Interview with Renee Van Drent
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| Renee works here, there, everywhere. |
Renee Van Drent works in Europe as a Rick Steves tour guide — and in our Tour Operations department managing our Eastern European tours. Unlike most other tour companies — which outsource hotel, restaurant, tour guide and bus company selection — we do it all in house. This hands-on approach gives us better control over the quality of hotels, guides and drivers we use. Because of her unique mix of roles here, Renee really knows our tours from start to finish!
What is it like to be responsible for the "operations" side of a tour? Can you give us a behind-the-scenes peek?
I'm kept pretty busy organizing Rick Steves' tours to Eastern Europe, but it has been incredibly exciting. Logistics is the name of the game. I spend my time contacting hotels, local guides, group restaurants, coach companies and museums throughout Eastern Europe confirming each group's particular reservations. We here in Tour Operations are like Oz behind the curtain. We make sure that the reservations for each tour are put in place long before the tour actually runs. What's great about Rick Steves' tours is that a guide still has a lot of flexibility and creativity to enhance the tour anyway as he or she sees fit. So it's a combined effort between us here in Edmonds getting the big reservations confirmed and the guide over there on the ground adding their touch to make it perfect!
What did you do before you landed in Oz?
In the winter of 1998 I moved to Ukraine to begin two years of service as a Business Volunteer for the Peace Corps (I already had a background in marketing). I was assigned to a town just 25 miles from the Russian border, so I got to learn Russian. I was lucky to be able to travel all throughout Eastern Europe during that time. Afterwards I moved to Seattle and found a job at a small local tour company that does tours to Ukraine, Russia and the former Soviet Union. But there was always this part of me that wanted to go back to my European roots. My parents are Dutch citizens and I have dual citizenship. I grew up spending summers visiting Oma & Opa in Holland and tagging along on my family's caravan trips all throughout Western Europe. So for me Rick Steves is the perfect fit — All of Europe in one great company!
What is it about Eastern Europe that gets you so fired up?
I like to say that I discovered Eastern Europe technically as Western Europe. I traveled to Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia & Croatia while I was living in Ukraine, so to me it was the West. It was interesting to see how the arm of the Soviet Union once stretched throughout each country and learn about their new found freedom. It's been incredible seeing most of these countries joining the EU and I find it fascinating how they are embracing the EU after only being free from Communism for such a short time. For me watching the coverage of Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004 was spectacular! Plus there is such a wide span of interesting sites throughout Eastern Europe. Standing at the remains of the wall in Berlin you get a moment where you really feel the man-made separation that once existed. Whereas standing at Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia gives you an amazing sense of peace and natural wonder.
What kinds of travelers take our different Eastern Europe tours?
I think our Best of Eastern Europe tour is a perfect tour for someone who has not traveled to this part of the continent. It gives a great snapshot of 6 countries in 17 days. For a more in-depth tour, our Berlin-Prague-Vienna and Adriatic tours let you really delve into the culture a bit more. One great advantage of Rick Steves' tours is that you have some free afternoons to explore on your own. So for the experienced traveler there are always opportunities to scout out new adventures.
Does the fact that you also manage our Best of the Adriatic tour make it easier or harder to lead the tour as a guide?
I'm not sure about it being easier or harder, but I really like being able to build relationships with the hotel owners, restaurant owners and local guides throughout the year by being the tour manager here in the office. It's wonderful to be able to see everyone in their home town rather than just emailing them all the details. I think they are pleasantly surprised that someone who is their contact in the office is also one of the guides.
As an insider, can you tell us if any new Eastern Europe tours are in the works?
Actually I just came back from a productive research trip for a new Baltics itinerary that will bring Helsinki back to our tours and open the door to Tallinn, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia in 2009. People keep asking me when Rick is going to go to Russia, and this new Baltics tour will pave the way. I'm excited that St. Petersburg will be our introduction to Russia. Tour Members will be able to see for themselves whether the Hermitage beats the Louvre in the art world, or if Peter the Great was able to truly capture his love of Amsterdam when he created his capital city. It's a great time to explore the east. Keep reading Tour News to see what will happen next!