Travel agents put together some of the most fun trips you can imagine.
They also put together some of the most offbeat itineraries too.
Years ago, an older gentleman from Ketchikan, Alaska, told travel agent Susan Kelly that he wanted to cruise Norway in November. She thought it was a crazy request.
"He wanted to leave cold and rainy, snowy southeast Alaska in November to go to the even colder coast of Norway?" said Kelly of Luxury Adventure Trips, an affiliate of Travel Experts. "I knew about Norwegian Coastal Voyages (now Hurtigruten) so I set up his holiday."
Kelly said that the client came back raving about the experience. When she asked him how the weather was, he responded, "Just as I expected. The same as home."
"Go figure," she said.
A few years ago, Casey Carr learned that Lazy Bear Lodge in Churchill, Manitoba offered Polar Bear Safaris.
"We love animals in my office, and this ranks up there with Gorilla trekking in terms of astonishing animal encounters," said Carr, general manager of Sharon Carr Travel in Dallas, Texas.
He explained that Churchill, Manitoba has the highest concentration of polar bears on earth, due to its location on the Hudson Bay, where the sea ice freezes first.
[READMORE]READ MORE: The Challenge of Developing Unique Cruise Itineraries[/READMORE]
"It was in November at the end of their season, which means long nights and bitter cold, but great bear activity and a chance to see the Northern Lights," he said.
"As with any game viewing experience, it all depends on the animals and whether or not they decide to show up, but we were positively surrounded by bears. I think, in the end, we saw 29, many of them right in town and several mothers with cubs. We were literally inches from wild polar bears. Their breath would fog my camera lens, it was awesome."
Tom Karnes remembers one of the silliest itineraries that his company created for a couple young college graduates who wanted to tour Asia.
"Their itinerary was randomly selected from bits and pieces of information they found on certain destinations-China, Singapore, South Korea, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. We needed to piece it all together, everything from hotel stays in China to catching part of a Contiki Tour in Laos," said Karnes, president of LaMacchia Travel in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
"The funny part was that they really didn't know the distances between countries and were stunned when they found out many of their Asian flights were more than seven hours. When all was said and done, the five-week journey was a huge success and a tremendous learning lesson."
Peter Lombard was working with an orchestra client from the DC area who needed to travel to Munich for the Salzburg Festival with musicians from California, Kansas, Michigan, D.C., New York City, Boston, Minneapolis, Mexico City, Spain, Philippines, the UK, Canada and Austria.
[READMORE]READ MORE: How Travel Agents Utilize Today's Technology[/READMORE]
"Our job was to align the schedules so that all 50+ group members arrived within the same two- to three-hour window so that the coach could pick them up for the first rehearsal that same day," said Lombard, Founder and CEO Of Insouciance Abroad. "
The entire group and their instruments arrived as planned, with one exception: Tthe director.
"She specifically insisted on planning her own travel and flew from DC to Munich, by way of New York City and Berlin," said Lomard.
"I had to go back to Munich the following day to pick her up when she missed her connections. By the end of that tour to Germany, Austria, Italy, England, Scotland, and Iceland, we made sure that the trip went smoothly, everyone enjoyed the trip, and got home safely."
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
