Advantages of a travel Consultant

Many times people have asked me just what are the advantages of using a travel consultant/agent when I can go on the internet  and do it myself?  The first thing I say is "of course you could"  just like you can do your own cooking when you are doing your Christmas party for 100 people or do you let a caterer do it.  There are a lot of things to take into consideration when it comes to booking your vacation.
Do you have the time
In these busy times do you have the liesure time to be doing all the research online as to pricing, whats good for hotel, payment options, etc. etc.  Most of the time the travel consultant has a wealth of knowledge and informataion as to who will give them the best price and is reputable.  They will make sure that you are getting the best deal for your money.

Special deals
There are times when travel consultants get special announcements about last minute money saving travel deals.  Like a stock broker that is when they will contact you with a rate that the general public has not found out about yet.

Familiarity with various destinations
Most consultants have traveled to a large number of destinations in the world so they have knowledge of the area and what to expect.  They can recommend restaurants and places that the general tour book might not talk about.

Will serve as your travel advocate
When things go wrong because you did not get what you paid for or the hotel has misrepresented themselves they will act as your advocate for any refunds that might be due if  the vendor is found to be in the wrong.

These are just a few of the reasons and there are many others.  One important thing to remember 90% of the vacation travel you will do cost you nothing to the consultant.  The vendors and various travel entities pay them.

The beaches of Brazil

Rio de Janeiro is the place to watch in the upcoming years.  They hit the motherloade.  They had the Ms Universe contest, a new movie film there with Vin Diezel, The World Cup, the Olympics and of course carnival.  Rio is party time.  The beaches, the lovely Cariocas, and Samba go into making Rio the party place.  Just imagine beautiful beaches, Samba music and of course the national drink, a caipirinha.  The caipirinha , the drink that on a beautiful day will make you do the Samba even if you don't know how.

Brazil

For those of you who know me have come to realize when it comes to countries I love and that are dear to my heart it is Brazil.  Over the years I have traveled to Brazil many times leading groups or just for myself and for me it is the place to visit.  Out of all the areas in Brazil my favorite is Salvador da Bahia a city rich in culture, history, food, and African culture.  The people are not only beautiful but are loving, fun, open, and great to be around.  The beaches are fantastic and if you are a foody you can eat yourself into a coma.  It has become like a second home to me and one that I miss when I am away for a while.  I think it is time to put another group together to go there.

Typical Bahian cultural dress

Learning geography through travel

All through high school and college I absolutely hated geography.   It made no sense to talk about areas that I figured I would never get to see.  It wasn't until I got into the travel business that I began to realize that traveling the world is more than just getting to go on vacation.  The wealth of knowledge one gains from not only seeing other lands but also experiencing other cultures and languages is invaluable.  It also gave me a love for learning languages.  In my case Spanish and Portuguese.  As this blog develops I will be bringing my view of different places in the world as well as how to go about shopping and paying for your next travel adventure.