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Speaker 1: Get a I'm Lola Berry, nutritionist, author, actor, TV presenter,

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Speaker 1: and professional oversharer. This podcast is all about celebrating failure

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Speaker 1: because I believe it's a chance for us to learn,

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Speaker 1: grow and face our blind spots. Each week, I'll interview

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Speaker 1: a different guest about their highs as well as their lows,

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Speaker 1: all in a bid to inspire us to furiously fail.

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Speaker 1: In this episode, you will get to meet a wonderful

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Speaker 1: human being.

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Speaker 2: Her name is Lauren Dunerman. She is my travel advisor

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Speaker 2: and to be.

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Speaker 1: Honest, she's got me out of more than a pickle

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Speaker 1: over the last year or so.

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Speaker 3: She's helped me travel during.

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Speaker 1: COVID when there are ginormous travel peraps coming into Australia

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Speaker 1: and out of Australia. She's just an amazing human being.

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Speaker 1: She crosses every tea and dots every eye.

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Speaker 3: And when we really get into how the.

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Speaker 1: World of travel has changed, both pre, during and post COVID,

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Speaker 1: and she really opens up about how her world changed

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Speaker 1: in kind of like March twenty twenty when everything kind

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Speaker 1: of like hit.

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Speaker 2: Inside to unfold on a very very global level.

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Speaker 1: And she also gives so much hope for the future

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Speaker 1: and that people as of this year, are really focused

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Speaker 1: on ticking off those bucket list travel items.

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Speaker 2: I know she got me so excited about.

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Speaker 1: The potential of Antarctica, which I've never really thought of

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Speaker 1: seriously before. And I just think travel is such a

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Speaker 1: gift and an opportunity to grow. And you'll hear all

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Speaker 1: about that and her passion in this chat. Lauren, you

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Speaker 1: are a wonderful human being and I am so wrapped

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Speaker 1: till finally sat down with you in the flesh and

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Speaker 1: met the person that I've had copious amounts of phone

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Speaker 1: calls with. You're amazing and I say this to you

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Speaker 1: all the time. Don't know how I traveled before I

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Speaker 1: met you, Lauren Dunerman, Did I get right? Yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: so nice to see you in the flesh in real

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Speaker 1: life because we've kind of built a relationship over the

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Speaker 1: last year or so, haven't we have. Yeah, you are

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Speaker 1: my wonderful travel advisor, and you really really saved the

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Speaker 1: day for me last year. I'm going to say on

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Speaker 1: more than one occasion we had a very stressful last

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Speaker 1: year together.

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Speaker 3: We did, but we got through it.

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Speaker 1: So you got me home. You were absolutely incredible. So

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Speaker 1: I remember when I was in the hotel quarantine. Coming

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Speaker 1: back to Australia, I said, you will you jump.

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Speaker 3: On the podcast.

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Speaker 1: People need to know that we can still travel and

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Speaker 1: there is hope out there.

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Speaker 3: And you were like, let me think about that.

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Speaker 4: I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. So thank you for

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Speaker 4: jumping on the path. Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 3: Oh, I am so rapped to have you here.

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Speaker 1: I think it's such an awesome topic and one that

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Speaker 1: up until about a year ago.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I kind of just, to be honest, I just thought

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Speaker 1: a travel agent covered everything like as in a travel agent,

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Speaker 1: a travel advisor or the same thing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And I was recommended you by some lovely friends of

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Speaker 1: mine that were like, this is go to Lauren.

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Speaker 3: You're going to be fine. And I just was.

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Speaker 1: Able to breathe again when I got to work with you.

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Speaker 1: So I want to actually want to start at the beginning, Okay, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I want to know where the passion for you to

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Speaker 1: become a travel advisor came from.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So for me, it really started quite honestly in high

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Speaker 4: school when I had my first trip. So I just

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Speaker 4: went on a typical family holiday as you do to Bali,

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Speaker 4: but I love bar Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that was my first overseas experience.

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Speaker 4: And I realized when I went on that trip that

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Speaker 4: there was a whole world outside of Australia that you know,

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Speaker 4: i'd heard about, but when you see it the flesh,

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Speaker 4: it was, oh, I want more. So instantly it was different,

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Speaker 4: and I realized I just loved things that were different,

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Speaker 4: you know, push the boundaries and culture.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I knew I.

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Speaker 4: Was always interested because I used to you know, walk

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Speaker 4: through my local shopping center and I remember seeing the

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Speaker 4: travel agency in my local shopping center and I used

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Speaker 4: to dream as I walked past the brochures and think, oh,

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Speaker 4: it looks so fun to work in there.

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Speaker 3: And so I always just had a.

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Speaker 4: Bit of a curiosity and really wanted to be in travel.

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Speaker 4: But yeah, it was that taste of the overseas experience

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Speaker 4: that made me, when I finished high school, book a

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Speaker 4: big Europe trip. So I tried to get a couple

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Speaker 4: of friends to come along with me.

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Speaker 3: But at that stage, everyone was, you know, wrapped up

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Speaker 3: in their own lives as you are as a teenager,

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Speaker 3: and some things feel very important that now realized looking

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Speaker 3: back at it, and not important at all.

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Speaker 4: So I ended up booking this Europe trip and went

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Speaker 4: on my own. I did a tour, so I did

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Speaker 4: it in a safe way or I was you know,

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Speaker 4: single female for me, first real big trip overseas, and.

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Speaker 3: That was it for me.

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Speaker 4: I just you know, learned so much about myself always

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Speaker 4: I did. And I came home and I realized all

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Speaker 4: these things in my life that I thought were important

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Speaker 4: that in my mind with this huge, big deal, you know,

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Speaker 4: I might be a boyfriend or a you know, I

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Speaker 4: had a dramaize there's a whole world outside that people

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Speaker 4: don't even know that I exist. I am so small

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Speaker 4: in the grand scheme of things, and that really sparked

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Speaker 4: my passion. So I at the time, there was a

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Speaker 4: university degree at UQ and it was one of a kind.

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Speaker 4: You know, there was travel and tourism degree. Oh sorry,

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Speaker 4: there was tourism hospitality degrees, but there was a degree

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Speaker 4: that had just started called travel travel Management. It was

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Speaker 4: a Bachelor of Business Travel Management, so not Bachelor Business

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Speaker 4: and Tourism. And so the difference was it was all

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Speaker 4: about the ins and outs of how travel works. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: so I was this is for me.

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Speaker 1: But you've got a really high score in you like

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Speaker 1: the equivalent of ninety eight percent.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you.

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Speaker 1: Knock back like law medicine and you're like, no, I'm

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Speaker 1: chasing this passion.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember, you know, my mum saying.

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Speaker 4: To me, you could do medicine, you know, you could

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Speaker 4: do anything you want, and I just but this is

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Speaker 4: my passion. First of all, I can't stand blood either, so.

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Speaker 3: It wouldn't have been any good.

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Speaker 4: But I just knew there was something there that I

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Speaker 4: had to explore and you could you could get into

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Speaker 4: I got back in the day it was ops in Queensland.

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Speaker 4: I had no OP two, so I could have enrolled

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Speaker 4: in medicine or law and I only needed a fourteen

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Speaker 4: to get into this travel management degree. Yeah, but you know,

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Speaker 4: I'd work so hard at high school to get that result,

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Speaker 4: but at the end of the day, I just had

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Speaker 4: to put my passion first. So that's also your nature though,

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Speaker 4: like you're having worked with you now, I think you're

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Speaker 4: someone that gives it your all.

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Speaker 1: I feel like that is just the way that you are,

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Speaker 1: which so I'm not surprised that you got an amazing score.

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Speaker 1: It's just really cool that you knew you're passionate at

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Speaker 1: such a young age.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I really haven't sort of changed from that

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Speaker 4: is UQ University of Queensland, right, and see, yeah.

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Speaker 1: You got the high score. You went to UNI, so

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Speaker 1: hang on before that though, did you go to Europe?

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Speaker 3: Was yeah, so I've done my big Europe trip. Like,

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Speaker 3: this is it. I'm enrolling this degree. This is what

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Speaker 3: i want to do.

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Speaker 4: And I remember while I was at UNI, I just

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Speaker 4: this is going to show my age. But looking, we're

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Speaker 4: not that far apart. Through the newspaper at job advertisements

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Speaker 4: at the time, and a job came up for a

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Speaker 4: company called Overseas Working Holidays, and I thought, this is

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Speaker 4: my dream job, this is it. But I didn't meet

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Speaker 4: the criteria. I didn't I couldn't do full time. I

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Speaker 4: was at UNI, I was working two jobs. I was

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Speaker 4: working and I was waitressing, I was working a surf shop,

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Speaker 4: and I had a full time university degree. So I

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Speaker 4: knew I didn't have what I needed to have this job.

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Speaker 4: But I thought, you know, I'm going to go to

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Speaker 4: this interview, if for nothing else, just for the experience.

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Speaker 4: So I went to this interview, and I was a

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Speaker 4: pretty big geek. So I literally designed my own travel brochure.

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Speaker 3: And I took it to this interview and.

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Speaker 4: Presented my own this is what I would do if

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Speaker 4: I worked in this is my ideas, and here's my

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Speaker 4: travel brochure that I've personally designed.

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Speaker 3: And I remember Lee.

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Speaker 4: I remember thinking, I'm not getting this job. I didn't

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Speaker 4: have anything to lose, so I'm not getting this job.

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Speaker 3: This is a great experience, but when I give it

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Speaker 3: my all. So I left the interview.

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Speaker 4: I felt really good about the interview, just because I

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Speaker 4: think I wasn't nervous. I had, like I said, I

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Speaker 4: had nothing to lose. And then I got a call

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Speaker 4: back literally half an hour after walking out of the interview,

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Speaker 4: and they said when can you start? And I said,

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Speaker 4: but I can't do full time.

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Speaker 3: I'm at UNI.

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Speaker 4: And they took a chance on me and let me

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Speaker 4: continue UNI. So I had a couple of days off

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Speaker 4: a week to do UNI. So I started part time.

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Speaker 4: So that really got my foot in the doors in

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Speaker 4: the industry. And the office at the time for overseas

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Speaker 4: working holidays was directly opposite the emergency assist department that

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Speaker 4: is for the company that I now work for, so

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Speaker 4: I was always really curious with that, and I remember

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Speaker 4: just thinking, thanks, guys are like the paramedics of the

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Speaker 4: travel industry. They were twenty four to seven, you know,

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Speaker 4: screens everywhere, just yeah, calls coming in saving the day,

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Speaker 4: and I was really curious about what they did.

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Speaker 3: So that sort of sparked my curiosity.

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Speaker 4: But of course three years into the job, I've been

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Speaker 4: organizing working holidays for people to amazing places and realized

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Speaker 4: I need to.

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Speaker 3: Do this for myself. Ye like I want to go.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's so much easier to talk about a destination

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Speaker 4: when you've been there yourself and.

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Speaker 3: To give a personal recommendation.

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Speaker 4: So I went to Canada for a working holiday, did

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Speaker 4: a year there, met my husban his Australian So I

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Speaker 4: went all the way to Canada and met nausey.

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Speaker 3: But what was so if it was a working holiday,

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Speaker 3: what worked?

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Speaker 4: So I worked in a gym for six months at

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Speaker 4: the stuff so I did, so I took a year

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Speaker 4: off from the travel industry, but I did a year

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Speaker 4: working in a gym in Vancouver, Kit's line workout, and

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Speaker 4: then I did six months of a big White ski

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Speaker 4: resort and I was working in the central reservations department,

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Speaker 4: So still in travel booking travel so that was yea

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Speaker 4: not for the same company, but obviously still in the

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Speaker 4: industry there.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, so far and you met love? Yes? I did?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Yes, So, like, how do you go from so you've

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Speaker 1: you're kind of like you're loving what you're doing, You've

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Speaker 1: taken a year off, You're like, Okay, I'm getting more

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Speaker 1: like travel experience under my bout, which only helps your

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Speaker 1: career anyway. And then do you come back and go okay, now,

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Speaker 1: because what about the study?

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Speaker 3: Have you had? You finished your study by this day? Yes,

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Speaker 3: I've finished my study, right, OK. What happened when you

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Speaker 3: came back from Canada? Yeah, so I came back.

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Speaker 4: I'd taken a year leave without pay from my job,

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Speaker 4: so I still actually I hadn't resigned. I still had

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Speaker 4: my position to come back to. So I actually went

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Speaker 4: back to the job. And I think probably a month

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Speaker 4: after being back in the job, I realized I was

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Speaker 4: back in the I was getting on the same train

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Speaker 4: into the city. I was picking up the same pen

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Speaker 4: that I used, you know, I was at the same desk,

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Speaker 4: and I felt like I'd had this massive experience, I'd

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Speaker 4: grown so much as a person, and I felt that

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Speaker 4: for me, that was taking a step back, even though

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Speaker 4: I was still passionate and loving what I did. I

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Speaker 4: wasn't growing, I wasn't moving forward, and I hadn't.

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Speaker 3: Say yeah yeah.

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Speaker 4: And there's a really awesome travel quote that is it's

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Speaker 4: my favorite. It's on my Instagram and I'm oh, see

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Speaker 4: if I can remember it. But it's about you know,

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Speaker 4: when you come back from a holiday, something in your

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Speaker 4: mind has changed, and that's the thing that changes everything.

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Speaker 4: So for me, I knew I needed to make a change.

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Speaker 4: I had a friend in the industry who was working

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Speaker 4: for Student Flights at the time and said, you'd be great.

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Speaker 4: You should come across, You'd be a perfect manager. I

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Speaker 4: hadn't had any management experience at the time, but again

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Speaker 4: I just okay, So I threw myself in. So I

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Speaker 4: started managing Student Flight store at West End to start with,

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Speaker 4: and then I realized that there was a number of

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Speaker 4: stores that weren't doing so well, and I ended up

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Speaker 4: taking on a role where I moved around to different

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Speaker 4: stores to try and lift those stores into whether it

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Speaker 4: be growth or profitability or I realized what those stores

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Speaker 4: didn't have was strong systems and belief. That was so

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Speaker 4: it was really for me easy because I'm a little

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Speaker 4: very organized. It comes with the job, but you know,

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Speaker 4: I'm spreadsheets and I'm very very organized with what I do.

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Speaker 4: So I realized when I went into these so they

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Speaker 4: didn't have those systems in place. They didn't have the structure,

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Speaker 4: and in our industry, without that, you feel out of control.

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Speaker 4: You have to have those really strong systems in place

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Speaker 4: and just that belief that the consultants you know, didn't have.

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Speaker 1: So, especially if you're booking a trip, I think for

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Speaker 1: a lot of people, it's exciting, but also there's a

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Speaker 1: bit of fear. Yeah, if you haven't been in your

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Speaker 1: place or you're not sure, and we have like Australia

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Speaker 1: is so safe, so the second you kind of get

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Speaker 1: out of Australia, you're like, oh, this all feels a

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Speaker 1: little bit scary and you so you need someone.

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Speaker 3: That believes in where you're going or what you're doing. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: for you to kind of put your trust into that person.

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Speaker 3: That's right, right, And I used to say to my stuff,

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Speaker 3: I remember just always saying.

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Speaker 4: You don't need to know the answer to everything, you

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Speaker 4: just need to know where to find it. And that

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Speaker 4: was key because it meant you've got a team of

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Speaker 4: people that right here around you that have that knowledge.

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Speaker 4: We have a great network of travel advisors that we

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Speaker 4: can airline.

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Speaker 3: Reps, industry reps, hotel reps. You know.

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Speaker 4: So if you don't know the you can't be expected

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Speaker 4: to know everything there is to know about the world.

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Speaker 4: And even now I'm hands down I don't know everything

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Speaker 4: there is to know about the world, but I have

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Speaker 4: the connections that I know where to find it, and

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Speaker 4: I feel confidence in that, and that's I think where

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Speaker 4: it comes from.

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Speaker 3: So just knowing that the travel industry is really special

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Speaker 3: because everybody helps everybody.

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Speaker 1: Yes, so it's like a big family. Like you need

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Speaker 1: so many like this might be the wrong wording, but

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Speaker 1: like you need so many cogs in the right place

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Speaker 1: to pull something off.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you do. You do.

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Speaker 4: You have to rely on other people's knowledge, experience, industry connections,

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Speaker 4: and yeah, you just have to have that belief that

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Speaker 4: you can do it because you've got a network of

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Speaker 4: people around you to support you. And that's what I've

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Speaker 4: found in every team that I've worked in, it has

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Speaker 4: always been about lifting other people up. So it's not

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Speaker 4: a competitive industry, you know. I'm sure we'll touch on

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Speaker 4: it later, but we've had a lot of people leave

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Speaker 4: traveling the travel industry recently, and move into other careers

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Speaker 4: like real estate, and speaking to those people now, they

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Speaker 4: say it's so much different than what the travel industry was.

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Speaker 4: It's really cut throat, it's every man for themselves. It's

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Speaker 4: I've never had that experience in travel collaborate yep, yep, yeap.

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Speaker 1: So so I like a talk. I love your passion.

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Speaker 1: So how do you decide to go?

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Speaker 3: All right?

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Speaker 1: Well two, this is a true pronged question. How do

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Speaker 1: you decide to go from travel agent to travel advisor?

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Speaker 3: And for I only recently, what is.

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Speaker 1: The difference between a travel agent and a travel advisor?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'll start with the difference. So the difference

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Speaker 4: is a travel agent is a very transactional concept. It's

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Speaker 4: you want to book a flight.

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Speaker 3: This is what you do. Here's you might have found

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Speaker 3: the flight, you've seen the flight you're really just having.

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Speaker 4: Here, here's your here's the sale, here's what you've booked.

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Speaker 4: See you later, got it?

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Speaker 3: You know?

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Speaker 4: So a travel advisor is a complete package. So travel

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Speaker 4: advisor tailor made a seamless journey for someone.

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Speaker 3: And right from the.

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Speaker 4: Very beginning, from that initial inquiry stage, we're not as

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Speaker 4: a see I would see myself as a travel advisor.

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Speaker 4: I'm not there to take away the joy of booking travel,

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Speaker 4: because I've heard it before people say, oh, I don't

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Speaker 4: need a travel advisor. I love booking my own travel.

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Speaker 4: But it's a collaborative experience. It's sitting down with somebody

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Speaker 4: who can bounce ideas. It's making sure that either you

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Speaker 4: haven't forgotten things. Even the most experienced travelers that I

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Speaker 4: speak to, oh shit, I'm sorry.

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Speaker 3: As much as you.

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Speaker 4: As much as you even you know, the most experienced

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Speaker 4: travelers don't know things.

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Speaker 3: They don't they don't realize certain things.

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Speaker 1: At the different times, I thought I was an experienced

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Speaker 1: travel until literally when you sent me the difference between

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Speaker 1: the t I was like, how did I not know that?

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Speaker 1: Like the amount of times I've gone, all right, this

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Speaker 1: is where I'm going. Sometimes I'll be like, I'm just

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Speaker 1: going to count just point this, and you.

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Speaker 4: Know, you have to try and wangle it on your

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Speaker 4: own with a travel advisor. So travel advisors with you

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Speaker 4: every step of the way, not just in that planning

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Speaker 4: and that booking stage, but monitoring that reservation and it's

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Speaker 4: so so important now, but monitoring that reservation and the

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Speaker 4: lead up to your departure managing the changes that come

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Speaker 4: about with that. You know, if touching base with you

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Speaker 4: before you go, making sure that you're having a great

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Speaker 4: experience while you're away, having connections to be able to

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Speaker 4: elevate your journey, whether it be VIP or you know,

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Speaker 4: dadding in different things.

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Speaker 3: You are awake part of my very lovely.

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Speaker 4: Yes, but also making sure that you know we're with

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Speaker 4: you until the moment that you get home and if

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Speaker 4: if there isn't an even emergency overseas, that you've got

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Speaker 4: someone to call.

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Speaker 3: It's really reassuring. Oh, I know how many nights timeholes

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Speaker 3: do we have?

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Speaker 1: So for me, I think it would be like ten

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Speaker 1: or eleven year at night, Yeah, Los Angeles. And I

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Speaker 1: was like, Lauren, I don't know how I'm going to

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Speaker 1: get home, And you're like, okay, these are our options

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Speaker 1: at the moment. We can sit on this for another day.

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Speaker 1: You know, you were phenomenal And I was so stressed

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Speaker 1: because I was alone. Yes, and so like when you're

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Speaker 1: alone and then face with adversity, everything feels bigger.

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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, And people don't think clearly when they're in

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Speaker 4: an emotional state. And that's what we've seen, and we've

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Speaker 4: seen that you know, not just during the pandemic, but

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Speaker 4: on numerous global events that have happened previously. When people

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Speaker 4: are outside of their comfort zone, they're in a foreign country,

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Speaker 4: they may not speak the language where they are, or

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Speaker 4: maybe they do it they're panic. Yeah, and you don't

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Speaker 4: think clearly. It's so comforting to have someone make those

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Speaker 4: decisions for you and say this is what we're going

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Speaker 4: to do.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, this is the plan. So you're like an amazing

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Speaker 3: problem soon.

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Speaker 1: So I want to make sure we mentioned Travel Associates, Yes,

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Speaker 1: because that's the company you work for, and I want

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Speaker 1: to give them a shout out because you have been Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you completely change the way I will travel, probably for

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Speaker 1: the rest.

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Speaker 3: Of my life. Oh that's good to hear.

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Speaker 4: So yeah, Look, with my moving into travel associates, I've

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Speaker 4: been with student Flights for ten years, and honestly, I

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Speaker 4: I absolutely loved Student Flights. I love the brand, I

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Speaker 4: love the people, I love the I loved everything about

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Speaker 4: it and the people that I work for. But I

398
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Speaker 4: was really sitting in a safe space for myself. I'd

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Speaker 4: had two children, yeah, and for me, I was at

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Speaker 4: this point, I was working from home. So as I said,

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Speaker 4: I was moving around different different stores. I then had

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Speaker 4: babies and decided that I'd start to work from home.

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Speaker 4: So I'd been working from home. Two thousand and twelve,

404
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Speaker 4: I started working from home, and yeah, I really was

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Speaker 4: just sitting in a easy space. Really, I wasn't booking

406
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Speaker 4: students anymore. I hadn't been booking students for a long time.

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Speaker 4: I was one hundred percent repeat referral business. So I

408
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Speaker 4: was booking their grandparents and their next door neighbors.

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Speaker 3: So for me, and I was.

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Speaker 4: Creating these itineries from ideas that people had, So I

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Speaker 4: love that. Like, for me, that is my ultimate when

412
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Speaker 4: I have put together a whole and it's it's their thoughts,

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Speaker 4: my ideas come together and then come back.

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Speaker 3: From that trip and go, oh my gosh that you know.

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Speaker 3: So I was loving it.

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Speaker 4: I've been doing that for a long time, and I

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Speaker 4: knew Travel Associates was where I needed to be.

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Speaker 3: That was just the right fit for me.

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Speaker 4: But it wasn't until I got my daughter into full

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Speaker 4: time daycare that I'm right, I'm going to focus on.

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Speaker 3: What I really need to Yeah. So I actually didn't

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Speaker 3: make that.

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Speaker 4: Change until February twenty nineteen, which was the year before

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Speaker 4: the pandemic.

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Speaker 3: So I'd spent a year in the brand in travel

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Speaker 3: associates and then you know, yeah, let's history, so we

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Speaker 3: know it.

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Speaker 1: So for me, I remember I had a flight booked

429
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Speaker 1: for I think it was the sixteenth of March twenty twenty,

430
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Speaker 1: to activate my green card and to go Melbourne Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles Direct, normal flight, really standards.

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Speaker 3: Straightforward, very straightforward.

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Speaker 1: And I remember I'd keep checking my app and it

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Speaker 1: just wouldn't confirm. So I'd paid for it, I'd seen

435
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Speaker 1: my points had been taken, the money had been taken,

436
00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,959
Speaker 1: bet nothing would confirm. And as you know, when I

437
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Speaker 1: feel out of control, I just spin and I was

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Speaker 1: like I don't know what to do here. And I

439
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,679
Speaker 1: and obviously every morning you'd wake up and they'd be

440
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Speaker 1: worse worst news about COVID. And I remember I drove

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Speaker 1: down to Tellmarine International. I was like, stuff this I'm

442
00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:18,840
Speaker 1: going to ask. I walked up to the quanda's desk.

443
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,080
Speaker 1: I walked up to the desk and I said, what's

444
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 1: going on? She's like, I was just a tax don't worry,

445
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,800
Speaker 1: it's just a tax thing. It'll be sorted. Your flights

446
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:27,560
Speaker 1: going ahead, BES said, get me off the flight. I

447
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,359
Speaker 1: was like, this is not the way I want to travel.

448
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:32,080
Speaker 1: This is not and I knew I had a window

449
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,359
Speaker 1: and I was like, just and she goes, I'll get

450
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:34,800
Speaker 1: it all done.

451
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,000
Speaker 3: And she was a mate. This girl was absolutely amazing.

452
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 1: I would have been so so stat And I was

453
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,679
Speaker 1: watching other people in the same position as me doing

454
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:43,720
Speaker 1: the same thing. There was like three of us there

455
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 1: just going this doesn't feel right travel right now. But

456
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,680
Speaker 1: it was really scary, and so I remember I was like, Okay, well,

457
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 1: I'm just going to pre book my next flight for

458
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:53,639
Speaker 1: June and get.

459
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:58,359
Speaker 3: Ahead, not worry. Same thing. I watched the flight just

460
00:21:58,440 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 3: be canceled in front of me.

461
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,439
Speaker 1: So I'm you're guessing this is when all the border

462
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,440
Speaker 1: closures started to really kick off, and they were phenomenal.

463
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 1: And this isn't a plug for connoisaning, but they were amazing.

464
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 1: Day straight away were like and I said, guys, this

465
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 1: is a legal move, this is a green card activation.

466
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,439
Speaker 1: America will not let me not activate. They wrote me

467
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:19,640
Speaker 1: the most incredible letter that I was able to give

468
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,120
Speaker 1: to the consulate.

469
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:23,639
Speaker 3: But it was still really coo fun because I was

470
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 3: on my own.

471
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,240
Speaker 1: I didn't know you didn't find out tual two weeks

472
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,120
Speaker 1: before or a week before that your flight was canceled,

473
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:28,560
Speaker 1: so you're.

474
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 3: Kind of getting ready and geeing up to go.

475
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 1: But it was really scary at the time because I

476
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: remember thinking, I'm just walking into the eye of a volcano,

477
00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 1: like America was really popping off, and so it was

478
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 1: really confronting.

479
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:42,920
Speaker 3: And it wasn't until.

480
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,880
Speaker 1: I was able to get an extension to get back

481
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:47,639
Speaker 1: over and my boyfriend and I were like, stuff, so

482
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:48,040
Speaker 1: let's get it.

483
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:48,760
Speaker 3: We've got six months.

484
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 1: We go on a byron and I ran to my

485
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,360
Speaker 1: beautiful friends shout out to me and raz and they said,

486
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,440
Speaker 1: you got to work with Lauren, and that is when

487
00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 1: you entered my life.

488
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,080
Speaker 3: But I want to hear your.

489
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,639
Speaker 2: Experience of like March twenty one, yeo, what happened?

490
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, So for take you back just a smidge, twenty

491
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,639
Speaker 4: nineteen was a huge year for people booking their.

492
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 3: Travel for twenty twenty.

493
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,920
Speaker 4: So back in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty had.

494
00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,640
Speaker 3: A nice ring to it. Yeah, not anymore.

495
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 4: So, Yeah, I had a really you know, people had

496
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 4: these big bucket list experiences that they were doing. I

497
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 4: had one client that had four massive trips, big trips

498
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,119
Speaker 4: they were retiring. Oh the dream, so that you know,

499
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,479
Speaker 4: everyone was living their dream in twenty twenty or so

500
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,880
Speaker 4: they thought so. So we'd had a record year of travel,

501
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 4: so it was one of the biggest years that we've had.

502
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 4: And I think we came into early twenty twenty and

503
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,320
Speaker 4: we'd seen, you know, the virus that started to pop up. Obviously,

504
00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:48,320
Speaker 4: there'd been a couple of issues in China called of

505
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:52,159
Speaker 4: late February and late February I'd had to bring a

506
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,360
Speaker 4: couple of clients home from China, yeah because a bit

507
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,439
Speaker 4: and got them home and thought, oh, okay, that was

508
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 4: pretty full on, but you know, they're back. And I

509
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,639
Speaker 4: we remember thinking as we came into early March, this

510
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,919
Speaker 4: isn't looking good. Like there was waters starting to close

511
00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,959
Speaker 4: in different countries around the world, and it wasn't until

512
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,240
Speaker 4: I think from memory, it was the US closed the

513
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 4: border to the UK that was the big one. Now,

514
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,239
Speaker 4: when that happened, Australia still had their borders open. It

515
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,240
Speaker 4: was in the news, but it was sort of I

516
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 4: don't really know, and if you sort of think back

517
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,920
Speaker 4: to all the other events like this that have happened,

518
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 4: really sometimes only effects two or three countries or people

519
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:34,960
Speaker 4: traveling from here to here, and you find a way

520
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:39,400
Speaker 4: to travel via that and go around it. So but yeah,

521
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 4: when it was just a feeling that something's this is bigger,

522
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,919
Speaker 4: This is bigger than anything that we've ever experienced before.

523
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 4: It was the fifteenth of March. I remember it so clearly.

524
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 4: It was a Sunday, and as a business, travel associates

525
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,680
Speaker 4: made the decision to bring all of our clients home.

526
00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,440
Speaker 4: So yeah, yeah, yeah, we're not going to get emotional,

527
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 4: but yeah, it was surreal. It was so surreal. I'd

528
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 4: never been you know, I'd worked through you know, when

529
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 4: I started in the industry. It was the flow and

530
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 4: effect from September eleven, you know, there was every yeah,

531
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 4: the Indian Ocean earthquake that was huge, you know, the

532
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 4: resulting tsunami in Thailand, global financial crisis, terrorist attacks around

533
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,239
Speaker 4: the world, So you know, I had experience and all

534
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,520
Speaker 4: of that. I've done all those things, even just things

535
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 4: where people had traveled and someone's got seek or injured

536
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:35,280
Speaker 4: or overseas.

537
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,600
Speaker 3: So I had that kind of emergency response.

538
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,120
Speaker 4: Experience before, but this was times a thousand, so because

539
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 4: everyone all at once, So we were really lucky in

540
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,680
Speaker 4: that That night I worked through the night that night

541
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:55,400
Speaker 4: and many nights after that, but literally just calling every

542
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:56,919
Speaker 4: single one of my clients. If I couldn't get them

543
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 4: on the phone, I was emailing them. I was stalking

544
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:01,080
Speaker 4: them on face Book trying to find them. I was

545
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 4: messaging them and saying, hey, we need to bring you home.

546
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,479
Speaker 4: And it was interesting because I've got a really good rapport,

547
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,439
Speaker 4: and I think that's a benefit again, just going back

548
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,880
Speaker 4: to being a travel advisor. We get to know our

549
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 4: clients more than just that transaction. So I know why

550
00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 4: these people are traveling, I know where they are, I

551
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 4: know I know how they might react in this sort

552
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:22,520
Speaker 4: of you know yeah.

553
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:23,679
Speaker 3: So yeah.

554
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 4: So I was ringing people through the night and saying, hey,

555
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,400
Speaker 4: this is happening around the world. It's not looking good.

556
00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 4: I'd like to get your home. I was holding seats

557
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 4: on flights for people before I'd even spoken to them.

558
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,920
Speaker 4: Oh wow, yeah, so I had my plan I had

559
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,880
Speaker 4: right this person's here. I don't know how far away

560
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,119
Speaker 4: they are from the airport right at this moment, I

561
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,280
Speaker 4: wonder how quickly they can get to the airport. There's

562
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,200
Speaker 4: two seats left on this flight. I'm going to grab them.

563
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,679
Speaker 4: So oh wow, yeah, so I was calling people and

564
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 4: saying come come home and look. Some ninety nine percent

565
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,440
Speaker 4: of clients quick, yes.

566
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:02,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can be there in an hour.

567
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:09,159
Speaker 1: Resistant because it so the news was so like I

568
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 1: feel like you would have been learning about the same

569
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:11,680
Speaker 1: time we were.

570
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:14,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, would have felt all very up in the air.

571
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 1: I mean I remember the first kind of like a

572
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 1: couple of weeks maybe it was like that late Fair,

573
00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: people joking about yeah they were if you're in America.

574
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 1: I remember people like, don't worry you, it's all save same,

575
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 1: and I was like, okay.

576
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 3: I'm okay, yeah, yes, yes, yeah.

577
00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,440
Speaker 4: So you know, there were people that were reluctant, and

578
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,200
Speaker 4: you know, I had clients that are in South America,

579
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,919
Speaker 4: Central America at the time, and I'd seen that that

580
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 4: US border had closed with the UK, and I knew

581
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,439
Speaker 4: that if the US closed to Mexico and Chile had started,

582
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 4: Chili had closed. So I knew if that border closed

583
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 4: had start stuck, they have to get out now, and

584
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:52,600
Speaker 4: they have to go north, even though their ticket was south.

585
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,600
Speaker 4: So yeah, so that was pretty full on and people

586
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,400
Speaker 4: that were, you know, a week into a four week trip,

587
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,960
Speaker 4: and when you're traveling, you're immersed in the you're like, oh, no,

588
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 4: we're having a great time. We've just been at a

589
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,360
Speaker 4: party no one's talking about.

590
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,200
Speaker 3: And you're not sitting on your phone looking at the news. Yeah.

591
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,080
Speaker 4: So to have someone I think it was quite a

592
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:12,680
Speaker 4: shock to a lot of people to have me call

593
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 4: them and.

594
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,879
Speaker 3: Say you need to come home.

595
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,160
Speaker 4: But ultimately it's the client's choice. I can't force someone

596
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,879
Speaker 4: to come home. So there were a few people say no,

597
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 4: I think we're going to wait it out, you know,

598
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 4: but it was so. That was the fifteenth March, so

599
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,680
Speaker 4: I worked through the night, multiple nights, and just dealing

600
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:33,920
Speaker 4: with different time zones. I was purely running on adrenaline.

601
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,280
Speaker 4: I remember thinking to myself, I was made for this.

602
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 3: This is the moment.

603
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 4: This is the moment that a travel advisor shines. I remember,

604
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 4: this is it, this is this is the moment I

605
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 4: was made for. This is why people book with a

606
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 4: travel advisor. Obviously not considering, you know, the hard road

607
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:52,000
Speaker 4: that we would have ahead of us after that.

608
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 3: But in that moment, oh, I was just so good.

609
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, laser focused on I have to get these people home,

610
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,520
Speaker 4: and you know, I had person connections, so I also

611
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:06,719
Speaker 4: felt a responsibility as well. So Australian Border didn't actually

612
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,760
Speaker 4: close that announcement from the Prime Minister. That didn't happen

613
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,400
Speaker 4: until the Thursday, the nineteenth March. So I'd had a

614
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 4: four day and leeway of getting clients out before everybody

615
00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:22,960
Speaker 4: else decided, shit, we want to get we need to

616
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 4: get a flight out of here.

617
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,840
Speaker 3: So that four days was critical. Saved you in a way,

618
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 3: it save your clients. It did, it did.

619
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 4: It was the best decision that as a company, Travel

620
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 4: Associates could have made for our clients. It was looking

621
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 4: back on it, it sounded crazy at the time, but ultimately.

622
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 3: That is it. So superhero rs Well, yeah, I want

623
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 3: to ask you.

624
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,240
Speaker 1: About because the and this is just from our personal experience,

625
00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 1: but like the travel caps into Australia, I was so

626
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 1: stressful because they would change on a dime, Like you'd

627
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 1: wake up and be like, oh God, like I think

628
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 1: we had a couple of flights we got camped.

629
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,239
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well we had airlines that had been

630
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 4: operating throughout the pandemic and reliable airlines. Okay, these airlines there,

631
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 4: you know, and then as those passenger caps got stricter

632
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 4: and stricter and stricter, airlines realized that some routes that

633
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 4: they were operating just weren't viable. They just couldn't put

634
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,680
Speaker 4: the plane on and they ended up withdrawing their their

635
00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 4: flights from makes total sense, and.

636
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,720
Speaker 3: You were impacted by that at one point.

637
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 1: When I tell people, you know, oh, my flight home

638
00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: costs a lot of money because the travel caps, and

639
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: you tell Ozsi's that, some assies were like what are

640
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:32,720
Speaker 1: you talking about?

641
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,320
Speaker 3: And I was like, are you kidding me? Yeah? I

642
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 3: was like fifteen people were allowed in the out per day.

643
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,680
Speaker 4: Yeah, there was some of these flights coming in could

644
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:42,640
Speaker 4: have no more than eight passengers. Yeah, And I don't

645
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,720
Speaker 4: think people realized that. So for airlines, huge shout out

646
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 4: to airlines that continue to operate throughout that just me

647
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 4: home on a postal service.

648
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:52,680
Speaker 3: Do you remember, yes?

649
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,840
Speaker 1: And if you were like, I was like no, I

650
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,040
Speaker 1: was like, Laura, no, there are flights coming out of LA.

651
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: I don't need to live out your like trust me,

652
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,200
Speaker 1: trust me. I'm like, we are getting you. And even

653
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 1: when I got to LA, because I had to go

654
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 1: to La San Fran and then home from San Fran.

655
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: When I got to LA and tried to check in,

656
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: I was like, I'm going to Australia. They're like, this

657
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,760
Speaker 1: flight doesn't exist because they thought I was flying out

658
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,280
Speaker 1: of Ballet and I was like, wow, okay, here we go,

659
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: here we go. And it's like and this is what

660
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,720
Speaker 1: I want to say, like a massive thank you to you,

661
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 1: because without you, I think that that would have been

662
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: so hard to navigate, not even just the pre bit

663
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 1: and booking, but like at the airport, you really talked

664
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 1: me through. You like, make sure they connect you all

665
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:34,080
Speaker 1: the way through. Make sure they do that. That is

666
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: really really important, Like you don't know that when you're

667
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 1: on your own.

668
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:38,720
Speaker 3: It's like, Okay, I'll get to the next spot. Then

669
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 3: I'll fight to get to the next spot. You don't.

670
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:42,640
Speaker 1: There are so many things that you can do to

671
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 1: kind of like smooth out the trip a little bit,

672
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 1: even in tumultuous travel time.

673
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,040
Speaker 4: And for you, I remember, you know you're in LA,

674
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,640
Speaker 4: and I remember just thinking I'm not flying you out

675
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 4: of LA, You're flying out of San fran But I

676
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,640
Speaker 4: have to convince you, so I'm like, no, you're going

677
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:02,400
Speaker 4: to san France.

678
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 3: Trust me on this.

679
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 4: And that honestly was based on researching the historical data

680
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,640
Speaker 4: of the flights throughout the entire pandemic, and I knew

681
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 4: that the passenger caps were getting stricter and stricter, and

682
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 4: if any of these the La La Sydney or the

683
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:20,479
Speaker 4: San France Sydney, if one of them was going to go,

684
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,680
Speaker 4: it was going to be La Sydney. So I knew

685
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,640
Speaker 4: even though it was more expensive and you were so

686
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:27,720
Speaker 4: much easier.

687
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 3: Just to fly out of LA.

688
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 4: We had to hedge our bets and say, look, I

689
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,840
Speaker 4: put you on the safe like, please take this safest route,

690
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,520
Speaker 4: and so obviously it'd be paid off, but you know,

691
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:40,840
Speaker 4: that was you know, it doesn't always happen that way,

692
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:42,080
Speaker 4: but we do.

693
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 3: Our best with that. Ultimately, I was super proud of

694
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 3: what I'd done. I had this as you should be.

695
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, but then it was just a weird experience because

696
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,640
Speaker 4: I really felt like, oh, you know, I've I've got

697
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,800
Speaker 4: on my client's home, I'm doing all these wonderful things.

698
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,440
Speaker 4: But at the same time, I didn't have any direction

699
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 4: with my career. So that was really hard. Okay, am

700
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,360
Speaker 4: I still going to be able to do this career?

701
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 4: And I just had to have that belief that travel

702
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 4: always bounces back, it always has This is what we

703
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 4: were saying Yeah, this is the big wammy COVID nineteen

704
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:19,040
Speaker 4: to have it affect the entire world all at the

705
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 4: same time. But I truly believe that, you know, the

706
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:27,240
Speaker 4: systems that are in place now, it's actually allowed us

707
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:31,960
Speaker 4: to reset totally bit, even myself, like just take a

708
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:37,040
Speaker 4: little bit of time out and breathe and yeah. So

709
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,520
Speaker 4: that's been really special. I hope as travel and it

710
00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,200
Speaker 4: is coming back already. We're seeing it right now, as

711
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,400
Speaker 4: we see that people have a different idea about how

712
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,480
Speaker 4: they want to travel in the future, and they want

713
00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:55,040
Speaker 4: deeper experiences, you know, more connection, more nature based, more

714
00:33:55,040 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 4: sustainable travel, quieter experiences, so not so much of the

715
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 4: big cities. Well yeah, the big touristy experiences. I guess

716
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,560
Speaker 4: where you line up with fifty thousand people, We're not

717
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:08,319
Speaker 4: seeing that as much.

718
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:10,319
Speaker 3: People also wanting to treat themselves a little bit.

719
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 4: So people that typically traveled economy, we're seeing a lot

720
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:14,839
Speaker 4: of business.

721
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:18,520
Speaker 3: Class reservations now, how yeah, a lot of business class

722
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:22,080
Speaker 3: and I think everyone's been through a bit of an ordeal.

723
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,760
Speaker 4: Yeah, and people are ready, Yeah, yeah, they're ready, they're ready.

724
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 1: So would you say for people for now if they're like,

725
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:31,399
Speaker 1: all right, I'm ready. This is the year I want

726
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:35,360
Speaker 1: to treat myself. You would advise working with a travel

727
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,239
Speaker 1: advisor is a game change.

728
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:38,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, absolutely so.

729
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:42,640
Speaker 4: And one of the reasons I say that is we've

730
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:46,120
Speaker 4: worked throughout the entire pandemic. We've seen the trend, We've

731
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 4: seen what's happening, what airlines are doing, what routes are

732
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:53,760
Speaker 4: the safest. With COVID nineteen, we're navigating those restrictions daily.

733
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 4: So the moment there's a change comeing too effects for

734
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 4: a different country, I'm aware of it. I've actually got

735
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 4: a I'll show you after, uh, you know, a spreadsheet

736
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 4: as I do of every client that i've got.

737
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,239
Speaker 3: I know at any point where they.

738
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,280
Speaker 4: Are, whether they've departed, where they're up to in their journey,

739
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:12,200
Speaker 4: and I can contact them straight away and say, hey,

740
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:14,239
Speaker 4: this requirement's changed, you need to do this now.

741
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 3: Yeah. So yeah, I was even checking with you with

742
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:17,479
Speaker 3: the boot.

743
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:19,919
Speaker 1: I was like, I want to time my booster shot, Like, okay,

744
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,520
Speaker 1: well it's not mandated in America, but it's mandated here.

745
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 3: Yeah. That's so like that kind of stuff we need

746
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:26,520
Speaker 3: to know right now.

747
00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 4: Yeah, we are, and we're seeing that in at the

748
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:30,960
Speaker 4: moment a lot of European countries where they're putting a

749
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:32,840
Speaker 4: bit of a time limit on when you were considered

750
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,800
Speaker 4: fully backstated. So they're saying if you had your second

751
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,479
Speaker 4: dose two hundred and seventy days ago, which is nine

752
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,600
Speaker 4: months ago, that if that was more than two hundred

753
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:44,319
Speaker 4: and seventy days ago, you now need to have you

754
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 4: had your booster to be eligible to enter.

755
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, so so interesting. Yeah, yeah, there's being beast.

756
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,200
Speaker 4: It is, it is, it's changing, and even the wording

757
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,400
Speaker 4: is so so important, and this is where a lot

758
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 4: of people are getting tripped up, is the wording of

759
00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,360
Speaker 4: when you need to have PCR test if that's a

760
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,960
Speaker 4: requirement for the country that you're going to. Most of

761
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,840
Speaker 4: them say, you know, could be within two days or

762
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:11,680
Speaker 4: three days of the embarkation your first embarkation point some

763
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:15,360
Speaker 4: of them. Some of the countries say forty eight hours

764
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:20,080
Speaker 4: before arrival or so if it says hours, you physically

765
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 4: have to count those hours and make sure this is

766
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,279
Speaker 4: the time my flight departs, this is what time. Do

767
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,640
Speaker 4: the conversion if it's you know, you're in a front, Yeah,

768
00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,120
Speaker 4: there's a time difference, and work out the exact moment

769
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 4: that you can have your test done. So if you

770
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,600
Speaker 4: get at that a second too early, because they note

771
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,160
Speaker 4: the time of course on your test. If it's too early,

772
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,160
Speaker 4: it's an invalid test. And also you have to take

773
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:45,160
Speaker 4: into account the requirement of every country you were traveling

774
00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:48,320
Speaker 4: to and Viya, so that yeah, that's and also knowing

775
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,840
Speaker 4: you know which locations have fast turnaround times on their tests.

776
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:54,760
Speaker 4: That's what we do. We try to take the stress

777
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:56,799
Speaker 4: out of that. And we can do that because we've

778
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:59,399
Speaker 4: got that experience. If I don't have a client that's

779
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,120
Speaker 4: flying there a moment, I guarantee you I've got a

780
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:03,279
Speaker 4: client a colleague who does.

781
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:06,880
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, so so interesting.

782
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,720
Speaker 1: Okay, I've got to ask some like fun fun questions

783
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:11,760
Speaker 1: that I'm just like so excited to ask you. Okay,

784
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,400
Speaker 1: favorite place you've been globally?

785
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:19,399
Speaker 3: Oh, Antarctica? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you got me.

786
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 2: So excited about it.

787
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:25,279
Speaker 4: You were talking before, that's yeah, definitely Antarctica. I see,

788
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 4: I really love travel that gets under your skin. So

789
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:29,440
Speaker 4: I really just love this.

790
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,680
Speaker 1: So and what about in Australia. Have you been to

791
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:34,279
Speaker 1: any place where you're just like, oh wow, I love that.

792
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:36,799
Speaker 3: Look. I'm a bit of a Queensland girl.

793
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:40,759
Speaker 4: I've done a lot of travel throughout Australia, but ultimately

794
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,759
Speaker 4: just the like local experiences around where I live.

795
00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:49,920
Speaker 3: So just Stratti, Rainbow Beach, you know. Yeah, the Red Center.

796
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 4: I haven't been there yet and it is on my

797
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,160
Speaker 4: bucket list because you know, I'm at the moment throughout

798
00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,919
Speaker 4: the pandemic that was bucket list for so many people

799
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,200
Speaker 4: and I've got to get there. And everyone comes back

800
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 4: from the Red Center and says I feel changed.

801
00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:08,399
Speaker 1: So it as to teach yoga at the base and

802
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:15,320
Speaker 1: that was so incredible. Yeah, I'm so glad I've been there. Okay,

803
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:17,640
Speaker 1: so what about can I ask what? Okay, you've kind

804
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:19,600
Speaker 1: of answered what a bucket list item is for you,

805
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:21,719
Speaker 1: but what about globally is or a bucket list where

806
00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:23,239
Speaker 1: you just like, I haven't been there yet, but I

807
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 1: have to go.

808
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's for me.

809
00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:29,719
Speaker 4: Rather than a country, it's probably the destination itself.

810
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:31,600
Speaker 3: I really want to go.

811
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 4: There's a there's a place in British Columbia in Canada

812
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:37,360
Speaker 4: and it's called Great Bear Lodge and I've had it

813
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 4: on my radar since before and I'm just following the

814
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,839
Speaker 4: Instagram page. I love with what they do, so it's

815
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 4: this rustic little cabin that sits out on the end

816
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:48,839
Speaker 4: of a deck and you go out every day and

817
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 4: you basically spot bears in the wild.

818
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:55,160
Speaker 1: So, yeah, you can do in British Columbia because it's

819
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,920
Speaker 1: on my bucket list. You can kayak in the wild

820
00:38:57,960 --> 00:38:58,760
Speaker 1: with auk whales.

821
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:03,440
Speaker 3: Oh yes, yeah, so I did an orca experience like

822
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:04,799
Speaker 3: when I was in Yeah, I.

823
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:08,319
Speaker 4: Did a while watching trip down to sort of the

824
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,680
Speaker 4: border from Vancouver and got to see orcas in the wild.

825
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,880
Speaker 4: But kayaking, Oh, that would be amazing slash scary.

826
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 3: Oh yes, there amazing.

827
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,920
Speaker 1: Do you know in Norway you can actually dive with

828
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:22,720
Speaker 1: them in the wild.

829
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:24,640
Speaker 3: That would just be incredible, incredible.

830
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,040
Speaker 1: You gotta wear dry suits though, because it's so freezy,

831
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:30,239
Speaker 1: and the only thing that gets me because I'm like, oh,

832
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:31,840
Speaker 1: I really want to do it if the water is

833
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:34,480
Speaker 1: black and the orcas are quite black, and so I

834
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,919
Speaker 1: just think you'd be petrified the whole time.

835
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,520
Speaker 3: So I think the kayaking is a little gentler.

836
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:44,240
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, And those experiences that really make you feel

837
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 4: aliveh You know, we had that experience in the Galapagos

838
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:49,960
Speaker 4: in twenty nineteen. We took our daughter who would been

839
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:53,480
Speaker 4: shoot to seven at the time, and we did a

840
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:58,240
Speaker 4: sixteen passenger boat around the Galapagos Highlands, and if anyone listening,

841
00:39:58,280 --> 00:39:59,640
Speaker 4: that's the way to do it, because you can fly

842
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:01,839
Speaker 4: in to the islands and do little day trips out.

843
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:04,440
Speaker 4: But if you do a we did a seven or

844
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:09,160
Speaker 4: eight day I think it was cruise sixteen passengers, very small,

845
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,360
Speaker 4: you can really get up into some remote sections of

846
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:16,000
Speaker 4: those islands. And I just this one moment where my

847
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,000
Speaker 4: husband was snorgling, he had my daughter on his back

848
00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 4: and they had this baby sea lion just wanting to

849
00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 4: play with my daughter, and it just felt like we're

850
00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:25,320
Speaker 4: in another world.

851
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,800
Speaker 3: This is incredible, it was. Yeah, and it's it's moments

852
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:31,279
Speaker 3: like that that you don't have your camera with you.

853
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,800
Speaker 3: But that's it said, It's in my memory forever.

854
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 4: Oh. You know, travel gives you something that nothing else

855
00:40:38,239 --> 00:40:41,880
Speaker 4: can totally, and people are not going to I'm sure

856
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:43,839
Speaker 4: there'll be some people as our you know, I'm not ready.

857
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:45,799
Speaker 4: I'm not confident. I don't want to travel yet, but

858
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 4: the world will return and to how it was. People

859
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,920
Speaker 4: are already starting to travel again, and yeah, it's we

860
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,840
Speaker 4: live this life once of it.

861
00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,200
Speaker 1: You're saying to my boyfriend he's Italian, and I'm like, hey, hey, hey,

862
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:01,080
Speaker 1: let's plan Italy.

863
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:03,279
Speaker 3: Come on, I've got I've got a translator, come on.

864
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,239
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, Italy is a big bucket list for a

865
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:07,800
Speaker 4: lot of people as well. But I just don't feel

866
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:09,719
Speaker 4: that there's a moment that you sort of say, well,

867
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,840
Speaker 4: now that there's been a pandemic, I'm never going to

868
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 4: travel anywhere again. I think there's so much to see

869
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:20,720
Speaker 4: and experience and we are inundated with inquiry at the moment.

870
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:21,640
Speaker 3: It's fantastic.

871
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:25,280
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I'm so excited to keep traveling

872
00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:29,719
Speaker 1: with you. You've totally changed the way that I travel. No,

873
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,880
Speaker 1: thank you, and thank you so much for jumping on

874
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:33,359
Speaker 1: this pod.

875
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:35,359
Speaker 3: You nailed it. You were so good.

876
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:38,799
Speaker 5: Nothing to worry about, and I'll put all I'm going

877
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Speaker 5: to put your Insta in the show notes, but I'll

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00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:43,600
Speaker 5: also put travel associates as well, so if people are

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00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,399
Speaker 5: inspired to book some travel this year or next year,

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00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 5: that's a really great place where you can hear you

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Speaker 5: can book with peace of mind.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, fantastic, thank you. Thanks.

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00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:59,759
Speaker 1: That's a wrap on another episode of Fearlessly Failings.

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Speaker 3: Always, thank you to.

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Speaker 1: Our guests and let's continue the conversation on Instagram.

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00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,640
Speaker 2: I'm at Yamo Lollerberry.

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Speaker 3: This potty my word for podcast is available on all

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Speaker 3: streaming platforms.

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00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,160
Speaker 1: I'd love it if you could subscribe, rape and comment,

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00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,319
Speaker 1: and of course spread the love.