I'm a Travel Agent Again!
Oh my god!! Most of you who follow me on Instagram have already heard the news, but for those of you who haven’t...I’M A TRAVEL AGENT AGAIN!I am so SO excited to be back on this journey and today, I want to be a little self-indulgent and share my story and timeline with you.Shall we begin?
October 2019 - I Interviewed For, Received, and Started My New Job
A little over a year ago, I began my job as a travel agent with Liberty Travel in Downtown Boston. The interview process was so quick! Within a week of applying for the position, I was offered the role and accepted with no hesitation. I gave my resignation to my then-current employer the next day, and then left for a previously planned trip to London. When I came back, I started my new life.
November 2019 - Training!
For two weeks, I spent every day in Montvale, New Jersey learning about our booking systems and how to be the best travel agent that I could be. One thing I loved about Liberty was their training program. I had heard it was one of the best in the business and I can’t see myself feeling confident enough to break back into the industry today without the training I had received before.
December 2019 - Putting Theories Into Practice
After I came back from training, I had a couple of bookings. But with the holiday and the, like, one week I was actually in Boston instead of New Jersey, it wasn’t until December that I really started building a clientele. There were plenty of mistakes, but I learned so much in that time. I couldn’t stop gushing about my amazing boss and team and job when I came home for Christmas.
January and February 2020 - I Found My Stride
Were there bad days? Absolutely. There were crazy clients and even crazier requests, but I was learning to roll with the punches. The other thing I started hearing a lot from my clients flying to Asia was “is it safe?” This was when I first started hearing whispers of this thing called the coronavirus that was breaking out in China. “You’ll be fine,” I would tell them. “Everything seems under control.” Which leads us to…
March 2020 - I Lost My Job
As quickly as I found my rhythm, I lost it again. Within a week, I went from thinking “Everything is fine” to “Is the grocery store safe?” I wish I could say that it had gone any other way, but the unfortunate truth is that I had a job one day, and didn’t the next. As someone who had never been laid off before, it was shocking. I spent the rest of the month feeling pretty depressed, to be honest. My job has been amazing, and I missed it.
April, May, June, July, August, September, October 2020 - I Moved Home and Moved On
Once it became clear that I wasn’t going to be getting my job back, I came back to Rhode Island to save some money. I found someone to take over my freshly renewed lease in Boston and almost completely cut ties with the city I had come to call home.Over time, I learned that many of my coworkers had relocated into new careers (and some even to new states). Personally, I decided during this time to pursue my certification to teach ESL online. But, despite the raging pandemic, I was still keeping my ear to the ground. One of the benefits to being my parent’s daughter is that my backup plans have backup plans. So while I was building a career in a new field, I was still in touch with some people from my old one. Which brings us to…
November 2020 - I’m a Travel Agent Again!
With the help of two incredible mentors and friends, I started working as an Independent Travel Agent for an online travel agency! And, yes, I can hear you thinking “But Lauren, isn’t it too soon to become a travel agent again? Isn’t there still a pandemic?”The answer is absolutely! After weeks of planning and countless conversations, I decided that now was the best time to join, get acclimated, and be ready to answer your questions and help plan "omg the pandemic is over" trips when this new vaccine comes out. One of the other (and probably biggest) reasons I chose now to become a travel agent again is because, this way, I’m even more in the know on how you can travel safely this holiday season. If you are planning on traveling, I can help make sure that you are doing it in the absolute safest way possible. If I wouldn’t do it, I sure as heck won’t let you. Do you have questions about traveling safely right now? Leave them below! I’m sure plenty of other people do as well. For now, stay safe and well :)