My story is the following .

In the summer of 2003, Pope John Paul II,came to Toronto, Canada,for a pastoral visit. There were close to one million people that had gathered in a nearby park to hear his sermon. He was scheduled to be there for several days. It was a very hot summer,packed with thousands of worshippers.

I got a call to lead a group of students who wanted to see the Pope. I thought this would be an easy tour. Get everyone together,and just bring them as close as I could to where the Pope was to say mass.

The coach arrived at the hotel,and I was there to greet them. The first young person got off,and there was an oxygen tank,that accompanied this young girl. The second person got off,and he was in a wheelchair,along with his nurse. I soon learned that on this coach there were 20 children,many of them with terminal illnesses,accompanied by their parents,nurses,and a doctor. The head of this group was a Franciscan brother,who had brought them all the way from Pittsburgh,PA. I was totally unprepared for this group ! I had no idea ,that this was going to happen. I called the student agency,and asked them ,what should I do with this group. Following our schedule,was out of the question. I feared for the precarious health,that these kids had,and travelling anywhere seemed like an impossible adventure.

This is where fate came in,and helped provide a miracle. The driver that had been reserved for me,was well known in the industry,and had many years of experience. I asked him ,if it would be possible,for him to get carte blanche from his company,so that we could rework the schedule. This is what we did. One day we brought them to a park,another day we brought them to see some horses,and every day we did something different with them Many of these young kids had never been outside their institution,into the real world. On the last day I arranged that they could see the Pope on a wide screen TV,in a room that had been requested ,inside the hotel.

This to me would be the tour that I am most proud of,because a potential disaster,was turned into a great experience for these kids,but mostly,it made me realize how precious life is. So this is a tour that still inspires me today,and makes me proud of the work that I do.

Frank Tarantino

You guys are getting way too sentimental for my brain…But I did learn my lessons well from ITMI…take that “bad” pax and make him/her into a good pax by letting him/her participate and “help” with the tour! Honey is sweeter than vinegar!

Susan

Fellow Travelers & Tour Directors,

In my years of tour directing I’ve come experienced many medical emergencies with my clients. This past Thanksgiving a true ‘thorny’ experience occurred which turned into a beautiful ‘rose’, all because of one Continental Airlines employee, Janet Lindley, the HUB manager at Houston’s airport.

One of the persons attending my holiday San Antonio trip experienced a medical emergency and had to go to the hospital there. After spending the night in the hospital, they were released to join the group again. We had all been up most of the night, myself, the hotel staff and the emergency response staff. It shouldn’t have happened, the release, but with it being Thanksgiving the hospital was short staffed, the person’s insurance could not be verified (no one was in insurance offices for this on Thanksgiving-medicare, and private) and they were released, still not feeling very well.

I recommended they return home to California and started calling the airlines. Working with Continental we were able to get a reduced flight home but it would have to connect in Houston. The airlines assured me they would care for the person, and made arrangements for someone to actually meet them at the gate when arriving in both Houston and California. My client was was having increased medical difficulties and when they boarded the connection caused problems for the flight crew when they were taxing to the runway. Opps…this is a federal offense. The plane returned to the runway and was met by airport police and Ms. Lindley. They do have a procedure for this…a trip to the local jail. However, Ms. Lindley thought there was something medical occurring as the person could not communicate well, and checked the files, seeing it was indeed a medical emergency. Not only did she call me, while I was on the coach with my group, believing this person was safely home, she made arrangments to have the person taken to the hospital, kept in touch with me, volunteered to go to the hospital and visit and even take clothing, as the luggage had gone on the California. I was able to make the calls to the hospital and get the medical information needed to them to provide the appropriate care.

Thanksgiving is traditionally a very busy time for airports, and this was no exception, that it was snowing unusual in itself…and a nightmare at the airport! Ms. Lindley was a true ROSE, a fabulous employee, an exceptional person…and even worked to honor the ticket for the return when the person was released over a week later. Sometimes angels… and roses appear where one least expects them!

Jo-San Arnold

Tour Director

P.S. For those in the travel industry, I did write to the CEO of Continental Airlines to tell him what an exceptional employee he had and they sent me back a nice response.

It was a memorable journey–long, but memorable. Twenty-three days from San Francisco, California to Vancouver, British Columbia making a big reverse “C”: visiting Las Vegas and five western U.S. national parks, through Montana to Lethbridge, Alberta, and then two Canadian national parks, along the Yellowhead Highway, down the Frazier River Gorge, and finally to Vancouver.

On Board, twenty guests from the U.K. all visiting western North America for the first time. As with most tours, it is the people on board that make a tour interesting–and challenging. Two of the most unforgettable on this tour were Charlie, an 87 year old mustachioed British gentleman with silver hair and pale blue eyes. He gave the well-dressed, well-groomed, erect appearance of a former military officer, though, at 87, he moved a little slower than he was probably used to in his earlier years. All on board became particularly fond of Charlie. Also on board, was Richard, another British gentleman a few years younger than Charlie, but legally blind. He walked with a collapsible white cane, an indication of his disability. He was intelligent, gentle, and a great conversationalist at dinner. The first question that comes to mind is: “Why would someone legally blind book a twenty-three day sight-seeing tour throughout western North America? Richard indicated that he could see some color and could distinguish some shapes, but it didn’t take long to realize that, more that the sights we saw, the camaraderie and personal relationships he developed during the tour were of more value to him. All the other guests adopted Richard.

The day 6 itinerary called for us to leave Las Vegas at 10:00 in the morning after a full buffet breakfast, travel to Hoover Dam for a guided visit, and then proceed to the Grand Canyon for an overnight stay. It had only taken five days and I already had the guests trained–everyone was on the coach at five minutes to ten. As we pulled out of the hotel parking lot, I provided the guests with my Travel Thought of the Day: (In America there are two classes of travel–first class, and with children. –Robert Benchley, Kiddie-Kar Travel) and then I went over the days itinerary. About fifteen miles out of Las Vegas one of the guests came forward, tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Charlie forgot his hearing aid. He thinks he left it in the room at the hotel.” I told the driver that we needed to return to the hotel to fetch Charlie’s hearing aid. Within twenty minutes we were pulling back into the hotel parking lot and as we stopped the coach the same guest came forward and said, “Charlie found his hearing aid. It was in his pocket.”

On the road again, about twenty miles out of town, Richard approached and said, “Larry, I hate to bother you, but I left my passport and all of my money in the room safe at the hotel.” So I said to the driver, “Brian, we need to return to the hotel to fetch Richard’s money and passport.” By 12:00 noon we were in the hotel parking lot ready to go: money, passport, and hearing aid in hand. What do you say to the other guests about the delay without further embarrassing Charlie and Richard. So I told them, “We have had two practice departures this morning and you have all performed so well, I think this will be the real thing.”

What did I learn from this experience? In the morning, before departure, always ask the guests if they cleared the safe and have remembered everything they brought: nightgowns, cameras, cell phone chargers, etc. But, more importantly, I found how heart- warming it is to see other guests provide aid and comfort when necessary to those who may be a little slower or handicapped in some way. And, I discovered that, what may seem to be a challenge at first, in the end may be the satisfying, emotional type of experience that keeps us in this career.

Saying goodbye at the airport in Vancouver, Charlie, with a tear in his eye, told me that there were two things he had always wanted to see before he died–Grand Canyon and the Canadian Rockies. Fortunately, on this tour he was able to see both. We made his dreams come true. Richard said he will never forget the things we “saw” together and always remember the many new friends and the patience and kindness they all showed him. Can you think of any other job that provides this feeling of satisfaction?

Larry Bell

Hi Ted and Randy,

I just loved this metaphor because I always smell the rose and stay clear of the thorn. My glass is always half full, not half empty. So, I’ll give you a rose & thorn story:

I took a tour of 38 pax on an Ohio River cruise a few weeks ago. My paperwork had 3 paragraphs warning me of one of the pax who insisted on “taking a couple of puffs” in a non-smoking room “because of medical reasons” and would NOT stay in a smoking room. She needed to sit close to the bathroom on the bus as well as needing to know where all the restrooms were on the boat, hotel, etc. She stubbornly refused to buy trip insurance even though she kept telling the tour company she was a “cancer/chemo survivor” and could possible have “issues.” The company told me that she would be a handful.

Since we had a few hours on the bus before we arrived at the Ohio River boat, I decided to say a few introductory remarks and then went up and down the aisle talking to each row individually for a few minutes. When I got to the “needy” lady, I just spoke with her like everyone else. She enjoyed the attention, but said nothing to me about her “problems.”

At check-in, she came up to me and started pouring out her troubles, even got tears in her eyes. Since I had already handled things at the desk, I just sat and listened to her (for about 25 minutes). I told her I would speak with the rooms manager and see what I could do about her non-smoking room. I was able to reach a workable solution for her and then had dinner with her. After that, she was all smiles and did not seem to have any “issues” or problems the rest of the trip.

After I received my tip envelope at the end of the tour, this lady came up to me and gave me her own envelope…with a special thank you note and a two $20 bills. My “thorn” had turned into a beautiful rose. J

Happy travels,

Shirley Ward

My thorn has been the last 2 and half years of being behind the eight ball in life. because of circumstances that happened in 2008 I had to fight off this thorn of pain because i knew beneath this thorn was a flower. I put this flower in my mind to keep me positive and motivated through the times of this thorn of pain both emotionally and financially.

The thorn was made up of being let go by a new owner at the winery I worked for then 8 months of only part time work going through my savings feeling the recession biting finally getting a full time job but something that I hated to do but it was a pay check and finally after 2 years my relationship dumps me and doesn’t say why. This really hurt because when I returned from Australia in May 2006 I had my goals and plans in place.

The flower has shown its beauty from this thorn of 2 and half years just recently. That my debt is going down while my savings is still going. That my prospects for getting back into the wine industry looks good. Working on my second book a photo travel book based on my first book. Taking wine courses to stay up to date and socializing with fellow wine lovers. Getting excited about my interest in photography and writing again but stronger. That my health is still good because I lost weight.

But most of all is my trip that I am taking in May 2011 to Hong Kong and China. To spend time with friends and especially one special person who ’s been this rose that blossomed from this thorn. She has kept my spirits up my motivation and my positive feeling that I will be at a better place next year. This is a young Chinese girl I met at a youth hostel in Sydney.

The flower is that if you believe in yourself that you can do more then want the thorn is doing to you then you will be at peace with yourself. That never give up on your dreams and hopes and that there are true friends out there who support you and believe in you. That no matter how much negative is there this flower of inspiration is stronger then this nasty thorn.

It is a struggle to make each day at this job but my mind looks at the future this FLOWER to me is inspiration and positive that my goals are worth everything to me no matter how long I live.

So now I am smelling this rose because it is starting to blossom for me even thought there’s still a bit of the thorn hanging on

this is my THORN to Flower story which is still going on

by Raymond Ringhoff

Hi Ted and Randy:

When I graduated from ITMI in 1996, I interviewed with three travel companies in the Detroit area. I chose Bianco Tours mainly because they had their own busses and knew I’d be working with the same people most of the time. After being paired with one particular charming, good looking, knowledgeable gentleman bus driver, we married after two years – and just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary – and are still traveling together! I can’t promise this to every tour director but it sure has been fun!

Sally Diamond Brewer

This summer I worked in Alaska leading highway tours through the interior of Alaska and the Yukon Territory.

As a Tour Director we often internally sigh when we meet our guests and see that one has limited physical capacity. Many parts of Alaska are not handicap excessible and a wheelchair bound guest can cause numerous delays and awkward waits due to the time it takes to navigate the difficult terrain. On one of my tours I had an older gentleman that was able to climb the four steps on and off the coach, but had to use his wheelchair at all other times.

During the first day on tour I found myself spending a lot of time assisting his wife with the wheelchair and carrying bags. I recognized that this special attention was keeping me from connecting with many of the other guests but saw no alternative as his wife was just not capable of helping him through the various obstacles along the way. However, as the group began to bond an amazing thing took place. An unspoken pact was formed among the men and over the next several days I watched in amazement as one by one they silently stepped forward to offer their assistance to the couple, thus freeing me to focus my attention on others. Throughout the next several days each of my male guests took a turn as the designated assistant. Towards the end of the trip I had a moment to sit and chat with my wheelchair bound guest. He had tears in his eyes as he expressed his gratitude to all the men who had been helping him and his wife. He said, “It’s so hard for me to accept help and to know what to say to all these people.” I told him, “Just say ‘thank you’ and leave it at that. It’s been our pleasure to have you along.” He just nodded and thought about that for awhile.

On the last day, as I was saying goodbye to my group and getting ready to get off the coach for the last time, he stood to his feet at the front of the coach and said, ‘I just want to thank all the men who helped me get around in my chair this week and I want to thank all the wives who let their husbands help me.’ It was a special moment of recognition to all those who had offered their assistance. So, in the end what I thought would be a hinderance to my group’s overall experience turned into a beautiful picture of how caring for others can really bring a group together.

Donna Paulsen

Dear Ted and Randy,

So many beautiful stories, but one comes quickly to mind.

I had noticed one gentleman on the trip remained distant and we were now on our post trip. I was talking with the front desk clerk when the gentleman passed by and glared angrily at me. I immediately ended my conversation and followed the gentleman outside, where I gently approached him and asked if there was a problem I needed to be aware of. He stated that he did not care for me as a leader. I acknowledged that I was aware that he did have that option. However, I understood not everyone likes the leaders but that I did respect and like him and I had would continue to choose not to “throw that respect away just because he didn’t care for me.” Just giving him permission to have those emotions and that I was definitely going to continue liking him,(and that was not difficult as he was such a nice person) released the emotions he had carried and he and his wife became two of my fondest memories. I will never forget how helpful he became and how much he ended up enjoying his journey to Iceland…and, our friendship as fellow travelers.

Carol Conner

A most appreciative ITMI graduate