{"id":232,"date":"2020-09-17T15:08:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T15:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/?p=232"},"modified":"2020-10-15T15:11:02","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T15:11:02","slug":"lessons-from-my-own-travel-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/lessons-from-my-own-travel-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons From My Own Travel Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>It was a long look into the mirror of self-reflection when I noticed flaws. It began with some time of morning gratitude\u2013my parents who loved, trained, groomed, strengthened me; my three husbands who loved me mightily for as long as they could; my two children who, out of duty or obligation or shear curiosity stand by to watch what I will do next. Next my clients. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/freedomtravelllc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Annie-in-Paris-2015.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>Now my mind wanders and the meditation rivers to a still pool\u2013where I face the reflection. \u00a0The mind bounces from one traveler to the next\u2013the years of designing trips for people I did not know then but came to know quite well over the months of conversation and planning. \u00a0I get to know the family, and their many illks\u2013\u201cmust have\u201d and \u201cabsolutely must not have.\u201d \u00a0When things go smoothly, all is well. \u00a0When things go amuck, well\u2026all is not well.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Of course, I blame myself\u2013always, as I am the Perfect Travel Agent.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Back to the mediation. Gratitude for all the clients equally. Most of my travelers are deliriously happy with their trip, sending photos, and words of praise. These clients remind me of what a Perfect Travel Agent I am, my ego is bursting and I say with confidence that indeed,<em>\u00a0\u201cI am Travel Agent Extraordinaire!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<strong>No lessons learned because I know it all. <\/strong>It is the less satisfied clients from whom I learn the most. However, the real test of a great travel agent is how she manages the difficult task of traveling herself. And so it was these last two weeks in Paris.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>PARIS: My trip, my design, my execution. Two simple weeks in Paris, one apartment \u2014 simple, and what could go wrong?<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Blistering heat and humidity<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Apartment with AC unit ill-equipped to cool in this heat<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>18th arrondissement\u2013very hilly part of Paris\u2013nearly 200 steps just to exit the metro<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Lost in Paris\u2013every day. \u00a0Walking first in one direction, then in the other. \u00a0Hot, sweaty, sore feet<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Eiffel Tower dinner reservations\u2013not possible (not even for lunch)<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Eiffel Tower tour guide abandons us\u2013no refund, no rescheduling!<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Long touring days of walking, climbing, and looking for places we just can find<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Incredible crowds<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Attempted a train excursion to Chantilly\u2013disaster and eventually aborted the plan<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>Used up metro tickets like crazy<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li>\r\n<p>After the heatwave, came the cold rain<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Where is the Perfect Travel Agent? \u00a0How could this be my perfect two weeks in Paris? \u00a0Who designed this trip? \u00a0Ego steps aside and I return to a moment of gratitude\u2013 grateful to put myself in the shoes of my travelers. \u00a0Traveling is fun, but it is not easy. \u00a0Certainly, there are endless unknowns, endless pebbles in the road, endless obstacles to overcome\u2013and I remind myself that traveling is education and almost never a vacation. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>As often as I say that I can deliver the perfect trip, I realize that I can not. \u00a0I am not superwoman, and cannot \u201csave the day.\u201d \u00a0As much as I want to please, I can now say with reluctant confidence that\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>I am the\u00a0<em>Nearly<\/em>\u00a0Perfect Travel Agent.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a long look into the mirror of self-reflection when I noticed flaws. It began with some time of morning gratitude\u2013my parents who loved, trained, groomed, strengthened me; my three husbands who loved me mightily for as long as they could; my two children who, out of duty or obligation or shear curiosity stand [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions\/656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freedomtravelllc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}