Before I became a world traveler and planner of adventures, I was an executive assistant to some of the largest international companies in the world. An unfortunate car accident changed my life. Since I’d always enjoyed traveling and the planning process for travel, I decided to try putting travel packages together for ladies only. I started by putting several ads in the newspaper as well as booking a couple of radio spots to advertise my first few travel adventures. These got a great response and allowed me to create a database of over 400 travel-loving ladies. Word of mouth was the next big advertising campaign. I visited shops in the downtown core of our city and left rack cards and business cards in beauty salons, dress shops, and spas. Since I started doing this three years ago, I’ve led tours to Spain, Italy, Turkey, Malta, Greece, and France. Not to mention England, Ireland, and Wales… along with many gorgeous islands in the Caribbean, the Mayan Riviera, all over Mexico and the United States. And not just once…I’ve been to Costa Rica three times. Every adventure is different and always custom-designed for the group I bring with me. We’ve gone zip-lining, white-water rafting, hiking volcanoes, and snorkelling from a catamaran… taken heli-tours and jungle walks. 
The money? I started out by making enough to cover the costs of my own trip. With experience and advice in Great Escape Publishing’s Leading Tours for Fun & Profit program, though, I found many ways to cut costs through different booking companies and great deals on airfare. I now pocket as much as $3,800 on top of free travel. And in the future, I see even more travel with bigger profits. I like to use local tour companies in the cities we visit. University students love to do this type of work, so contacting the local university is a great way to secure an enthusiastic tour agent for little money. To help get free tours and hotel stays, I offer to write an article on the tour or hotel and submit it for publication. All this makes it possible for me to keep on trucking and enjoying the new adventure I call “the life.” To start today, I’d: 1) Pick a place on the very top of my bucket list 2) Start with friends and family and use the free advertising method’s Cynthia talks about in Leading Tours for Fun & Profit 3) Price my trips a little higher so there’s more room for profit (again, Cynthia talks about this in Leading Tours for Fun & Profit. 4) Arrive early and make sure everything is the way you want it before your guests get there. 5) Remember to have fun! Life is an adventure. If you keep your eyes on the goal and the end of your trip, you’ll miss out on all the fun stuff in between. It’s the journey from start to finish that makes this opportunity so great. Keep it fun and get to work on crossing those dream trips off your plate. Share on Facebook
