Lessons from the Road

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to journeybound stories from overseas travel representatives. Dive into the heart of travel, immerse yourself in vibrant cultures, and experience the world from an entirely new perspective. Each week, we bring you riveting stories, unscripted moments, and the incredible highs and lows from. From the lives of those who represent us abroad. These are the tales of adventure, lessons learned, and the transformative power of travel. Guiding us on this voyage are seasoned travelers, a man and a woman with stories from every corner of the globe. Wesley Baker and Miranda Kilstrom. [00:01:01] Speaker B: Hello and welcome back. This is episode six, lesson from the road. And I'm Wesley, and my co host is here, Miranda. [00:01:09] Speaker C: Nice to see you again, Miranda, and likewise, Wesley. [00:01:14] Speaker D: Thank you. [00:01:14] Speaker B: And anyway, so on this particular episode. [00:01:17] Speaker D: We'Re going to discuss really looking back. [00:01:20] Speaker B: At journeys that have shaped our lives and our careers as overseas reps and what being an overseas rep has actually meant. We're now on the maturer side of our lives, so the overseas rep part would have certainly made a difference on that journey. And for young, budding reps that perhaps are reps now or want to be reps and are looking and listening, this maybe give them an idea of what. [00:01:48] Speaker D: Life after a rep may well be. [00:01:50] Speaker B: Or what will happen on their journey. [00:01:52] Speaker D: So, have you got anything you want. [00:01:54] Speaker B: To share, or do you want me to start? It's up to you. [00:01:57] Speaker C: I'm going to start today, Wesley. [00:02:00] Speaker D: Fine. [00:02:01] Speaker C: But you know what? I reflect upon those days, and it always makes me smile. You know, I can see you smiling now, and we are looking at each other on screen, just such happy, happy days. I mean, the things we dealt with that really shaped us, and the fact that we were thrown together in strange countries with people we didn't know who was given so much responsibility. We were away from home. We were still quite young, you know, traveled then, you know, wasn't like it is now. Whereas I hadn't grown up with trips overseas like my son, I took him on his first flight when he was two and a half weeks old. You know, just. It was completely different. I was 17 when I first went overseas, and it was. And that was the. That was the glamorous age of travel as well, where things were very different. And as we talked about, you got a meal on the flight, and you sat smoking, non smoking. And so, yeah, becoming an overseas rep was a really big deal because people really relied upon us, and we could make or break their holidays. And certainly the friendships I formed are still very much close to my heart now. And, in fact, I'd say that my rep family is like the biggest, the closest people, because we've been through so much together. And I think we said off air as well. You know, I married somebody that I met overseas on one of my excursions and so I now have. [00:03:25] Speaker B: I didn't know you met your excursions. [00:03:28] Speaker C: Yes, it was in Lanzarote. Really? An excursion. He worked on one of our Lanzagotics. [00:03:33] Speaker B: I don't know why they call it Lanzarote. Lanzarote is really rock, isn't it? Yeah, but I like it. [00:03:37] Speaker C: It is beautiful once you see past. [00:03:41] Speaker B: Circumvent it in one day. [00:03:42] Speaker D: But I mean, it's nice. [00:03:44] Speaker C: Yes, yeah. No, it is. But you've got to see past the fact it is very brown. When you first arrive, when you first land, you're like, oh, my word. What is this place? It's a volcano. But then when you see the beauty of, you know, the lava tunnels, the way that, you know, Cesa Manrique, the artist from the island, made sure that it stayed beautiful by keeping the housing in certain colors, low rise. Lots of things were done to protect Lanzarote. So you're right, it is a beautiful place. But when you first, going first to. I'd be like, wow, I've landed on a giant rock. But. So, yes, yeah, that's where I met. [00:04:20] Speaker B: Great. Driving across the garden fields. I mean, I've still got, I shouldn't say this because you're not supposed to, but I've actually still got some lanzarote. [00:04:27] Speaker D: Lava in my house. [00:04:29] Speaker C: Oh. [00:04:32] Speaker B: I'm a bit of a volcanic expert. I love volcanoes and stuff and I. [00:04:36] Speaker C: Are you a rock man in geology? [00:04:38] Speaker B: No, no, no. But I'm into volcanoes in big way. And I spend half my time at the moment watching Iceland and waiting for it to explode into different eruptions, which it's going through at the moment, which amazes my family because I'm up all. [00:04:51] Speaker D: Hours of the day and night, streaming. [00:04:53] Speaker B: Live streaming, waiting for something to happen and then it happens, you know. But I'll tell you very quick story, I'm totally diverse. And again, here, sorry, I do this. [00:05:03] Speaker D: On every episode, but when I was. [00:05:06] Speaker B: At school, there was a girl called. [00:05:09] Speaker D: Bridget, and she was always saying where she'd been to travel. [00:05:13] Speaker B: This was when I was in junior school, infant. Infant school, not junior infants. And I remember she said something about she'd been Italy and all this stuff. And I remember she mentioned Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. [00:05:25] Speaker D: And I remember saying to her, well. [00:05:28] Speaker B: I'm going to run up Mount VesuvIus. [00:05:30] Speaker D: Well, would you believe it? [00:05:32] Speaker B: I went in 1995 for my wedding anniversary. Wedding. My wedding. [00:05:38] Speaker D: My wedding. Honeymoon to the. That coastline. [00:05:44] Speaker B: We stayed in Sorrento and then we went to Vesuvius and I left my. My new bride at the bottom, scaling it. And I did the typical british thing. [00:05:54] Speaker D: And I ran up Mount Vesuvius. [00:05:55] Speaker B: I ran up to the top. Wow, these people. People grabbing these ropes, walking up with sticks as well. They had sticks. And I was just so pretty. She ran past and said, morning. Just came over, like, look at. Who's this roping? Anyway, sorry, I diversed again and I shouldn't have done. So. [00:06:14] Speaker D: Apologies. Please continue the story. [00:06:18] Speaker C: No, I've got where I was now after that. [00:06:20] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Met your husband. [00:06:23] Speaker C: Met your husband, yes, met my ex husband. We just asked. [00:06:26] Speaker B: Ex husband, yes. [00:06:29] Speaker C: Who's finnish and he worked as a tour guide as well, previously. So we're very much probably, like you say, cut from the same cloth. He'd worked for the scandinavian tour companies and we had great adventures, like going out all across the island and really getting off the beaten path. In fact, we used to go to this place at the north of Lanzarote. In fact, I think he went a couple of years ago because he sent me pictures saying, you remember this? Where they'd literally peg the fish out to dry? [00:06:56] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:06:56] Speaker C: Very local. Really beautiful place that you wouldn't go to unless you'd hide a car and. [00:07:03] Speaker B: You know, or you're a surfer like I was. Fermat's the main place, but if you. If you're like me, you'd go to all the other little spot you see. So because I'm an old. I'm an old, old school surfer. So I've been around the block quite a few times, 40, 47 years, I think now, certainly. [00:07:25] Speaker D: So I literally went around Lanzarote itself. [00:07:29] Speaker B: I went around every single nook. So I saw exactly what you're talking about. Fish hanging, drying and everything. [00:07:35] Speaker C: Yeah, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful island. Like I said, you've really got to see past just the brown rock and stuff. So my lesson from the road. Yeah, you know, it brought me my future, obviously. My son is a hybrid, as we call him. So he's half Finnish, half English. And I'm living here in Finland now with my son, who loves travel. I've very much kept it in his life. And I remember him saying to me when he was younger, mama went to. I said, where should we go on holiday this summer? Because it's just the two of us. So it's really difficult. I didn't want to do that, the package thing, because I'm sat there feeling. And we pay the room, supplements and all sorts of things. So this is when I've pizza and pasta. And I said, well, we're going to Italy then, aren't we? And my son's a football fan, so I took him to Milan and we went to San Siro to watch football, and it was an amazing experience. But I did think at one point, you know, 02:00 in the morning, we're getting lost around Milan after watching the match. Milan's lovely. Well, we just went to watch the football and have a great time. He was nine at the time, but then we took the train across to Turin because I wanted to show him, you know, when I worked in France, where I used to go to and my days off, and we went to. He's a Juventus fan, so I went to watch a Juventus home match as well, which was lovely. So, you know, really brought those experiences into his life as well. So I think it gave us a broader thoughts of, you know, certainly doing what I'm doing now, which was leaving the UK and moving here to Finland in my. In my fifties with a child and a dog. You know, people in the UK were. [00:09:11] Speaker D: Like, oh, do you speak the language? [00:09:14] Speaker C: Do you do this? Do you do that? I says, no, but I'll learn. I'll find ways out. And I think, if I hadn't have had that career and that background, I don't think I'd be doing what I'm doing now. [00:09:25] Speaker D: Do you want me to go off on a tangent? [00:09:26] Speaker B: Because I've got a story to do. [00:09:27] Speaker C: With Milan I want you to stick to. [00:09:30] Speaker B: Okay. I've got a very good one. That would have to be for another. You'll be quite amazed for this one. [00:09:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:36] Speaker B: But I won't do it. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I won't do it. It's a great story, usually. [00:09:41] Speaker C: Lessons from the road. Tell me about. Tell me about the lessons you've learned from the road, Wesley. What's it brought to you? [00:09:48] Speaker D: Before I get to that, what made. [00:09:49] Speaker C: You smile when we talked about it? [00:09:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, well, before. Before we get to that, I gather. [00:09:54] Speaker D: You'Ve worked in about nine countries. [00:09:56] Speaker B: Lived and worked in nine countries, yeah. [00:09:57] Speaker C: Lived and worked in nine different countries, yeah. [00:10:00] Speaker B: So it's not too. Not too unsimilar to. Dissimilar to me. [00:10:04] Speaker D: I think. [00:10:06] Speaker B: It'S an eye. Wait node. My experience started at 18. [00:10:10] Speaker D: Really? [00:10:12] Speaker B: I guess. [00:10:12] Speaker D: Really? [00:10:12] Speaker B: You could take it even back further. [00:10:13] Speaker D: You could say, my love for working. [00:10:17] Speaker B: Overseas started when I was twelve, when I first went overseas. [00:10:20] Speaker D: So that's the first point I can actually say when I started the journey to become an overseas rep and in. [00:10:28] Speaker B: The travel industry and then move, move on through that. [00:10:32] Speaker D: So for me, it's been a whole. [00:10:34] Speaker B: Lifetime experience and I think the foundation. [00:10:38] Speaker D: Of it has come from being an overseas rep. No doubt about it. [00:10:42] Speaker B: Everything that I've done has come from being an overseas rep. [00:10:45] Speaker D: I have. I'm outgoing, but I still get nervous. [00:10:50] Speaker B: I get nervous if I have to do a conference, if I'm talking in a conference, if I have to do a speech in front of people, I still get nervous. [00:10:57] Speaker D: But the minute I'm doing it, I love it. [00:10:58] Speaker B: I used to get nervous doing the radio and doing television. You know, they're all things that have all led because of the work that I did as an overseas rep. So I got to do radio, I got to do television. I wasn't scared to do it. I think from the outgoing point of. [00:11:11] Speaker D: View, I think that helps. And it led. It all came because of the career. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Path that I chose. And I think living an experience in different cultures meant that I've got a. [00:11:23] Speaker D: Far broader view of the world and. [00:11:29] Speaker B: Understanding of cultural things. Just yesterday in one of my other companies, there was some discussions going on and I knew it was a cultural thing because you're dealing with someone from nepal and someone from the United States. [00:11:41] Speaker D: And they just were not compatible until. [00:11:44] Speaker B: I stepped in and explained, you're dealing with cultural differences here. He doesn't mean for you to take offence when he said that, and he took offence because you said that. Those things you pick up when you. [00:11:52] Speaker D: Work overseas and you understand that. So that I think, and also the ability to live and work on your. [00:12:02] Speaker B: Own, I mean, I certainly found myself in a position where moving overseas at. [00:12:08] Speaker D: Such a young age, being on your. [00:12:10] Speaker B: Own, being held responsible for other people's investment, because a holiday is an investment in the leisure experience for someone. So the clients, or guests, as you refer to them, they very much were dependent on guests. [00:12:25] Speaker D: Guests. [00:12:26] Speaker C: You're a client, your clients. I was guests. [00:12:31] Speaker B: But you know, you know what I'm saying. So from that point of view, I think. I think very much it makes ability. [00:12:37] Speaker C: At a young age, wasn't it? [00:12:39] Speaker B: It was. When we look back and do I. [00:12:41] Speaker D: Think the youngsters now have that same ability? [00:12:44] Speaker B: I'm not so sure. You know, they're stuck on their computers, they're stuck on their phones and the world is a different place. I mean, you hand, you know, I think if you took a phone away and put one of these 18 year olds in a town somewhere overseas, they. [00:12:57] Speaker D: Wouldn'T know what to do because they haven't got Google maps, they haven't got. [00:13:00] Speaker B: Something they can refer to, haven't got anywhere to review. So I think we learned all that. [00:13:05] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:13:07] Speaker B: We learned all that and we learned to experience that. And I have some incredible life changing experiences and fun stories, and it's those. [00:13:13] Speaker D: Stories that I think you gain lessons from every experience. [00:13:20] Speaker B: Those stories are experiences, and it's the experiences where you gain your lessons and lessons of life, and those make a difference. [00:13:27] Speaker D: So it has made in my life a massive difference. Now, you met your husband, your former husband, who was. [00:13:38] Speaker B: Sounds like he also worked as a rep or something for another company. [00:13:42] Speaker D: I met my current wife. [00:13:45] Speaker B: It's my only wife, I should say. I've had my current wife. I don't know. I said current. [00:13:52] Speaker D: That's a bit wrong, isn't it? [00:13:53] Speaker B: My wife. [00:13:54] Speaker D: I met my wife, and I met her on the train, actually, coming from. [00:14:01] Speaker B: London to my town where I live in Whitsun Kent. [00:14:05] Speaker D: And I met her by mending a broken seat that was opposite. [00:14:10] Speaker B: She sat down on. There was two chairs there and there was two chairs there. The carriage was empty, but I actually quite liked her and I decided to sit there. Sounds like I stalked her, really. But, but I mended a broken seat. [00:14:23] Speaker C: And she felt, it's really romantic. [00:14:25] Speaker B: She thought, who would mend a broken seat on a carriage that's empty? Why is this? [00:14:32] Speaker D: And I don't think, had I. [00:14:34] Speaker C: You throw down your cloak afterwards, Wesley. [00:14:38] Speaker B: I should have pushed off the train. But never mind. I'm only joking. Only kidding. [00:14:45] Speaker D: But no, the reality was that I. [00:14:47] Speaker B: Think, in hindsight, the work that I did as a rep even helped with that, because I was outgoing enough to have that ability to chat and just talk about life. And I didn't see, I wasn't flirting with her or anything when we met. It was purely conversation because I enjoyed meeting people, and that came from being an overseas rec. So the lessons, lessons from the road are speaking to people, understanding. [00:15:14] Speaker D: Learning about. [00:15:15] Speaker B: Culture, learning about history, and the difference. [00:15:18] Speaker D: That makes in the world, taking it. [00:15:21] Speaker B: On board on lifetime experiences. And I would say with all the success and failures that I've had in. [00:15:26] Speaker D: My life since leaving, my last representative. [00:15:30] Speaker B: Role was in 1992. [00:15:34] Speaker D: I would say. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Has led to all the companies that. [00:15:36] Speaker D: I now have or involved with or have launched and run, some of them. [00:15:41] Speaker B: Being airlines, travel companies, space technologies, AI. [00:15:45] Speaker D: Has all come because I was a rep. Yeah, absolutely. [00:15:50] Speaker C: I totally agree with you there. Shaped us, didn't it, really? Shaped us to become fearless. Perfect shape. [00:15:58] Speaker D: Perfect word. [00:16:00] Speaker B: I couldn't think of a better word to put it. [00:16:02] Speaker D: You are shaped as individuals and you're rounded and then you move on. [00:16:06] Speaker B: And I have to admire, you have just. [00:16:09] Speaker D: You've moved to Finland again. [00:16:12] Speaker B: I say again, it's the first time you've moved to Finland in January, isn't it? [00:16:16] Speaker D: This is the first time, yeah. [00:16:16] Speaker C: I've never lived here before. No, no. And through Brexit as well, which doesn't make it easy. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And so from that perspective, I think. [00:16:27] Speaker D: That you wouldn't have done that. [00:16:28] Speaker B: I think if you hadn't been an. [00:16:29] Speaker D: Overseas rep, I don't know, I wouldn't. [00:16:31] Speaker C: Have met my ankles band and I wouldn't have a hybrid child. Chances are I would have married a guy from the same town that I lived in and what have you. And, yeah, definitely the ability to communicate with strangers as well. [00:16:44] Speaker B: I was once told a story, and I keep this. There's two things, two sayings I have, and I use this quite a lot. And people say, what's your favorite quote? My favorite quote is, a wise man. [00:16:54] Speaker D: Says what a wise man does. A wise man does what a wise man says. [00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah, but it's actually a catalan saying. Just interrupting for a small commercial break and then we'll be straight back to the podcast. [00:17:13] Speaker E: Do you hear it? The world is calling. From untouched beams to the heartbeats of age old cities, pure vacations is your gateway to authentic travel experiences. We don't just take you to destinations. We dive deep into their soul with expert insights, local secrets, and mesmerizing tales. Our online travel blog is your compass to the world's wonders. Pure vacations. Discover. Explore. Be inspired. Your journey begins here. Visit purevacations.com. [00:18:03] Speaker F: Hi there, listener. I am a strawberry. [00:18:06] Speaker E: Not an ordinary one, but a blue one. [00:18:10] Speaker F: Probably wondering why strawberry is talking through my radio. [00:18:14] Speaker E: Good point. [00:18:15] Speaker F: I have two questions to ask you. Do you feel like your posting on social media is draining you? Are you just too busy to have your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Twitter pages updated with creative content? If your answer is yes, luckily for you, I have a secret to reveal. As a listener, I have prepared a special offer to help you generate 18 months of creative social media content in under two minutes using your own generative AI from your existing content. [00:18:44] Speaker E: Sounds juicy. [00:18:47] Speaker F: Go to Bluestrawberry app and grab your free trial. Bluestrawberry manage creative social media posting the modern way. [00:19:05] Speaker B: I came across that when I was twelve. It was on the back door. It was on the back of a. [00:19:09] Speaker D: Door, written in Catalan in the bathroom. [00:19:13] Speaker B: There it was, and I've always remembered it since and I've kept it with me and it's driven me forward. Another bit of advice that someone gave me, and I've always stuck to this, and it's relatively accurate, is that every. [00:19:25] Speaker D: Day you experience six new doors in your life that you can open, you can peer in them, you can shut them, or you can walk through. [00:19:34] Speaker B: And if you choose to walk through, you enter into someone's or someone's new world network, new life, and from there new opportunities. [00:19:42] Speaker D: And that I put that all the. [00:19:44] Speaker B: Way back to lessons from the road. [00:19:46] Speaker D: Because I think as a rep, I. [00:19:49] Speaker B: Walked through quite a few different doors and experienced quite a few different things. [00:19:53] Speaker D: On that journey that brought me to where I am now. [00:19:56] Speaker B: So if anyone is listening or watching and wants to become a rep, then I can't emphasise enough. A tour guide represents, if any, of those type of jobs. And there is a difference between a tour guide and an overseas rep. Tour guides are traveling around more and overseas rep is generally based in one, two or three different towns and focusing on a group of hotels. [00:20:19] Speaker D: But I would suggest that you go. [00:20:22] Speaker B: For it because it's a fantastic opportunity and it will change your life. [00:20:26] Speaker D: And it's not something that needs to. [00:20:27] Speaker B: Be done at a young age. It can be done. I mean, there's a lot of people that absolutely do it as a second, as a second career now as a new career. And I also noticed, I mean, you and I belong to a couple groups on Facebook of overseas reps, former overseas reps and current ones. [00:20:44] Speaker D: And I noticed quite a few old reps have gone back to becoming reps. [00:20:49] Speaker C: Yes, they have the life that they loved and the memories that were so great and the lifestyle that we led. The role of a rep, like you say, has changed dramatically in these years. However, the memories and the feelings and the job that we did is pretty much the same, but just slightly different in the way that changed us. [00:21:11] Speaker D: I think we were in the golden era. [00:21:13] Speaker B: Yeah, you were at the end of the golden era. [00:21:17] Speaker D: I was in the middle of it. Yeah. [00:21:19] Speaker C: No, I loved it. Best days of my life. Definitely don't let my son hear that because I'm also having my best days of my life with him. But through his love of sports, we've, you know, he went out to Austria last year, on his own. On his own. And he insisted that I did not go in the airport with him. He was 16. I dropped him off at Stansted and lovely Ryanair lost his sticks, so he had to deal with package handling and things. And it was strange because I was back in that role of rep again because he phoned me, say, oh, man, the sticks have been lost. And as a hockey player, as you can imagine, he's going on a hockey camp. That's crucial. So I went through baggage handling, how things worked. I told him where to go and I thought I knew all this because it's what we did for years and years and it's still ingrained in us that, how to handle these situations and how to calm him about how the process worked and what would happen. And ironically enough, the sticks came back about two months later after he'd moved to Finland. And I said, we don't want them in the UK. He's not here anymore. So they shipped them out to Finland for him because they had flights here. So it all worked out. But I think also him hearing our stories, you know, my dad travelled across Europe when he was younger and I always remember him talking, you know, his face lit up when he talked about these experiences. And I think that's why my son's got the courage to travel, because we've done it, just the two of us, and now he's like that as well. And at 16, he was so brave. So brave in many ways. [00:22:48] Speaker B: I think you learn things and you do things. [00:22:51] Speaker D: And I would say a lot of. [00:22:53] Speaker B: Crisis management that I go through with. [00:22:55] Speaker D: My companies and what I've done in. [00:22:57] Speaker B: The last 20 years, my repping experience. [00:23:01] Speaker D: Has actually enabled me to do that. [00:23:04] Speaker B: So I'm very good at crisis management. [00:23:06] Speaker D: When it happens, I know how to deal with it and I just get on and do it. [00:23:11] Speaker B: And I can't understand when other people are fluffing around and panicking why they don't just sit down and just look at how I look at it methodically and even actually thinking of home life in my family, if something happens in my family, if my father passed away. [00:23:26] Speaker D: In January, and even with my father passing away, I took control. I didn't mean to take control, but it just happened. [00:23:35] Speaker B: I took control for the family. I felt that responsibility to take control. [00:23:40] Speaker D: In that I knew what to do in a situation that was there. [00:23:45] Speaker B: It's funny, everyday life. I mean, you know, if I see. [00:23:49] Speaker D: If I'm driving somewhere in an accident. [00:23:51] Speaker B: I will step out and I'll take. [00:23:53] Speaker D: Control, you know, because I've done it. [00:23:56] Speaker B: You know, I understand all that and I think that's the lesson from the. [00:24:01] Speaker D: Road, really, you know, that. That's what I've learned from being a rep. [00:24:05] Speaker B: It's been fantastic. Funny enough, I was thinking myself to go back, you know, someone, my. What my wife, my mother said to. [00:24:12] Speaker D: Me, you know, is there anything you. [00:24:15] Speaker B: You still want to do in your life? And I said, well, this and that, said, but you know what? I'd really love to go back and be a wreck. Why don't you do it? I said, well, I can't now. I've got a house, got children, you know, although they've grown up and my life is different. Doesn't enable me to do that. [00:24:30] Speaker D: That I would do. But, but, but saying that, I remember years ago, back in 1990s, and we're. [00:24:39] Speaker C: Going into the nineteen's now. [00:24:41] Speaker B: Yeah, last century. In the last century. No, in the 1990s I came across there was a. A rep working for Horizon, lovely lady. [00:24:51] Speaker D: Lisa was her name, I remember that very clearly. [00:24:55] Speaker B: And she actually had a family at. [00:24:57] Speaker D: Home and she was going, she just wanted a break. [00:24:59] Speaker B: She'd had a bit of a meltdown, I think, and she basically came back. [00:25:02] Speaker D: And she went and worked in a resort overseas. [00:25:07] Speaker B: And I remember thinking, got you married, you've got kids, you've got family and you're here, you know, but I suppose it's possible for people to still do it. But I don't think, you know, my ventures, I've got too many things to be able to walk away from now and enjoy. [00:25:22] Speaker D: But I. I guess the work I. [00:25:24] Speaker B: Do now is very much. [00:25:27] Speaker D: Very much based on the travel industry. [00:25:30] Speaker B: I've still got lots of interest in travel. You know, I've got one company and I've got another travel company starting as well soon. And I'm enjoying the lessons from the. [00:25:38] Speaker D: Road in a different way now, if you understand. Exactly. [00:25:42] Speaker C: I know you totally understand. Yes, I do. Yeah. Lots of. Lots of plans. Brexit stopped me for a bit, but. [00:25:51] Speaker B: Hopefully it's caused a big problem, isn't it? I mean, let's be honest, it's caused a massive problem. [00:25:56] Speaker D: You know, I wrote to the president. [00:26:01] Speaker B: Of the European Union several times in. [00:26:05] Speaker D: Regards to visas and Brexit. [00:26:10] Speaker B: And what I was on about was. [00:26:11] Speaker D: That UK companies at the moment have. [00:26:16] Speaker B: Been relatively okay because they've employed people in the overseas positions that are already living in those countries and former reps or whatever else, but they haven't got. [00:26:26] Speaker D: Any new crop coming through and what. [00:26:27] Speaker B: They'Re tending to do. Now, a lot of these companies are. [00:26:30] Speaker D: Employing european, english speaking european reps. Okay? [00:26:35] Speaker B: There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but there's a different person, there's a different situation when you have a rep from Germany who speaks English or rep from Poland or Czechoslovakia or Czech Republic or wherever it is, and they're. [00:26:47] Speaker D: Based, say, for example. [00:26:50] Speaker B: I'll give an example. [00:26:52] Speaker D: They're in, I don't know, in Greece. [00:26:55] Speaker B: Not Greece, in Spain, somewhere in Spain. [00:26:58] Speaker D: They don't understand misses Jones from Birmingham. [00:27:04] Speaker B: Culture. [00:27:04] Speaker D: No, what she likes. [00:27:07] Speaker B: So they are there, they can speak English, they can tell you what's going on, but they don't understand the intricate details of misses Jones and her life. [00:27:14] Speaker D: And where she comes from. [00:27:15] Speaker B: And the same from misses brown from. From Scotland or, you know, Mister McCarthy from Cornwall. They're all different. I'm just making names up. Not actual people. [00:27:25] Speaker C: No, no, absolutely. And also, you know, the british youth are getting missing out on this experience that we've had. [00:27:32] Speaker B: This is what I'm on about. So I wrote and I said, I said, can we, can you not get a visa for this because you're only allowed to be overseas for three months. Can you not put. In the old days we used to have that, but before the freedom of movement aspect, there was visas that you could have, you know, to be in the EU and just, just to work. [00:27:53] Speaker D: For that six month period or season, you know, and then have time off. [00:27:57] Speaker B: And then season because they're there for working. But it benefits these. It benefits the country where they're working because what they do is they're attracting more customers and the certain, the tour operators happier and everything else. [00:28:07] Speaker D: And they actually wrote back and said. [00:28:09] Speaker B: She actually wrote back twice, lovely letter. And in both occasions said, look, I. [00:28:14] Speaker D: Totally agree with you. [00:28:15] Speaker B: We totally agree in european what you're. [00:28:17] Speaker D: Saying that the UK government has blocked that actual suggestion. Now that's an eye opener, isn't it? [00:28:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:28:28] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:28:29] Speaker B: But in the negotiations that we've done. [00:28:32] Speaker D: And have been done since, they have. [00:28:34] Speaker B: That European Union has brought up that exact request because other people in the industry, other leaders and tour operators have. [00:28:40] Speaker D: Suggested it and there's been pressure, but. [00:28:42] Speaker B: It'S been blocked by the UK. And I think that takes away from. [00:28:45] Speaker D: The youth and the opportunities that are there. [00:28:48] Speaker B: But I do understand there are some countries like Greece and that I think that overseas reps can still work from. [00:28:53] Speaker D: The UK and there are, of course. [00:28:55] Speaker B: The Caribbean and other places around the world, Gaura, India and that. So there are still overseas reps from the UK. Originally. Originally. [00:29:04] Speaker C: And I guess this is where my son's in a really beneficial place because he's raised in the UK, so he would understand misses Jones and Mister McCarthy, but he has a dual nationality. So I know there's lots of people that are tapping into relatives and hereditary so that they can get some sort of visa. Everyone's got a bit of irish there. [00:29:27] Speaker B: That I've got a great. My great grandmother's irish and apparently it doesn't do any good for me. But my. [00:29:34] Speaker D: My mother can apply for her because. [00:29:36] Speaker B: Her mother was half irish, obviously, so my mother could apply for. [00:29:42] Speaker D: But my mother's 84, she could apply. [00:29:44] Speaker B: To become an irish citizen. [00:29:44] Speaker C: She's not bothered. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Right. And I guess if she's an irish citizen, I could then apply. [00:29:48] Speaker D: Maybe. I don't know. [00:29:50] Speaker B: Maybe there's a ricochet effect. I don't know. But I think. [00:29:53] Speaker C: I don't know. Well, I got. This is how I came to Finland on family ties, because my son's under 18, so I've been given permission to stay longer than 90 days, but I still have to keep appealing, applying and spending lots of money to do it, so. What a nice son. Yes. [00:30:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:12] Speaker C: Yes. What? It is. [00:30:14] Speaker B: It's a nice. [00:30:15] Speaker D: It is. [00:30:16] Speaker C: But. So anyway, that's another series about Brexit. [00:30:21] Speaker B: That's a good one, actually. Might well throw that one up. That was. Get tempers going just before we wrap it up. Time's coming on. Relationships formed. You've got. I mean, I've got, I'll be honest. [00:30:34] Speaker C: With you, some of my closest friends. [00:30:37] Speaker B: No, I'm still very probably. [00:30:39] Speaker D: Everyone I worked with has gone until just recently. [00:30:43] Speaker B: I was on a. [00:30:44] Speaker D: On a forum, on Facebook, on a group, and someone said, hey, I remember you. [00:30:51] Speaker B: And I was so pleased, so pleased that someone actually remembered me. [00:30:57] Speaker C: But you was on. You worked a lot on the fringes, as you said, and you was based in hotels, whereas I lived in apartments with my teams. So my relationship was very different. I was in large teams, in large areas and things, and we all lived together as well. So. [00:31:13] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I was. [00:31:15] Speaker D: Yeah, definitely. [00:31:15] Speaker B: And a lot of all my cases, I was on the fringe, apart from Mallorca. I wasn't so much on a fringe in Mallorca, but the other ones, I was on a fringe and definitely that probably. I mean, I'll meet them in the offices and speak to them and obviously see them on transfer days when you drop people off with the coaches. [00:31:32] Speaker D: But I didn't didn't have that real connection. [00:31:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I had more of a localized connection. So my, mine was very much. My contacts and everything were local, but I mean, relationships formed. [00:31:41] Speaker D: I've still got friends that were not. [00:31:44] Speaker B: Travel industry people that are in those countries. [00:31:48] Speaker D: But one of the things I wanted. [00:31:49] Speaker B: To emphasize here is that I really enjoy being a part of the Reps. [00:31:52] Speaker D: Groups on Facebook because we are a family. [00:31:56] Speaker C: And it seems really strange to say. [00:31:58] Speaker D: That, but we are a family and we met. We met. [00:32:02] Speaker B: I mean, we didn't know each other until. Was it a year? [00:32:05] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:32:07] Speaker D: How long have we known each other? [00:32:09] Speaker C: I think the group's been open like two years. So probably from. Throughout that. Time flies so quickly, doesn't it? Especially when you from. You're living your life through children and stuff. [00:32:20] Speaker D: And the group really helped me. [00:32:21] Speaker B: I was very, very unwell with COVID I don't know if you remember that. [00:32:24] Speaker D: And I know, and I was really. [00:32:27] Speaker B: Really, really sick with COVID and having that group. [00:32:31] Speaker D: It actually helped it help keep. [00:32:33] Speaker B: Isn't that funny? [00:32:34] Speaker C: And so I invited a friend of mine, an irish guy that I used to work with, because obviously I work for an irish company I worked with the Navitha and Lanzarote. And I invited him to the group and he actually texted me and thanked me, said, thank you so much. He said, I've lost the whole weekend chatting to people. But it was so nice to catch up with these people that we'd had all these experiences with these seasons and see where they're. Where they're at now and also take these trips down memory lane. [00:33:04] Speaker B: Memory lane. And I think that gives you a lot of. It's great. [00:33:07] Speaker D: I love it. [00:33:08] Speaker B: I really do. I love hearing the things. What's interesting is we've in the group, there are newer reps that are currently still repping and hearing their experiences. And I think you guys really haven't experienced what we did and you are experiencing some nice stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've got it. Easy peasy. [00:33:27] Speaker C: I don't know if you've read the book. Luke Atwood wrote a book called Ibiza 97, 98. And he was a club rep and he's in the group. And I read both of his books. And honestly, instantly, he took me back to my whole interview that I had with club because it was like a performance. Your interview was a whole day thing. You had to perform and do all sorts of things. And I wrote to him personally to thank him for. For that journey and also comment on how realistic the book was. You know, the interview is exactly how I remembered it. And obviously his experiences and stories were very different to mine. And he. I think he was a student, so he's like a break and stuff, but he wrote the same about him and shaping his future and things. So definitely worth the read. [00:34:16] Speaker B: I'm often asked to write a book or not one book, because I have. [00:34:21] Speaker D: Enough stories and experiences. [00:34:24] Speaker B: I'd have to change names and stuff, but to write about seven books to protect the guilty. [00:34:31] Speaker D: I have been arrested and deported and. [00:34:35] Speaker B: Loads of stuff in my. [00:34:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I was deported from Cuba. [00:34:39] Speaker D: Were you? Were you? [00:34:40] Speaker C: Yes. [00:34:41] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:41] Speaker C: Just paperwork. I didn't do anything until I could make up a nice juicy story. But it was admin. It was during the Castro. Fidel Castro was in charge, so everything was very pragmatic. [00:34:52] Speaker B: And I won't go into my bits because for certain reasons. [00:34:55] Speaker C: Let's save those. [00:34:56] Speaker B: Another series, they're not going public. They'd have to be fictional if I ever write it. [00:35:01] Speaker C: Okay. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Be fictional, which will actually be factual. [00:35:05] Speaker C: Okay. [00:35:07] Speaker B: When I tell the stories, which I won't share with listeners, when I tell the stories, it is interesting because everyone. [00:35:12] Speaker D: Goes, oh, my God, that's like a movie, you know? [00:35:16] Speaker B: And I said, well, it's actually reality. [00:35:19] Speaker D: That's my reality. Of course, we do look back on. [00:35:23] Speaker B: Things with mirrored, rosy tinted glasses and yes, of course that's the reality of it. So we often miss out a lot of things that were bad. [00:35:32] Speaker C: We forget about August, don't we? August, the high season, the awful month of August that everybody hated. He's a little bit sad. Missing home. The heat over bookings, guests were irritable. [00:35:45] Speaker D: We've got. [00:35:46] Speaker C: Obviously, the locals had come down, so the beaches were rammed as well. Yes, everybody was off. But August is the month every rep hates. [00:35:54] Speaker B: Yeah, every rep hits, for sure. [00:35:56] Speaker C: High season blues would kick in. Everything. You're waiting to get your winter blazer, what you're doing. [00:36:01] Speaker B: I mean, I think, yeah, you're worried about what's going to happen in the winter. Are you still going to be doing stuff or not? Are you going to be back in the UK trying to find a temporary job or something? [00:36:09] Speaker D: And then, I mean, one of the things I always, always remember, and I. [00:36:14] Speaker B: Still do it today, now, even as a. If I'm. If I'm a tourist myself, I will go. [00:36:19] Speaker D: If it's the sun, if it's a beach holiday I'm on, I will go. [00:36:22] Speaker B: To the beach at 708:00 in the morning until ten, and I'm off that beach by 10:00 and then all the hordes come down, and then I'll go down in the evening. [00:36:29] Speaker D: Now, if you look, if you really. [00:36:31] Speaker B: Look at the beaches, that is exactly. [00:36:33] Speaker D: What all locals do. [00:36:35] Speaker B: They're down first thing in the morning, have a swim, go to work or whatever else, and they're down late in. [00:36:39] Speaker D: The evening, have a sweep, but the. [00:36:42] Speaker B: Rest of the time they don't touch the beach. It's only the tourists that cook on it. [00:36:45] Speaker D: Like. [00:36:46] Speaker B: Like you feel like you want to go and turn up. [00:36:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Mad Dog's an Englishman, as they say. [00:36:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. They turn up white and within a day they're pink. They can't go in the sun, the Reds. [00:37:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:37:01] Speaker B: Oh, I had some major, major, major stories of burns. But anyway, that can be for another series, another episode. [00:37:08] Speaker C: There's lots of lessons, lots of heartfelt memories, lots of great times. [00:37:12] Speaker B: It's been a pleasure doing this whole series with you. [00:37:15] Speaker C: I really enjoyed it. [00:37:18] Speaker B: We might well do another lot. We might do another lot if we can, but I think we've covered such a lot in this one, so. [00:37:25] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:37:26] Speaker B: But thank you very much, Miranda. Thank you, listeners, for listening in or watching whatever medium you're on and appreciate. [00:37:34] Speaker D: It, and all the best to you. [00:37:36] Speaker B: And I'm going to say goodbye and. [00:37:37] Speaker D: Then over to you, Miranda. Goodbye. [00:37:39] Speaker C: Yes. Oh, yes. Thank you very much. And goodbye from me. [00:37:42] Speaker D: Okay. [00:37:47] Speaker A: As we wrap up for another episode of Journeybound, stories from overseas, travel representatives were reminded of experiences and adventures that connect us all. The world is truly an expansive place, yet stories like this bring us closer together. Join us again next podcast for more captivating narratives from across the globe. And until next time, safe travels, wherever your journey may take.