I have just finished leading the biggest guided tour of my career so far – two weeks around Scotland and Northumberland. I’m tired. I’m done with driving. I have infinite things to wash. And yet, somehow, I’m so happy.
I love being a tour guide. I love my job. It is a job that found me in some ways – I was living in the Lake District or a few months and I saw the Mountain Goat Tour buses driving around and always thought the drivers looked happy. I had a degree in Adventure Tourism and a minibus license. And it was the right decision. And whilst I have gone to do other things – teaching, trip planning, tourism development, I always find myself coming back to minibus tour guiding.
So what do I love about it?
The people
First and foremost, it’s the people. I’m a people person; I like talking, listening, learning new things about new people and places. The main thing; tourists are always happy. They want to be there. They want to be on my bus. They’ve paid money, left their pets, children, homes behind to be in an unfamiliar, often colder and rainier place. They have dreamt for years of visiting the places I will take them to – and they’re happy and grateful.
Do I meet unhappy people? Honestly, rarely. 99% of people are genuinely happy, in a good mood and approaching my tour with an open mind.
The places
Without stating the obvious, I spend my working like in some seriously beautiful places. That’s what I do – take people there. Both natural and man-made wonders; some historical or ancient, some modern and wonderful. When I say modern, that’s anything since or including the Victorians, by the way…
Do I have favourite places? Sure. I’ll save that for another blog sometime, but yes, I have places I prefer more than others. What I don’t understand is when you see driver/guides slumped in their drivers seat glued to their phones in the car parks of these amazing places. Only yesterday I saw several driver guides in the car parks of Stirling Castle – go and see it! It’s incredible. Doesn’t matter if you have been before – it’s a glorious place with amazing views. I make a point about enjoying and exploring each place with the clients; not always accompanying them (it’s rarely necessary to be honest), but just enjoying each place for what it is.
These last two weeks along I have been to Mull, Iona Abbey, Skye, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Culloden, Pitlochry, Hadrian’s Wall, The Lake District, Bamburgh Castle, Lindisfarne, Edinburgh, Rosslyn Chapel and more. I have seen World Heritage Sites, the east and west coasts several times and 5,000 years of history all laid out before me in perfect detail. I appreciate it. And I love it.
The purpose
The what? OK, so I don’t know if this makes me unique, but I like having a purpose. I like bring responsible for things. I like being the host, the driver, the facilitator, the man with the plan. I like making things happen, and particularly like making people happy.
I could drive around the countryside on my own, and often I do. But somehow doing it as my job just feels better. I like making those memories, seeing the smiles, hearing their own stories about why they have come on that particular trip. Creating a narrative, an itinerary and an experience. Tour guiding is a creative job.
It’s tough, for sure. But if you have the right skills, then it’s the most amazing job in the world.
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