Thanksgiving - 2020 is almost over!

2020 has be quite a year here in the travel industry!  Business has shut down and the pandemic continues relatively unabated.  Perhaps we're turning a corner with vaccines on the horizon.  It's hard to tell.

Yet there's lots to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving holiday season.

First up:

The good new is that break in travel business allowed me to celebrate our young grandson, Henry (pictured above at about 3 months old).   I'm very thankful for the joy he brings each and every day. But baby Henry is a stand in for my whole family.  They are wonderful and I so very much appreciate my ever growing family.

Clients

I'm very thankful for you, my clients.  Sure, I value and appreciate your business.  Especially the repeat business.  But I've grown to know many of you pretty well, enjoy our conversations and always look forward to hearing from you again.  In many cases, we've traveled together, experiencing the thrills of a new locale together.

Support through Avoya

I get a lot of support through Avoya, my host travel agency.  They take care of: invoicing, interface with travel suppliers, computer infrastructure, special deals and training.  Avoya is my back office and without them, my job would be so much harder.  So thank you Avoya.  Here's a blog post I wrote a while ago describing Avoya.

Suppliers like AmaWaterways

At the end of the day, my clients are happy when they have a great experience.  And that only happens when the travel supplier I use performs well.  Over time, I've learned which ones perform well and which ones don't.  I use AmaWaterways a lot because....well, they perform well.  Rarely have I had a complaint from a client that AmaWaterways  can't address.  And they are very fair commercially as well.  I really do give thanks for the great folks at AmaWaterways.

And more thanks...

I'm thankful just about everyone I know has stayed healthy. And of course so thankful for all my friends and relatives.  And that the health care professionals have advanced their knowledge of COVID 19; perhaps soon a vaccine will become available.  

I'm also thankful for all the great memories we've created on our our trips.

The picture just to the left was taken in the small village of Tournon in Southern France along the Rhone.    It's the home to Valrhona Chocolates.  And yes, I'm thankful for Valrhona for making great chocolates which I'm happy to say I can order online to replenish my stock (which I do!).  But the real reason for the photo is that it reminds me of a great travel memory.  We took this trip with another couple who we've been friends with for many many decades.  The two wives did a chocolate and wine pairing event while the two husbands hiked through one of the local vineyards and ended up in a wine tasting.  After each of these excursions were done, everyone was free to explore the town or go back to the ship.  Both the wives and the husbands serendipitously ended up here, at Valrhona at the exact same time.  This just brings back so many great memories of the trip we had; 10 great days together sharing stories, great food, new sites and in general, happiness.

Traveling with friends, exploring the world, experiencing new activiteis and people - this is what I'm very thankful for.  And I truly hope you are thankful for the travel memories you've made as well.