Hi from Rick: On-the-Road Friends and a Brand New Tour
 |
| Peace, dude: The universal snapshot handshake. |
Dear Traveler,
I'm excited to announce a new "Heart of Italy in 11 Days" tour we're launching this week. But first I want to tell you a little story.
One of the fun extras I get from every trip is sharing moments with people I wouldn't normally hang around with — other travelers as well as locals. Flying home from Rome last week, I made friends with a couple of Japanese girls who had just finished their first European trip. I've always seen Japanese travelers snapping away with cameras — frantically, as though they were snaring memories. It's made me wonder — are their travel photos and memories much different from ours?
So I did something I've always wanted to do: I asked them to let me see all their photographs as a slide show on their camera. From Rome I saw cats and focaccia; from Paris I saw chocolate, the Eiffel Tower and McDonald's (they pronounced it mah-koo-doh-nal-doze); and from London I saw theatre marquees and the girls making peace signs in front of famous places. In other words, the kinds of pictures and memories my American daughter would come home with.
The final shot in their collection was a magic moment: the crazy American tourist they met on the plane who wanted to see all their photos — sharing experiences with someone they wouldn't normally hang around with.
Bringing together small, fun, diverse groups of people who love to travel is what we do. And in this month's Tour News we'll get you started on your next adventure with a special feature on the Heart of Italy, with details on that time-and-money-saving tour, a fun collection of molto Italiano articles and podcasts, and news about how our 2008 tours may be your best defense against the dropping dollar.
The tour guides I work with in Europe tell me that local bookings are down from all the other American tour companies this year…except ours. I'll take that as a compliment — one that's meant for you, too. Thanks for traveling with us.
Rick