25 Travelers on Why They Love Their Virtuoso Advisor
From peace of mind and insider knowledge to (so many) perks, travelers share why their relationship with a Virtuoso advisor has made their vacations better.
One of the most common misconceptions about travel advisors is that they’re just transactional agents – you tell them where you want to go, they book your flights, and off you go. And while they’re definitely logistics pros, there’s so much more that encompasses what it means to work with a travel advisor. From that first spark of an idea until long after a trip is finished, travel advisors are by your side. They’re collaborators, curators, and confidantes, doing everything from building custom itineraries to calling their hotelier friends in Paris to get you the suite with the very best view of the Eiffel Tower.
Here, 25 real travelers on what they value most about their relationship with their Virtuoso travel advisor.
You can be as involved with planning as you want to be.
“We give our advisor a list of places we want to get to. From there, she starts sending ideas, articles, and side trips we might not know about. She picks up on our interests and then fills in the blanks with her expertise.” – Anne Toal
https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/articles/why-i-travel-anne-toal
Paul Brisson and Anne Toal exploring the Amazon.
Natural wonders and great golf greens keep Anne Toal and Paul Brisson on the go.
After a canceled flight on their honeymoon in Greece 32 years ago, Anne Toal and Paul Brisson of Ontario, Canada, were stranded in Corfu and missed boarding their cruise in Athens. They scrambled to change plans and meet up with it in Crete. Their ship eventually came in, Anne explains, but it reinforced with these practical- minded travelers – they both spent their careers as actuaries – the need to avert misadventure by planning with an experienced and reputable travel advisor. Both now 61 and retired, they explore prodigiously, with nary a hiccup, thanks to Virtuoso advisor Sheila Gallant-Halloran.
Our philosophy in travel is to always go with a plan, but expect the unexpected. Have patience, take deep breaths, and leave your type A personality at home.
And take a map. Yes, we live in a world with GPS and Google. But you go off the beaten path, you get lost on a country road – you might lose service.
Nature is what interests us. Seeing different types of animals and birds and landscapes, but also the world’s great golf courses.
A safari favorite, Botswana.
Anne Toal
For wildlife, Botswana is definitely the place. The birds and the elephants, the leopards and the lions. Then again, the penguins in Antarctica are pretty amazing.
We played Pebble Beach on an absolutely perfect day. On a round at Tralee in Ireland, the wind was blowing so hard, we thought we’d blow off the cliffs. I was lucky enough to have a hole in one at Desert Willow in Palm Desert.
Generally, we give Sheila a list of places we want to get to. From there, she starts sending ideas, articles, side trips we might not know about. She picks up on our interests and then fills in the blanks with her expertise.
What we love about cruising with Lindblad Expeditions is its small groups. You’re on a ship with maybe 40 to 150 people rather than thousands, the guides are excellent, and, depending on the destination, there are opportunities to hike, kayak, snorkel, and learn photography tips from National Geographic experts. And it’s casual – Paul isn’t into wearing black tie for dinner.
Wherever we go, we bring home a little cat. We have a little green guy from Zambia made out of malachite, and a silvery-black one from China. In Portugal, we found one made of brown pottery.
We used to lug big, heavy binoculars. Now we take the Nikon Travelite. They’re powerful, waterproof, and fit in a jacket pocket.
Where next? There’s quite a list: Madagascar. South America. We’d like to go to the Canadian Arctic and Norway. I’d return to Antarctica. We’ve done safaris in South Africa, but didn’t golf. Oh, and Australia is high on the list.