{"id":4710,"date":"2021-06-21T07:26:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T07:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2ndcupoftea.com\/?p=4710"},"modified":"2021-06-21T07:26:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T07:26:13","slug":"ready-to-travel-again-here-is-a-new-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/2ndcupoftea.com\/?p=4710","title":{"rendered":"Ready to Travel Again? – Here is a New Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cJobs fill your pockets, adventures fill your soul”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had forgotten just how much you, dear readers love to travel. I shouldn’t have. Travelling is after all how I met ninety percent of you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world has been a tricky place to explore over the past 16 months or so, but thankfully there are signs now that it may soon be possible to resume where we all were halted in our tracks (I am still ‘stuck’ on 99 countries visited).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of these signs is my ‘inbox’ – slowly gathering dust over the past year – suddenly springing to life again. ‘Thomas, we are planning a trip to’…, ‘Thomas, friends of ours want to visit’…, ‘Thomas, we’ve never met, but…’ Three or four messages per week at least, all different, but all ending ‘can you help?’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed adventures do fill my soul and I genuinely love planning trips, whether for myself or others. Putting together an itinerary over a long breakfast (usually when I do my best work) is my favourite way to start the day – I am instantly transported to that little terrace restaurant in Minerve, the Japanese room of my favourite Paris hotel or Mini Hollywood, dreaming about being Lee Van Cleef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, I can’t keep up, or rather, I can but no longer totally for free. I have my little Akash to look after. Jobs do indeed fill my pockets, and on behalf of my fellow guides, I can tell you, that Covid has emptied them for most of us. I originally started the Tour Guide tips section (look right on this page) of 2CoT to help defer this ‘demand’ for advice. However, it is not the same and I want to do better so…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to 2nd Cup of Tea Travel<\/a> (Please click to go to my new standalone website)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t think anything like this exists. It’s very simple: you email me your travel dreams\/plans\/wishes – I get back to you with a few more questions – then following your answers – I will send you my suggestions\/itinerary FOR FREE. You, your friends, boss, colleagues, cousin, then pop off on vacation and IF, and ONLY if, my suggestions were worth it, you send a tip – at your discretion – when you return. Clever? Well, I am crossing fingers…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
http:\/\/www.2ndcupofteatravel.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tour Guides – or rather our knowledge – has a funny sort of limbo role when it comes to value. I don’t know anyone who would say, ‘my friend is as dentist, he’ll fix your crown for free’ or ‘my pal is a lawyer, he’ll sort your divorce and not charge’. However, for some reason, almost everyone says – ‘my friend is a guide – he’s bound to know all the best places in France, email him’. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is knowledge accumulated over years and years of trial and error and in these days of injections, no one has injected all our languages into our brains. Many friends have suggested that I charge up front for this, but there are three reasons I don’t want to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n