Travel Humor at Thanksgiving

We are starting the busiest travel week of the year. You know what that means for both travelers and travel advisors: Stress!?

When traffic is backed up, or your flight is delayed, it can be really hard to remember that we are incredibly blessed to be taking these journeys and have people and places that we want to travel to see. It is, after all, a holiday about being thankful.

Instead of giving you the advice you’ve heard dozens of times about how to deal with stress during times of travel, I want to share a few stories I hope to give you a laugh – or at least a smile – amidst the chaos.

I am also giving you a bingo card for things to look out for at the airport.??

And if you are just going over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house like me, I hope you have a safe journey with as few delays and hiccups as possible.??

Here are a few of the funny stories I gathered during my years in this crazy industry. They are going to be part of my book someday... If I ever get around to around to writing it!?

A couple in their late 20s are sitting in a restaurant planning their honeymoon to Hawaii, unaware that a travel advisor is listening in. They discuss what they are excited to see during their trip and then turn the conversation to how they plan to get there.

She really doesn’t like to fly and suggests that they drive. She figures that since the flight they looked at from NC leaves at 7:00 am and arrives at 2:00 pm, that’s seven hours of travel, so it will probably take them about 12 hours to drive. He asks if they actually can drive, and she assures him they can since it is a US state and they must have a bridge.

He agrees that it makes sense, and having their car will be good.??

A family planning a group trip asks their travel advisor to please get in touch with the cruise line and have them delay sailing from 4 pm to 5 pm because it will save them money on their flights to Florida.

They insist that’s not asking a lot.?

In my first job as a travel advisor, I was surprised at how many people came to our cruise-focused agency (in the middle of a mall) looking for cruises to the Grand Canyon. I was completely perplexed and unsure how to respond to the first inquiry because I didn’t want to insult the prospective client.

One of my colleagues called me into the back room and explained this happens all the time and they mean Grand Cayman, not Grand Canyon. Got it!

I booked a lot of cruises that included “Grand Canyon” after that!??

Happy Thanksgiving!