Meet Lynne: I opened the door of opportunity to start my own travel business. I needed flexibility in my life which Travel Counsellors brought.

I have always had a passion for travel. To work in the travel industry and to travel the world has been my greatest ambitions. I am so proud to now be the owner of my own travel franchise.

Lynne has just completed her induction online. She completed this over a 2 week period right from the comfort of her own home. We caught up with Lynne to ask her a few questions.

How did your career in travel begin? I moved to Cape Town after school to study Travel and Tourism and this is where it all began. I have always had a passion for travel. After finishing my studies, I worked for almost 2 years for a travel agency in Cape Town. I worked for a travel agency before getting married and moving to Elliot in the Eastern Cape. I then stepped out of travel for many years while we started a family. Later we moved back to East London where I returned to travel and started working for a large retail agency. This is where I was employed for the last 17 years - until the Coronavirus hit the world!

Let's find out a little more about Lynne outside of work I am an animal lover although I currently don't have any pets. I have been known to be a "granny" to two pet mice named Stuart Little and Dude. I have two children - a son who lives in Port Elizabeth and a daughter who lives in Los Angeles, USA. Recently I needed to make some changes in my lifestyle and employment. I have always been sporty and played competitive tennis in my youth. I love watching most sport, especially rugby (my son played professionally). I love reading and music (my daughter is a musician). I love sewing and gardening. I have been lucky to travel to over 30 countries - USA, UK & Ireland, Europe (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Hungary, Czech Rep, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Montenegro) and the list goes on...

What does becoming a Travel Counsellor mean for you? It will bring me flexibility to my life, where I can work from anywhere and at anytime. This will allow me the opportunity to visit my family for extended periods without having to worry about leave (or lack thereof). No more putting in leave forms! Working from home has many advantages. I can spend as much time as I need with my clients. Travel is my absolute passion. I love researching experiences for my clients to do & see along with finding them things that are off the beaten track. I want to ensure that they will have the best travel experience ever!

What motivated you to start your own travel business? The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world and the travel industry was turned upside down. Travel stopped for many months. During this time, I realised that working from home was possible for me. I did some online courses from home. This got me thinking that I should work for myself and that it would bring me the much needed flexibility that I wanted in my life. I still have lots of travelling to do and the fact that I can take my business with me while I travel was a no-brainer. Added to that, the fact that all earnings from my hard work are for me, made the decision very easy.

What are you looking forward to most about being a Travel Counsellor? I am looking forward to becoming part of the Travel Counsellor community. I love that I don't need to worry about ADM's, supplier insolvency or natural disasters. My head office take care of all those behind the scenes things and offer the very best support. This then frees me up to look after my clients with complete peace of mind.

What do you love most about working in the travel industry? I have an absolute passion for travel, so the ability to make a client's dream come true is what drives me. I have even had a client send me a voice note from the Glacier Express in Switzerland. He called me to tell me how awesome the journey was and to thank me for arranging it. Not only do I love to travel, but I love it when everyone else travels. My clients come back with new experiences all the time. I learn from these experiences. Plus, I love doing research on where they are going to in case I can discover something else to suggest they do. When I am planning a trip I actually go there in my head and live in the moment. There is always something new to learn and things change all the time so you never get bored and you are always busy. There is no other real reason other than that I just love travel!

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? I have quite a few places I still want to travel to. What stands out most would be travelling to the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and St Petersburg in Russia. I would love to do a cruise that visits these countries. I would spend some time beforehand in Norway as I would love to see the Fjords with the Hurtigruten and I would also like to take a trip on the Flam Railway. A very close second would be Croatia and Vietnam - both have so much history and beauty to see and experience.

If you too can relate to Lynne’s journey, then why not get in touch with us. This could be the best decision that you make that will lead to freedom, flexibility and a great work-life balance. Sign up to attend one of our online demos to find out what life is like as a Travel Counsellor.