Still Tour Guide Jobless

I felt like posting on this blog because I do check it almost every day, and I'm glad some of you have received jobs. I have no exciting news on the tour guide job front. Except I'm putting all my eggs in one basket and trying to get a job with Contiki Tours since they are accepting applications now. (Just a heads up to anyone who is interested). More importantly In case anyone missed it since most of America didn't care. PHILLIES WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!! I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to seeing you in Texas.

JIM

Check out My San Francisco Album..

Hi everyone, I finally finished putting my San Francisco/ITMI pictures into an album presentation. You can check it out by going to http://www.mypublisher.com/
Click on the link in the upper right area called "mybookshelf"
Type in the order # M826391 click "continue"
The password is 1308096

You can view the book as often as you wish by using this procedure to get to it. Place your mouse pointer on the lower right corner of the page and click and the page will turn.
If anyone has any trouble accessing it, let me know and I will help.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Alice

I Finally Signed on to the Blog!!

Hi, All - It's so interesting to be on this Blog (Thanks, Alice for setting it up.). I finally set it up here & got on it. I've just read over all the comments about touring already & I'm so very proud of you for getting out there & Just Doing IT!!! WOW!!!
By the way, this is Tish talking to you. I've not done anything Tour Director-wise as yet. When I came home from the class, I still had that miserable cough so I've given myself the months of Sept & Oct to get me better & then I was going to see about sending info out. Just two weeks ago I had the pleasure of taking a trip to Switzerland for 10 days. The TD on that trip was from ITMI class of 240 - nice surprise!! And then I just came back from Greenbelt MD after a long weekend there for my class reunion. What fun!! So now will I send out my resumes??? Yes, I will!!
Take care, All & so good to hear from you. Tish

Our Instincts were right...

this is the best job in the world!

My first tour is over, I am at a hotel at JFK until I return to the airport to meet my second group.

Said goodbye to the first group last night at 7:30. We had a great tour and they were very happy with their "holiday" and their tour director and their bus driver, as evidenced not only by their words but by the fact that what I earned for the tour was exactly doubled by their gratuities.

I made some wonderful new friends, and learned some funny new phrases to add to my vocabulary, for instance, a lady was telling me about a hotel she once stayed at where the pillows were so thin that she had to "stuff her jumpers" into the pillowcase. This phrase so tickled my funnybone that it became one of the themes of our group. Someone was always threatening to "stuff their jumpers" or someone else's for whatever transgressions, real or imagined. We had a lot of laughs about that.

The group was very warm and good-humored and verbally appreciative of my efforts, which made my job even more rewarding. I never did tell them it was my first tour, and they seemed to think it wasn't so I let that be.

The tour went relatively smoothly, as far as they were concerned anyway. I had a few, shall we say trial-by-fire "learning experiences", but that can only make the next trip more successful.

I took pictures through-out the tour and every night at my hotel I would put the day's pictures into a slide show and show it on the coach the next day. Many people asked me for copies of pictures they were in and I took email addresses to send them. Then I offered to send anyone a cd with all the pictures if they would pay the postage and many of them did that too.

I played music about each state we visited as we drove thru it, (google "songs about..."). And I also bought cd's at local gift shops to add local color to our travel time. I played games, "the first person who can remember..." whatever about what we had seen, or the name of a song or anything else that occurred to me. I gave prizes to the winners, a keychain from the state we were in, or a small trinket from a gift shop. Who doesn't love to win something, no matter how small it may be?

If you would like more details about the tour, visit my blog, it's all there.

I never did bump into Greg, although I looked for him everywhere.

I hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to meet again, in Texas, to share our experiences and have new ones!

Alice

so THIS is tour directing

So here's the update. I just finished my second tour and it was a slam dunk. I earned more than $500 more in tips than the first tour! The group gave me a standing ovation at the farewell dinner and concluded it with "for he's a jolly good fellow". I turned bright red.

Many of the local shops upon seeing me the second time gave me a few books for free and I shared them with my guests as we went down the road. I got some inexpensive maple syrup cookbooks in woodstock VT and a seafood one on martha's vineyard and offered to photocopy two pages for every person on the bus who was interested. this was a big hit.

Here's some good one's alice:
This is called military corn: build it up for thirty seconds as they shout back their doubts...
They're all kearnels!!
"you see these round bails of hay...the cows wont eat them like the brick shaped ones...build up...its not a square meal!"
oh and the 2 pairs of socks routine at the golf course is also classic...

these work remarkably well as everyone is used to believing everything you say...

The ITMI estimates on what you should earn on a tour were well on the low side for these tours, but I also go with about 50 people so the tips really add up.

The reviews were so good that the company offered me one more tour starting the tenth so I'm on the hunt for alice. we do boston, lexington, concord, martha's vineyard, newport, mystic, woodstock, stratton mountain, portland and kennebunkport...do we have any stops in common?

Ive got another tour coming in December for a different company that specializes in foreign exchange students...7 days in New York city! and half the group speaks either French or Spanish...
I guess I will need to get some of the local day tours and meet and greets going around philly to fill in the holes during the slow season. Where did you guys look to find those?

Student Tour Groups

Hello Fellow Geniuses!
Well, looks like I'm going on the road...but at least I'll get some extra training. I'll be with a seasoned TD to Chicago x2 days with an actual student group at the end of the month. Then off with other TD's in training to Chicago x2 days and Wash DC for a 5 day training for the 2009 Inuaguration & spring season with a company called Travel Adventures. EF/Smithsonian Student Tour sent me back an application. Looks like they're offering a Jan. 9 inauguration training day and some in March, but they want availability in March and early June for an average 5 day dour, with tour assignments average 30-60 days prior to tour start. Hope everyone is well...I miss you all. I'll see you when I see you!
Em

What's Happening

Hey everybody,

Glad to see Alice and Greg out there going for it!! I've sent out about 7 resumes but haven't done any follow-up yet. I've been doing about 3 Culinary Tours a week...not a bad gig...I make $75 plus tips per tour for walking around Charleston for 2.5 hours while sampling food. It's called "Savor the Flavors" tour. You would think with all that walking I might lose a few pounds but it's been just the opposite....all those foods we sample are loaded with sugar, butter, and all that high calorie stuff. I've done about 3 Step-on tours and have a few more lined up. Things are pretty slow in Charleston right now....tourism is down. I've already made my reservation for symposium. It will be fun to see everybody again. I did talk with another local guide here that I found out had been to ITMI August a year ago, and she got one of those last minute tours in the fall and then went to sympoisum and now has quite a few gigs. She's already been to Ireland! Spoke with another guide that lives here and has been working for Tauck...she graduated from ITMI about 11 years ago and said initially she just kept sending those resumes out over and over until they caved in and hired her.

Home Grown Tomatoes and Zucchini Bread

Hello to All

Finally figured out how to use this incredable Blog thanks to Alice.

It is time too for me to get serious and mail out resumes.

Had loads of work here in September, yet took time to harvest the garden and make 10 loaves of zucchini bread. What to do with 20 zucchini,s. Gave several away, we love it stir fried / sauted. . Tomatoes too ... this year's yeild not so great still plenty to share...

Seattle Tourism is slowing down now that we are nearing fall, the cruise ships are relocating to warmer shores with fantastic prices, oh well another time.

Was a very busy year for events, conventions etc. in the city they too are almost over, happy for the work.

Will be shadowing next week to give Seattle City and Wine Tours of the area. Received a call today asking me about what I learn't at ITMI.