For years I’ve seen travel agents be the butt of jokes in TV shows and movies. I must admit that I laughed along–in the era of the internet, everything you need to plan a trip is at your fingertips.
Yet now, after recently planning a trip to Japan, I realized that’s exactly the reason why travel agents still exist (and why I have a huge amount of newfound respect for them): Everything is at your fingertips, and it’s overwhelming.
I booked the flight to Japan a while ago, so my recent focus was specifically on where to go and where to stay. I studied abroad in Japan, so I know Kyoto pretty well, and I’m traveling with someone who knows Tokyo.
But try looking for lodging in Kyoto. You’ll see thousands of options ranging from hotels, ryokan (traditional inns), Airbnb, and more. I even knew the specific area of Kyoto where I thought we should stay, and there were still hundreds of choices.
Beyond Kyoto and Tokyo, we also wanted to go somewhere I haven’t previously visited. But where? There’s so much to see and do in Japan. It was really helpful that I know someone who lived in Japan for over 2 decades and traveled quite a bit–they were incredibly helpful. But it was still tough to pick a few other places to visit and where to stay there. I ended up going with Kanazawa on the western coast and Nagano up in the mountains, both of which are on the bullet train line.
While looking into lodging for those smaller cities, I found a new hiccup: Some of the most interesting and unique places don’t sync their calendars with their websites. I thought we were staying at a certain ryokan until they emailed me to say that the days I booked weren’t available. That happened several times.
I eventually figured it out, but I think the whole process could have been smoother if I had worked with a travel agent…and this was for a country I know pretty well! I’ll most likely pursue an agent if we travel to a country I don’t know at all, so if you have any recommendations or positive experiences, please let me know.
I’ve worked with one for my upcoming trip to Namibia – a country I’ve never been to, they patiently answered questions and within the time frame available helped select and book a custom tour which would otherwise have been daunting and self-booked South Africa where I’d visited many many years ago. I fly on Saturday for 3 weeks! Hopefully the team at Spiral Galaxy won’t even realise I’ve gone!!
That’s wonderful! I hope you have a great trip.
I worked with an agent to do an a la carte trip to England and Scotland. I didn’t want an entirely prepackaged trip. I was suffering from a foot and ankle issue at the time too, so I needed something that I could keep up with. This was a surprise trip for my husband’s 50th, so I really had myself in way over my head. It was also my first time out of the US. I took my friend’s advice and booked one thing (a live comedian show with someone who only tours the UK) and work out from there.
I knew we wanted castles, a Harry Potter studio tour, a Loch Ness boat trip, an Outlander tour, Picadilly Circus, a tour of the war rooms, the crown jewels, and the double decker bus. We went to a few museums, saw Churchill’s Blenheim castle, and the castle used in much of the Monty Python movies. We also toured the Cotswalds that served as the village for Downton Abbey.
So we stayed in London for a week, had a private driver to take us to places we didn’t want to navigate… then off to Inverness to stay at the Culloden House for a few nights. Got to experience traditional Scottish breakfast, tea, and whiskey. If we had it to do again, we’d see more of Scotland.
Thank you for sharing! I like your friend’s advice of booking a specific thing and expanding from there. I’m glad you had a great trip.
Does anyone have a travel agent they love—one who really knows the world? Curious about recommendations!
I would only work with a travel agent for an exotic location. I don’t remember last time I had an agent. Even to Egypt and Cambodia I planned the trips myself. I just love planning, I love the challenge, the research, the options, booking stuff. The whole process. Maybe I should BE a travel agent…but then I’d want to go to those places myself.