how to ENJOY your vacation

When I travel, I obsess over details. This is not how I choose to be - it simply is who I am - and I admit: it can take the fun out of travel. Each day can become a series of challenges:

• planning a logical sequence of activities
  
• deciding when to leave the hotel
  
• determining the logistics of getting from place to place
  
• finding ticket booths, securing tickets
  
• getting the most out of each visit to an attraction
  
• researching a good place to have lunch
  
• etc., etc., etc.

Every time you go to an airport, train station, or car rental office, there are more details to obsess over. Handling logistics, especially in an unfamiliar place, is stressful.

I want to tell you about a different way to travel: using on-sites (private tour guides) when you visit new and unfamiliar destinations. Pictured at the left is Angela, a Virtuoso on-site in Bangkok, Thailand, who ensured that my visit to her city surpassed my expectations.

Virtuoso has a world-wide network of the best local on-sites in virtually every country on earth. Licensed tour guides, these local residents are experts in the art of helping you explore their country and understand their culture. Angela planned two days of sightseeing for us, customized for our interests. Everything went totally smoothly because she is a true expert at what she does. I never had to plan, obsess about, or sweat the details. My job was simply to sit back and enjoy the experience!

And on our last day in Bangkok, Angela met us in the hotel lobby, went with us to the airport, got us to the right counter, took care of our seat assignments, and stayed with us up until we went through security. It was the least stressful, most fun vacation I have ever had.

Travel beyond your expectations - that's my agency's tag line - and I've just told you the secret: using local on-sites. Contact a Virtuoso luxury travel consultant to take your next trip to the next level.

Virtuoso luxury travel consultant (Search here on Google)


copyright (c) 2007 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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