Today, Friday 13 September is my twentieth anniversary at TravelTime World. Having started as an apprentice on Monday 13 September 2004, I’m not sure I would have believed I would have been here twenty years later, let alone being co-owner and having the standing in the industry I do.
It was kind of obvious from an early age that I had an interest in aviation, and to an extent travel. Although I think everyone’s first reaction would be to be a pilot, I have always been a creative person and found how and why the business runs to be more interesting. Anything from branding to operations and strategy; and still does to this day.
The early days were like a whole new world. I had just left school after really struggling my way through A Levels, not that I couldn’t academically do it, just I lost the belief that what I was being presented with as my future wasn’t the right one for me. Mentally, I found that really challenging, but I found solace in music and completing an A Level that I think is one of my greatest achievements.
I was certainly thrown in at the deep end, but from what I have said, it was something I thrived with. I quickly went to Disneyland Paris (which is Marmite, you either love it or hate it), went skiing with Mark Warner which is something I had never had the opportunity to have done before and headed to the Azores with Cadogan Holidays which gave me a thirst for more adventurous destinations.
Family Holiday Association Pub Quiz, September 2004
Looking back, I think that’s the only way you can really do it. Even though I was travelling quite a bit at the time, to gain an understanding of what was available, I used to spend Sunday afternoons reading brochures from cover to cover, picking up bits and pieces of information I could store in the memory bank! It is somewhat of a database of ‘useless information’ now! This has led to awards – from Advantage, but the first being Caribtours for their ‘Individual Award for Excellence’ back in 2011, as one of the first travel agencies in the country to really embrace digital marketing.
Caribtours Brochure Launch
Everything you see now I have designed myself – the current branding which has developed over time, but originated just over 10 years ago. Then of course we had Athena Holidays and made the switch to purple, and then back to blue again when we moved to the office. The current website of course, was pushed even further when I did a second apprenticeship in Content Production.
The early days I travelled a lot. At least in comparison to more recent years, I consider it to be a lot. The first long-haul trip was to Malaysia and the really interesting city of Kuala Lumpur before heading north to Penang. After that included my trips to New York, Washington and Orlando in the US.
Then I headed east to Thailand and stayed at the amazing Pimalai in Koh Lanta, combined with a couple of nights in Bangkok, which is the crazy city you think it is. The story behind this one was interesting – we had a late call in the office with someone who had booked their honeymoon on their own, and had got it wrong – so we saved the day (of course). Our friend Lisa Rawlings who was well connected to the SLH group, having represented the Londra Palace in Venice – we asked her if she could help. The strangest coincidence was that she was just negotiating a contract – and helping us with the honeymoon got her contract over the line, hence why I got to go there!
Pimalai, Koh Lanta
There were also trips to Western Crete with Simpson Travel, Grenada and Tobago in the Caribbean and Los Angeles all in close succession. There were also trips to Portugal, and the Pyrenees in Europe.
Cape Town, South Africa
One of the more memorable was to South Africa with Kirker Holidays, and a real whistle stop tour taking in the Kruger National Park, the Garden Route and Cape Town in just seven days (which isn’t something I would recommend for most people). To experience something as magical as a safari for the first time was special, and even the pouring rain in July didn’t deter me!
With Simon Calder, Advantage Conference – Madeira
There are of course the more recent adventures – the amazing trip earlier on in the year with Maris and the team at JetBlue, meeting Simon Calder at the Advantage Conference in Madeira, the lovely time we had in Tenerife in June and even the many trips to Barcelona.
There are just so many stories I could tell, although they are going to remain hidden away until the next anniversary!
