He’s very accomplished at it. In fact, he’s sold some of his photography on-line, and he even took the cover shot of our recent catalog titled “10 Travel moments we’ll never forget”. You can see it for yourself at http://www.qg.com/smartools/ebook/hosted.rails?issue=76bfdcede3fc43fd85fce8f7b860ef12ce2528faef1d447b9a88e8f7b860ef12
The fact that he’s often talked about “…someday, I’ll leave medicine and be the full time Classic Journeys photographer…” doesn’t mean that we’ve ever taken him seriously or thought that anyone else makes that sort of significant leap in their career just because of our trips.
Until…
Just recently, I received two emails that have really altered how much I think travel impacts our guests.
The first was from a guest in Boston who traveled with us about five years ago on our cultural walking adventure to Tuscany & the Cinque Terre. Ehrin wrote to say that on return from her trip, she was so inspired by the way we connected her to the region and local people that she resigned from her job to work with a travel company based on the east coast. Now, after several years with them in their marketing department, she has left to travel in Italy.
Okay, one random email is nice and fun to read. But two and we start to see some sort of a trend. So here goes…
Last week, I received an email from a lawyer who lives in New York. He traveled with us about three years ago on our Amalfi, Al Buon Gusto culinary tour. I’ll let Carl take it from there in his own words.
"My wife and I participated on your Amalfi culinary tour several years ago. It was amazing. The food, the Classic Journeys guide, the cooking lessons, the wine; everything. I have been a lawyer for 25 years. Since I took the tour I have become very interested in Italian cooking. During the past three months I have retired from the law and I am now a student at the Italian Culinary Academy in NYC. In June I will go back to Italy for five months of cooking classes at ALMA and then have an internship in a Michelin rated restaurant in Italy. I can honestly say that the Classic Journeys’ Amalfi Al Buon Gusto tour was the catalyst for this career change. I have traveled all over the world, to Africa, India, and Europe; and I own a summer house in Sweden. I am a seasoned traveler. Classic Journeys is amazing. It was a life altering experience in a very good way!"
Wow! It’s certainly gratifying to hear that sort of praise and to know that some of our guests connected to the people, the region and the activities on our trip so closely.
Mind you, I am not saying that this is an everyday occurrence for us, or even that it should be. In fact, we’re quite happy when guests just have a memorable week-long break in their otherwise busy lives and careers. And with 68 regions in 31 countries on 5 continents we have a nice variety of ways for guests to escape from the ordinary. Even if they happily return to it without any earthshaking changes to their lives.
Our company doctor is off to Europe with me this summer to scout our new Montenegro cultural walking adventure. No word on his threat to make travel photography a vocation rather than an avocation. Stay tuned…
If your travels have led you to any major changes in your own life (or you’d like more details on any of the trips above, including Montenegro), drop me a line at blog@classicjourneys.com.
