(Newswire.net — February 19, 2015) — I would call myself a “moderately” seasoned traveler. I have silver status with United Airlines, for traveling over 25,000 miles in a year. I’m pretty used to navigating different airports, different cities and on rare occasion, different cultures. But I’ve just about given up trying to plan my own travel – SOME of the time.
Full disclosure – most of my travel is pretty simple. Two or three days, in one city, straight back out again. You need me to get from Toronto to St. Louis to attend a conference? No problem. A quick visit to any online ticket seller and I’m good to go.
Where it gets dangerous is when that false confidence gets applied to more complex travel arrangements. When Visas, foreign laws and different cultural customs come into play, I’ve learned it’s best to leave things to the experts.
My friend emailed me last week from Indonesia. She’s doing a volunteer project in endangered animal protection in the Borneo rainforest. But she almost didn’t get there.
The ride itself was fine – no delays. Everything was great until she stepped OFF the plane. Indonesian customs claimed there was a problem with her paperwork. There was confusion over the difference between volunteer and paid work.
Once she got things squared away, she was pretty frazzled… which wasn’t helped when one of her bags never arrived.
And when she walked into the arrivals hall, there were hundreds of signs of different van or limo companies… but none for her. So she was in a foreign country, which she was barely allowed into, without her clothes, and unaware of what to do next.
“We hear horror stories like that all the time,” said Jurgen Himmelmann, a co-founder of The Global Work & Travel Co. “We tell people – go ahead and book simple travel on your own. You don’t need us for that. But don’t try to handle the really complex stuff. We can make it so much easier for everyone.”
The Global Work & Travel Co. is a working holiday agency, that primarily specializes in taking young, first time travelers, and assisting them with working long-term holidays, whether it’s four months operating a ski-lift in Canada or six-months at a resort in Australia.
“I think everyone’s been there at one point” says Himmelmann. “The flight’s delayed so you miss a connection, which screws up the ground transportation, and before you know it, everything snowballs out of control. That’s when it’s really helpful to have someone you can turn to and make things right.”
Global tries to minimize any of the hiccups by handling most of the logistics themselves. “You can do everything on your own, but we’ve got the experience and know what to watch out for.”
Global will typically handle visa applications, bank accounts, tax registration, airport pickup, and the first week of accommodation for their clients.
“It’s easier on them, but it’s also better for us,” says Himmelmann. “We need to know that our client can step off the plane in a foreign country and not get overwhelmed. We know what different countries require for a VISA, and there won’t be any trouble. We know what ground transportation is like, so we pick them up and take them directly to a place they can relax for a few days while they get situated… we even give them a local cellphone so they don’t feel lost.”
“And worst comes to worse, we give each traveler a global emergency number where they can reach a live person right away.”
It turns out my friend had arrived in Indonesia a full day before the volunteer project expected her. She thought she had a ride arranged, but it was on the wrong day. She was able to crash in (an expensive) hotel room, which worked out because her luggage caught up to her the next morning.
For her, disaster was averted – barely. I know next time I’m tackling a major travel project, I won’t be taking any chances.