties I had an opportunity to combine both passions: running kids' activity clubs in Majorca, the Canary Islands and Madeira during the school summer holidays; then a 20-month sojourn in Australia, working as a tennis coach; followed by two stints in the US as a youth leader and tennis coach with Camp America. Happy days.

My trips Stateside fitted in with my university degree course, where I gained a First-Class BA Honours in Physical Education in 2018. I followed that with nine months bouncing around South-East Asia and Australia: an amazing experience, but also valuable thinking time. I reached two conclusions: first, that much as I loved sport I was never going to be the next Andy Murray; second, that I wanted to build a future in the travel industry. I had the travel bug, and it wasn't about to let go.

I looked at various entry-level opportunities – but by far and away the most appealing was to build my own travel business. Though I didn't want to go it alone; I wanted the security, expertise and brand recognition of a known and respected name behind me. Travel Counsellors fulfilled the brief.

Founded in 1994, Travel Counsellors is a franchised network of travel professionals, headquartered in Manchester with operations in the UK (obviously), Ireland, the UAE, Belgium, South Africa and the Netherlands. There are currently over 1,900 Travel Counsellors, all passionate about travel, with first-hand knowledge based on an average of 22 years in the industry.

I became a Travel Counsellors franchisee in October 2019. As a newbie, I followed what TC calls the “academy route”, where “graduation” depends on hitting a specific sales target within a given period. For the first few months I made great strides – until... well, we all know what happened in late March 2020.

To say we've had a torrid time of it would be to understate the case somewhat! Enquiries didn't dry up – far from it – but bookings did, as global uncertainty prevailed. Where would Covid strike next? How severe would it be? Would there be an effective vaccine (happily, yes) – and if so, when? How would the virus mutate? Questions, questions.

To which answers were sometimes hard to find. But my faith in my original decision, and in the organisation I hitched my wagon to, hasn't wavered. Throughout the pandemic, Travel Counsellors has been unfailingly supportive and encouraging. They haven't panicked – but have exhorted all of us, myself and my colleagues, to just continue giving best advice: based on what we know at the time, and how we might reasonably expect travel restrictions to change in the short, medium and long-term future.

And for me, it's paid off. I am happy to report that, having hit my target, I graduated from TC's academy system in April 2021 after my biggest sales month (in the teeth of the pandemic).

There's no place for false modesty here – I've worked hard for it: keeping my clients in the loop, calling customers to check in and see how they were faring during lockdown, hosting seminars on Zoom and Facebook, and generally sweating social media left, right and centre.

But it also surely proves that people's desire to travel, to see new places and experience new things, has not diminished. Quite the opposite.

All they're waiting for is for conditions to be right.

So what have I learned over the past year and a half?

As a general point, never give up. My industry, and maybe yours too, has been beset by problems – but I've been able to keep my head above water. Like many, when the pandemic was at its height I took a second job – doing supermarket deliveries, in my case – and I'll be forever grateful to Tesco Stores for that. And a loyal customer too, going forward.

More specifically, while sales (mine, and others') have suffered, there has never been a greater need for personal travel expertise. None of us can claim to have all the answers – just ask Chris Whitty – but Travel Counsellors customers continually rate us the best travel company in the world for customer service, and for value. Our clients routinely give us a five-star rating on Trustpilot (https://bit.ly/3tvE17w), and Travel Counsellors came top in all three of the MoneySavingExpert (https://bit.ly/3C3uaJf) surveys conducted over the past 18 months. I'm proud to be part of that.

I've had to adjust my expectations. Growing a business is challenging - made more so while Covid-19, and its attendant uncertainties, continue to blight us. But I'll get there; and the satisfaction I get from successfully guiding a customer through the ever-changing maze of travel restrictions and conditions is a pleasure and privilege beyond price.

Life is a journey, not a destination; so wrote 19th-Century US essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. As for my own journey... well the ride's been a bit bumpy of late – but I wouldn't change a thing. The world remains my oyster and I am excited to explore and see much more of it over time (including what's on my doorstep: the UK, which has shot up in my own personal bucket-list over the past 12 months).

And, with my help, it can be your oyster too.