Angela Hughes grew up in the travel business, starting in her parents’ agency as a teenager delivering tickets. But she was almost ready to throw in the towel a couple of years ago when her family vacation was ruined by constant phone calls from clients.
Fast forward to today. Hughes is in Menorca, Spain, vacationing with her daughter. With a team of three assistants that share her back-office Monday.com CRM and team platform, she will take a call or two from her high-end clients a couple of times a week. But, even with $3 million in personal sales so far this year, she will not allow her work to prevent her from having some all-important family time.
“When you own an agency with ICs and a big book of clients you’re never fully off,” Hughes says. “But making modifications to work smarter can make all the difference.”
While she does lots of prep work before leaving the office, Hughes no longer mentions to her clients at Trips and Ships Luxury Travel in Winter Garden, FL, that she is going away. That cuts out those last-minute emails she used to get the day she was leaving. Of course, when she posts about her trip on social media, she gets a rush of interest from her premium luxury clients.
While she feels she cannot ever turn down a call from a customer at that level, once she hangs up her assistants take over and follow up on any to-dos, gather quotes, or build Travefys, then update the platform so she can see how they have handled everything.
“I hope to close $200,000 of business over the next two weeks while I’m vacationing,” she says. “If I have to work an hour or two here or there, it’s worth it.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Iris Citron, director of leisure travel at Alice Travel Worldwide in Fairfield, NJ, isn’t worried about vacations at all. After many years in the industry, “my travel days are over,” she says. “We’ve reached that age, and we’ve been everywhere we wanted to be. I’m perfectly content to be home and just take a day off from time to time.”
To Share or Not to Share?
In between, though, are the travel advisors who just don’t travel when their clients are on the road; who share with colleagues; who don’t take vacations at all.
Teri Hurley in Austin starts early, placing a line in her email signature announcing her trips a month in advance, and then only addresses emergencies while she is away. “I ensure other support systems are in place and review these options with my traveling clients prior to their departure, including in-destination support numbers provided by the tour operator, insurance 24/7 numbers, and insurance concierge assistance,” she says.
Dillon Guyer of Seacoast, NH, tries not to travel when more than a few clients are on the road. Peter Fanizzi never goes during the summer. Dawn Crowe in Las Vegas has given up vacations altogether for now. “I wonder how can it be that so many are able to just…up and GO? I’m Independent but…even a few hours away lately have been catastrophic, and then it takes twice as long to get everything put back together again. I couldn’t enjoy myself for worrying so…will wait until it slows down again,” she says.
Lori Judd in Land O’ Lakes, FL, tries to schedule short breaks rather than long vacations. “I am taking my fiver to Disney for four nights. Yes, I could work but we need a vacation just like our clients do! Whatever it is, it can wait until Friday,” she says.
Many team up with a colleague or backup support from their host agency. At Boutique Travel Advisors, Angela Rice has been training her team, and her customers, to support one another. “We anticipate that the long-term gain will be a better work-life balance for our advisors, combined with more resources for our clients. We are really excited about this initiative; we are seeing positive results already!” she says.
But like many, Kim Kellar has a hard time letting go. “Sure, I just had a vacation from 10:30 pm to 5:30 am,” she says. “Let’s face it…a good travel advisor attitude is: control freak in control of nothing, no one does it like I do.”
Letting go “can be rough,” agrees Paula Ford. “I care about my clients, so I am available when possible, even on vacation”—including her 50th wedding anniversary trip. “Yes, I am still married now, and my clients ended up having a wonderful trip. Sad thing is, they never really understood how much I gave up because they called me instead of calling my backup person.”
While Denise Hangsleben has “learned I cannot count on anyone to take care of things for me,” some clients “know who to call from their travel documents if traveling, and wait until my return for everything else,” she says. “Almost all situations can wait and are often better if they do. I am always reachable at least via email or text. I check and make notes on who to contact on my return, so nobody gets lost. It took a lot of years to train myself to let it go, but for the most part, it works and is very freeing.”
Vicki Banks depends on her free T-Mobile calling in Europe. Independent contractor Deborah Barth plans, for the first time, to pay for backup services from her host agency, Brownell, “as long as everything is in Clientbase and accessible. I’ll be trying it out in September when I’m in Hawaii—and very relieved to have this option!”
Taunya Altamirano in Phoenix will be using an associate for emergencies; “I literally do what I do so that I can travel and work at the same time. So, I try to make sure I have days where I am available and days where I am not.”
“I just took 2 weeks off. I needed it. The burnout was real,” says Mary Beth Perini in Stony Point, NY. “I did handle a couple of final payments and any questions from current travelers. But I put out an out of office message and said I was only responding to emergencies. If I missed people because of it, I’m fine with that. Because I’m of no use to anyone if I’m completely burnt out. I’m back and crazy into the grind again. But those two weeks off allowed me to enjoy my family and reset, and actually relax.”
While a back-up person helps, W Will Medina of Hollywood, FL, has found that vacations are “still doable, if you plan in advance to ensure you don’t have clients traveling that same week, put your out of office ON, and understand that your own self-care is an important part of running a business—so be ok ‘missing out’ on a few sales during that week if they can’t wait for your return.”
“My family deserves to have my attention when I am on vacation and everyone deserves to take a break,” agrees Melissa Ulrich in Austin. “I come back energized and refreshed! We can’t just sell those special family moments if we neglect to take them for ourselves.”
On that Seabourn cruise with her daughter, Angela Hughes is happy she hung in there when things seemed overwhelming. “Trust me, there was a period when HomeGoods looked like a great career option,” she says. “But I love the changes I’ve made. I can run a business, work remote, and enjoy my family once again. And I’m having my best year ever.”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
