The Travel Representative

I am sure that many of you have flicked through Holiday brochures looking at far flung places. I expect you have scrolled on the internet at offers and deals for holidays. Perhaps, you would like to go away but simply can't afford it. Or, perhaps you are single and don't want to travel alone.

Well, there is the alternative holiday..a working one!

If you look at websites such as WOOF which stands for Work On an Organic Farm. There is a subscription for this website but once paid you have access to working in Farms in New Zealand where you can pick fruit, vegetables or work with bees keepers.  In exchange for several hours work you will be given basic accommodation and some food. This will enable you explore areas on your free days off from work. Also, you will hook up with other solo travellers and perhaps meet someone you can explore the Country with.

Alternatively, you can get a job as a Travel Rep...

Many of the UK Tour Operators employ staff to work as Reps or Couriers on their Coach Tours abroad. There are jobs in ski resorts from chalet girls to ski Technicians to Airport Reps and Couriers.

I have been lucky this year and worked for a Tour Operator in the South East.

Listed below are the Tours that I have been on :-

Battlefield Tours to Flanders
Ski Tours to Italy and Austria
Music Tour to Paris
Football tours to Eindhoven and Italy

There are several Operators offering trips to the Battlefields near Ypres. Prepare yourself for an emotional time whether or not you had relatives who fought in the First World War. The Battlefield Trips are usually short perhaps 3 or 4 days so would be a good option for your first "Rep" experience.

I was lucky enough to go on a couple of Football and Rugby tours with some boys schools from the UK. Well, I didn't consider myself lucky when I failed to get some sleep as the boys on the bus were awake until 3 a.m. They were so excited and looking at their mobile devices, chatting and laughing very loudly. At one point I actually got up and went to the back of the bus and asked them "please, please go to sleep." Well, sleep! I don't think they understood the concept. I managed to doze for about 2 hours when they all finally stopped. I arrived in Italy a wreck but then had to put my "Rep's" hat on and be lively for the hotel check-in.

NETHERLANDS

In Eindhoven the boys were lucky to play on the pitches at PSV Eindhoven and we were also lucky to spot Van Niselroy training the 1st Team. It is a great experience whether you are interested or not in Football.
We went to a match and watched PSV Eindhoven win dramatically in their home city. A local Dutchman told me that the crowd were cheering the word  Boer which translates as Farmers because Eindhoven was and still is to a degree a farming community.

The PSV Team with Van Niselroy

ITALY

I also went to Italy with another group of football and rugby students.

They played the most fantastic rugby @ Valpolicella Rugby Club. The Club offered the boys pasta after the match.. The group also visited the San Siro, Milan.

The San Siro..Milan
An interesting Tour of the Stadium and behind the scenes.

Valpolicella Rugby Club in the most amazing setting surrounded by vineyards.

On this Tour we visited Verona..well for a hour as the coach driver got lost and we ended up driving around for more than an hour! But...if you have time make sure you see a show at the amphitheatre.

PARIS

Last June I was offered at trip to Paris...with the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. They performed Verde Requiem in Chartres Cathedral and the Madeleine Paris. The operation was big with 4 coaches with the members staying at 2 hotels in Paris. I thought it would be easier travelling with adults instead of children. Well, they are quieter on the bus and they don't really want to watch cartoons either. However, believe me they still leave belongings in cafes and on the coaches. The first item of lost property was at Folkestone Services. We hadn't even left the UK! I miracuously tracked down the said scarf and we picked it up on the way back. A brownie badge for me!

The Choir and the Orchestra were fantastic and focused. I must say that it would not be something I would normally go and see but I was gripped from start to finish.

I had some fun with my French in Paris as people were trying to get into the VIP seats which were reserved for friends and family. I managed to tell people that they had to sit further back. In Chartres people were accepting but in Paris they seemed to think it was their right to sit in the front row. I was adamant with some people that the seats were reserve!

One of the other Reps who had not done the job before said I was so organised as I always take my kettle and some tea and coffee. I said to her my advice is that as a Rep sometimes you can be invisible and no one notices you unless there is a problem. So, I said make sure you look after yourself, make sure that sometime during the busy day that you are living (in someone else's world) that you have a coffee or a quiet 5 minutes away from the advancing hoards...

One of the other differences of being a Rep with adults compared to students is that they give you a tip!. I was quite taken aback when I got off the Coach in Folkestone and a lady handed me a bag of coins..

So not only did I get a small wage for the trip. I didn't pay for the "working holiday" and I also received a tip which amounted to more than the spending money I had taken with me for my coffees...

Happy Days..and...Bon Voyage!