If it Kills Me!

It is a tough thing for an entrepreneur to know when to stop working. Travel agents are a rare breed of the classic workaholic entrepreneur.


There are tons of emails in my inbox. It's the life of a travel agent. Emails from suppliers, magazines, travel email marketing companies, hotels, cruise lines, travel sales reps, and the list goes on. It's how travel agents get our information. Sometimes it's necessary and requested, other times it's not needed at all and unsolicited. 


There are Web sites that need to be maintained with updates and fresh content to be added. Clients that need to be looked after, handheld at times, and those looking for a travel agent's expertise. 


As travel agents, we tend to sometimes work from dust till dawn. It is a never-ending cycle. When most people are off for the day or the evening, a travel agent has just one more thing to do. We relish in our work. We'd be crazy not to love it. Hard work won't kill us (I think), but my goal is to slow down, take it easy, enjoy life, and have a blast while still getting the job done.

What a problem to have!

Ok, so a travel agent has to keep learning in order to keep on top of all things travel. Well, at least a good travel agent does. Well, I've got problems. October and the fall are usually busy, busy times for seminars and agent learning trips. There is so much going on right now that I'm struggling to find the time to do one or the other or all. I can't do just one, because all are important. What's a girl to do? I know, I know...you're probably saying, "I wish I had that problem."

It ain't exactly a walk in the park. When we travel to seminars, learning conferences, or these educations trips, our day usually begins at 7:00 a.m. and goes through anywhere from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., depending on the schedule for that day. So it's a long day visiting hotels in the hot sun, walking until our feet hurt, dropping in the evening from sheer exhaustion, and getting up the next morning and doing it all over again.

These learning trips are necessary, but to choose which is most important when they're all important and happening all around the same time.... What's a girl to do? 

Happy Kadooment Day!

It's Grand Kadooment Day in Barbados. Kadooment Day is the grand finale to Crop Over Festival, our carnival. Crop Over Festival, started in the 1780's and revived in the 1940's, signifies the end of the sugar cane harvest, or the end of the crop season (crop is over). A kadooment is a big "to do", the last day of Crop Over Festival.

Crop Over Festival is normally five (that's f.i.v.e.!) weeks long from the first Monday in July to the first Monday in August. These days the festivities start in May! That, my friends, is about 14 (fourteen) weeks! That's a long festival season. But we like it. :) During Crop Over we have fairs, calypso/soca competitions, a kiddie costume parade, arts & crafts festivals, heritage festivals, outdoor markets, all kinds of shows, dances, and music everywhere.

Now for the big parade, in the rain (as usual, it seems). Today (Kadooment Day) you'll see lots of band members (paraders) in elaborate costumes jumping (parading) in big bands playing the latest music. It is a sight to see. You'll see people of every nationality, colour (I had to spell that the Bajan way), creed, belief, age, and even visitors from different countries jumping in a band.

I'll be there! Will you? You got your costume? Which band are you jumping in? :) Well, I'm not jumping this year. I did once and it was a great experience. No, I will not show you my picture in costume. Well, if you're not here this year, make sure you contact us at Bridgetown Travel for Crop Over Festival 2011. Plans are already underway, so call us so you don't let next year miss you! Wait...don't call today, though. ;)

Pictures later.

Goodbye 2009!

I was a little dissatisfied with 2009. A lot of things happened: some were in my control, and some were out of my control. I'm usually such a go-getter, but I finished December off in a funk (mood) for a lot of reasons, from which I'm slowly emerging, I'm happy to say. I'm looking forward to a better, well-structured 2010.