Most days, I enjoy my job. Usually this is not something that can be said about manning a phone bank. However, I really enjoy talking about travel all day long. From sharing my own stories about places I've visited to answering more technical questions (just what is the weight limit on a Ryan-Air flight? How do you go about updating your passport when you get married?) to just listening to super excited 14 year olds, sometimes I'm surprised they pay me to do this!
Of course sometimes its not so rosy. I can handle angry people, that's no problem. I can explain policy, pick apart a bill, or calm a worried parent. The people I have trouble with are the ones who have no relation to reality. Take the last call I had tonight. We managed to get somebody a place on a tour that left for Europe in a little over 12 hours. Yeah, you read that right, a little over 12 hours. Considering most people who travel with my company plan over a year in advance, this sort of thing practically defines the term "bending the rules." So we made a huge exception, and what does this lady do? She uses a 2 year old price quote to haggle. She wanted it to be cheaper. As if! Has she seen what happened to the dollar vs the euro over the past two years?
Really the hardest part of this job is talking to all the people who are so excited to be traveling, while I sit here stuck in Denver! It doesn't help that I keep having Japan Flashbacks which just make me want to belly up to a yakitori joint and order a draft Asahi...
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