AITO COMMENT: It’s a hard life

Where have I been? Looking back at an AITO Agent’s travels in 2012. Joan Budgen of AITO agent, Eton Travel recounts her trips.

The life of a travel agent can be challenging, but never more so when we are invited to participate in overseas fam trips in order to get a better understanding of new destinations. It’s difficult to get friends and family to understand that you are actually working whilst you are away! This part of the job is certainly one of the perks but you can’t underestimate the importance of actually seeing a destination when it comes to selling it successfully to clients.

Set on the shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago was my first trip of the year, visiting the Windy City over the St Patrick’s Day Weekend and seeing the Chicago River turning an environmentally-friendly green from our viewpoint at the Chicago Trump Tower.

It is the hometown not only of Barak Obama, but also of the ‘Magnificent Mile’, as Chicago’s prestigious Michigan Avenue shopping area is known. The John Hancock Centre doesn’t hold the title of the world’s tallest building but it does have the fastest elevator, travelling the 1000 feet to the 94^th-floor Observatory in just 40 seconds. 

From the Observatory you can experience panoramic views whilst listening to the commentary on the surrounding districts. Chicago is one of those cities that appears to have it all and it was certainly my kind of town.

Next on the calendar was Malta and its sister island Gozo.  It’s only a three-hour flight from London and a 20-minute ferry ride from the north of the island across to Gozo.  It is a quiet, relaxing, peaceful place – perfect for those who enjoy walking the numerous trails dotted all over the island and for taking in spectacular views.   

Returning to Malta, there is more to the island than I had first thought – after 150 years of British rule, Malta is still culturally-sound and the museums and art galleries are first-rate. Malta is certainly not just a beach destination.

September saw a wonderful whirlwind trip to India, courtesy of Leela Hotels. It took me to New Delhi, Udaipur and Chennai where I was given an awe-inspiring introduction to India.  Whisked away by Emirates and arriving into Delhi in the early hours of the morning, the journey to the magnificent Leela Palace, New Delhi, at Chanakypuri, was swift – a mere 20 minutes along roads that were eerily empty even at that time of the morning. It was very different to the rickshaw tour of Old Delhi the following day, with masses of people giving the city a wonderful energy. 

I was also lucky enough to visit Leela Palace Kempinski, set on the banks of beautiful Lake Pichola, making it a perfect honeymoon setting with all of the guestrooms and suites boasting lake views, as well as the latest addition to the Leela collection in Chennai, the gateway to Southern India’s architectural heritage tours. 

I haven’t mentioned the quick visit to Tuscany for the weekend or my own personal holiday in Madeira but, if asked where I would like to visit in 2013, certainly the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and China are on my list.  That’s after I’ve been back to Australia again and, of course, I’ll need to see some more of Europe’s hotspots next year… It’s a hard life!