Lost in Translation: The Adventures (and Misadventures) of DIY Travelers

There I was in Florence sitting at a cafe, outside enjoying a morning coffee and people watching. I noticed a trend…unhappy families and couples, lost hauling their luggage through the cobblestone streets. Some were “discussing” and pointing which way they thought they should go, others had stopped to look at their maps in utter confusion, while some gave up all decorum and began yelling at each other about being lost. Not a great way to start your time in “La Bella”. All I could do was chuckle to myself as I knew the one thing they all had in common. They did not use a travel agent.   

Which led me to today’s blog – I asked my colleagues to share some stories of what they have heard or seen when traveling that could have easily been avoided if they had used a travel agent. 

The family next to me on the train bought a rail passes in Germany, but did not activate them. As a result, the family was fined $600 ($150 per person). 

Did you know that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays for cleaning and maintenance? The travelers I met at our hotel found out the hard way. 

 

 

 

I was sitting next to a family who was flying to Stockholm. The husband asked me what I did, and I told him I was a travel agent. He went on to tell me how he planned their whole vacation down to the minute very proudly. Shortly after, he had a call from someone he was supposed to be meeting with 2 hours ago…in Stockholm. Turns out he didn’t realize he would get in the “next” day and had to do a lot of rescheduling. 

I received a call from someone (not one of my clients) complaining that they missed everything because they were in Munich on October 3rd which is German Unity Day and everything was closed. 

 

I was sitting at an outdoor cafe in Sevilla in September with a temperature of 85 degrees. I chuckled as I overheard the couple next to me discussing how they couldn’t believe the hotels didn’t have air conditioning. 

I was talking to someone while on another tour in Rome. She had a free day and thought she would pop over to the Vatican…until I showed her the stand by line from yesterday. Just a tiny part of the standby line is pictured below. 

 

 

 

And this may be my favorite…I was standing next to someone in Venice, Italy for a gondola ride who had made reservations for a gondola ride at the Venice Hotel in Las Vegas…She kept arguing with the gondolier that she had a ticket.   

While you (and I certainly did) get a chuckle out of some of these stories, or even empathize with these people, they all could have been avoided with the use of a travel agent. I often hear from potential clients that I don’t like my vacations to be over planned. Believe me – I feel the same way.  

But there are certain things that should be scheduled so that you don’t miss out on them. It’s my job to listen to you and make sure that you get to do what you want to do. So, if you have your heart set on visiting the Louvre, I will make sure to schedule that on any day but a Tuesday and still make sure you have plenty of time to explore the City of Love on your own. Or if you want to start out your vacation hauling your luggage over the uneven cobblestone streets of foreign city, not sure where you are going then maybe you will make my second installment of this blog – because I’m sure there will be one. 

P.S. I arrange transportation from the train station or airport to your hotel so you don’t have to worry about getting lost or dragging your suitcase around an unfamiliar city. 


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *