Back Story

Welcome to my blog.

I had intended to start this months ago but as usual I procrastinated and now need to back track.
Here is the letter I sent out to many, a few months ago. It gives my history for those who don't know it.

Now that I have your attention, this is a small update to inform everyone of a very big change in my life. As many of you know I have been contemplating, dare I say dreaming of; find a way of traveling for my career. Well, after many years, much deliberation and an amazing amount of support, advice and encouragement, I am making the leap. As of March 23, I will no longer have the steady, dependable job at Capital Beverage Co. and will be facing the world of seasonal employment and a capricious industry. I am becoming a tour director.

Yes, tour director, guide, manager, whatever you want to call it. Though I didn’t take this leap without looking, that would be extremely out of character for me, and yes, a college degree does carry weight in this field. In December, I attended a two week course at the International Tour Management Institute in San Francisco and then went to their conference in January in Charleston, S.C. I made some great contacts and some even better friends. During the conference, we participated in what I call speed interviewing; I met with 11 tour companies for 8 minutes each. From those I received 3 follow-up interviews, all of which I received job offers from and have another possible interview at the end of March.

So following my departure from Capital Beverage Co. this is my plan. From March 28^th through June 10^th, I will work for WorldStrides and Educational Discoveries. Both companies handle the 4^th grade groups that come into Sacramento for the California History field trip. I will be leading tours of the Capitol, Railroad Museum, Sutter’s Fort, Old Sacramento and the Coloma gold discovery site. Also during this time I will be guiding wine tastings by bicycle in the Napa Valley for Napa Valley Bike Tours. Working for them will most likely be on the weekends and maybe if I get specially requested (hint). On June 15^th, I will head off on my biggest adventure, 3 months in Alaska leading land tours for Holland America Cruise Lines. After some training, I will be let loose on a bunch of unsuspecting tourists, leading them around the wilds of the Kenai Peninsula, Denali Nat’l Park, Anchorage and Fairbanks. I will be working long hours, with little time off but I can’t wait. After my return on September 21^st, I hope to work more for NVBT and find another company to work with through autumn. Fall foliage tours in the Northeast sounds like fun. I hope to celebrate a belated 35^th birthday in Paris in November or December with some friends and then head into the new year with great experience and hopefully a full work schedule.

I know I didn’t get too deep into the realities of these jobs but honestly I am still unsure of those myself, however, if people of have questions, I am happy to answer them. Also if you have suggestions on dealing with 4^th graders, must reads on Alaska, California history or Napa Valley and/or leads on future employment, I would love to hear about them. Below I have attached the websites for the companies I will be working for, if you are curious. Thanks for the support from everyone and I will keep people you posted on my adventures and send photos.

http://www.worldstrides.com/california/california.asp

http://www.educationaldiscoverytours.com/education.html

http://www.napavalleybiketours.com/

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-destinations/alaskayukon

Thanks for reading.