Big Changes

 Last week I wrote and posted my blog just after I did that I had a major turn of events in my life. I have been working for myself as a travel agent for the last nine years this April. I have been home for ten years. I took a full-time position with Voyago as their dispatcher for Brockville pare transit.

This means Monday through Friday I will be in Brockville from 8 to 4. I am not giving up my travel business I have worked very hard to get it where it is and I do know people will travel again. I have two families currently in Florida right now. One of them enjoying  Disney. 

Just like many of you, the last two years have been rough on my family. Money has been tighter. Mental health issues have arisen and this is my attempt to try and get back some normal.

So what does this mean for my travel clients? My Monday to Friday daytime hours will be limited. I will still have access to email my turnaround time just may be slower. I will be back to working evenings and weekends. I had reduced those hours over the last two years trying to work normal business hours. 

It will be an adjustment and with things being slower it is a good time to determine what my business standards will be etc. I will still be hosting group travel, some I will escort personally, others will be escorted by colleagues or do not require an escort.

My Nova Scotia and PEI group for June is looking unlikely with the Atlantic province bubble. But my Alaska cruise group is a go in August with only 5 cabins left and if you book by the end of January you will get some extra perks. I will have Salem/Boston bus group details shortly for this October. 

In 2023 I have half a dozen cruise groups 2 that I will be escorting personally and 2 NYC bus charters I will be on one and a colleague will be on the other. I will be revisiting Newfoundland for 2023 and I will have details shortly for a Golf Cruise in Ireland and a Game of thrones Ireland coach tour in August 2023.

So I have lots on the go, between now and 2025 already and if you have a group that you and your family and friends would like to do let me know and we can put it together.

As always Disney is near and dear to my heart and I love planning those trips for you as well. I definitely do not want to miss out on making those travel dreams come true.

One last note I did drop the ball on my posts for this week and I will slot time every weekend to make sure the week's posts are ready to go. So don't worry the regular posting is here to stay. Just a small glitch this week.

Also coming soon I will apparently be available on Tik Tok. The profile is ready to go my young techie's aka the kids are supposed to help with this soon

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor
Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca
Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 50021282
55 York Street, Suite 1003
Toronto, On M5J 1R7
Office Phone 416-367-8264 ext 2625
Direct Phone 613-543-3006

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home-based travel agent and I live in South Dundas I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Let's Catch Up

Wow, I did not realize it has been so long since I have updated my blog. I stopped posting as I was moving my business in a new direction and was getting ready to relaunch when the world decided to shut down and I will be honest so did I along with many of you.

I will admit this shutdown impacted my life in so many ways. In the beginning, I spend hours on phones and email canceling clients' trips. Fighting for refunds and future travel credit and dealing with insurance. This went on for a long time. I just finally got my last client from March 2020 their refund and I still have clients with future travel credits that will eventually have to be redeemed. All of this work was done for free or at a cost to me. In travel, the majority of agents did not charge fees as we received a commission for clients' travel. This commission was recalled or never paid out which means all those hours worked were for nothing. This is why you will find that many agents are now charging fees in different ways. 

I have started booking again but even that has gotten difficult with Omicron as people are canceling or once again having travel canceled or changed. I have a personal cruise coming up booked my air in November and in December the airline canceled those flights and offered to change them to two days later. I could not accept that as they were after my cruise departure so I changed airlines. I have had clients receive schedule changes as well. Both Air Canada and Air Transat have canceled most of their Caribbean Islands flights other than Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Cuba.

I have secured many groups for cruise sailings to help secure the best prices for my clients. I have one group for 2022 and many for 2023, 2024, and even 2025. As the world opens back up and people travel again inventory will be hard to come by and pricing will get higher. 

I did travel back in October/November for a conference and I have to say it was amazing. It was definitely different with all the protocols in place but I still had a great time and I am looking forward to my many adventures this year as well.

The one thing I do like about covid and the shut down was re-evaluating what is important in our lives. I have four children a husband I belong to many groups and committees as do they and my calendar was insane. It was color-coordinated and full. There was never much free time available. This full-on stop was actually nice and weird at that same time. Our family has spent more time together not just rushing from one event to another. 

So while my work is picking back up our activities have not yet and they have had me re-evaluating a lot of change. Which includes more travel with my family and friends. As they are so important and we need to make up for lost time

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor
Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca
Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 50021282
55 York Street, Suite 1003
Toronto, On M5J 1R7
Office Phone 416-367-8264 ext 2625
Direct Phone 613-543-3006

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area