With the advent of the internet, many of us travelers have stopped using travel agents and started spending hours (and hours) on the web, looking for deals, hotels, recommendations, and more. Ugh.  This is not a good thing. Well, I am happy to note that The Trip Chicks - Ann Lombardi and Wendy Swartzell - are superlative travel agents that share their great experience with travel and the world with us! Just perusing their website - with their great sense of humor, and knack of putting together incredible, authentic travel experiences - makes you want to go along on just about any trip they put together.

 "The Trip Chicks" & Friends in Milford Sound, New Zealand

Photo Credit: Peralte Paul/cpaul [at] ajc.com. 

We were lucky enough to sit down and talk with Ann and Wendy about their sites, business, cultural differences, and slowing down. Here's what they had to say...

WE:  Please tell us about your site, TheTripChicks.com

TC: It is a work in progress and the revamp of our longtime site recently lost when the web hosting company disappeared. Hard lessons learned about doing our own backups when the firm said they were doing them for us.

Through our travel agency's website, we want our versatility, our international vacation expertise, our sense of humor, and our uniquely affordable adventures to shine through loud and clear. "The Trip Chicks" have 25+ years of travel industry/airline experience, 70+ countries, and many colorful (mis)adventures under our belts. Our mantras? "Travel is the world's best education and serendipity is the best teacher," along with "We haven't been everywhere but it's on our list."

Now "The Trip Chicks" have become  active on the social networking site Twitter  (htttp://twitter.com/thetripchicks), and we have started our "Cool Travel Tips from The Trip Chicks" blog too. 

"The Trip Chicks" in Tuliptime, Netherlands

WE:  What led you to create the sites?

TC: Every company needs a website to brand itself, and a blog to define its expertise. Our hardworking two-woman office is no exception. In this competitive world of travel, it is especially vital for smaller travel agencies with more conservative marketing budgets to have a web presence. It's amazing how the IT super highway works:  people from all over who are surfing the net actually find us somehow.  Then maybe they even contact us about one of our customized small group getaways or vacations listed on our site.    

Jeju Island, Korea "Stone Grandfathers" (photo by Fran Ting) 

WE: What can readers expect to find on your site?

TC: Great vacation deals, our latest active adventure tours (check out our September 2009 "Bike and Hike Bulgaria" trip, for example), links to our blog and radio show audio files, a press/media page, travel insurance info, and other helpful links.

WE: How has being travel agents changed since the advent of the internet?

TC: There are more travelers now who enjoy the personal challenge of actively researching their own vacation destinations on the internet before they get in touch with trained travel professionals like us. In the pre-high tech age, clients relied on us for most of their travel research and alot of their plane tickets too. Nowadays, we are partners in our clients' research and we provide the missing links as we put the finishing touches on their plans. Years ago we used to issue both domestic and international plane tickets. In the past several years we decided to work mostly with international wholesale/consolidator airfares since most any one can book a simple domestic airfare online.  

Because American vacationers have become used to instant access to information on the web in our fast-paced society, some may not realize that occasionally the travel plans we make on their behalf take longer to finalize.  Whenever a human overseas enters the picture, we have to depend on that resource to get back with us.

That bed and breakfast in Sicily or small hotel in Tunisia most likely doesn't check emails multiple times a day like we do here in the U.S.A. Patience is still a necessity nowaways, despite the speed of the internet. We have to smile when we remember a certain relaxed tour organizer in Europe. Though at first we heard from her quite regularly, later she didn't reply to our faxes or emails for two months. Initially we admit we were concerned. Then one morning we got her email saying "I'm finished renovating my house so am ready to help The Trip Chicks again." Also, we think it's important for travelers to remember that independent research on the internet is one thing, but first-hand, specialized knowledge of a trusted, expert travel consultant can be invaluable.      

WE: Where are your favorite places to travel?

TC: There are so many fascinating destinations, it's hard to give you just a few. Every place we visit probably is our "favorite" place at the time we're there.  In this incredible world, there are countless places to see yet so little time. Costa Rica's jungles, Iceland's geothermal wonders, the Netherlands during tuliptime, the sensory overload "souk" markets of Morocco, ancient Incan Peru, and New Zealand's Maori people and beautiful Fiordland rank awfully high, that's for sure. But here are the three destinations currently at the top of our list:  

A)   Time and time again, we head back to the best of Switzerland both on our own and with our small groups. It's a diverse country with an exceptionally user-friendly tourism infrastructure and a truly extraordinary transportation system. If you have insider knowledge about where to stay and what to experience, Switzerland is an affordable destination too.

We always joke (though "many a truth is spoken in jest") that Amtrak should hire Swiss Rail consultants to fix up our train network here. In Switzerland, things just plain work. The scenery is simply stunning. Where else can you travel through four different linguistic and cultural regions in just a day and find postal clerks or train station attendants who speak fhree or more languages fluently without missing a beat?

In addition, Europe's smallest alpine country is considered the "greenest, most environmentally-advanced" in the world. The Swiss cheese, chocolate, cuisine, and wine are superb, the train and lake rides are eye-popping, the opportunities to see traditional folk festivals are great, and handy Swiss Rail Passes are valid not only on all the trains throughout the compact country. They also are good for lake steamers, on postal buses whisking you away to remote villages, and in over 400 museums (free entry with your pass!) in Switzerland.  O.k., we'll contain our enthusiasm.... 

B)   Buenos Aires and Patagonia in Argentina are fabulous destinations. From the tantalizing tango halls, ornate Recoleta Cemetery and evocative Eva Peron hangouts in the
wide-avenued capital city that hardly sleeps, to the Perito Moreno Glacier, friendly penguin colonies, shimmery Pantagonia lakes, and the magnificent jungles and waterfalls of Iguazu, the sightseeing options in Argentina are dizzying.  And our U.S. dollars go awfully far in Argentina and the rest of South America too. Your camera, your pocketbook, and your tastebuds will smile. Just "Go South!"  

C)  Jeju-Do, Korea, a two million year-old volcanic island off the coast of South Korea, is home to UNESCO World-Heritage mountain Hallasan and a striking crater lake. The tropical island also boasts tempting beaches, striking natural wonders, pineapple plantations, dolharubang (mysterious 18th century "stone grandfather" lava rock statues), and the amazing haenyo women. They're the talented divers who plunge to impressive depths with absolutely no scuba gear as they hunt for tasty seaweed and seafood. Catch these legendary women while you can as soon modern technology may mean the haenyo won't need to use their skills much longer.    

WE:  How can travelers truly experience a place? How can they be intercultural learners while traveling?

TC: Serendipity and flexibility are the keys. Nail the unexpectedly discounted airfare  as soon as it's on sale and then figure out why you bought it and what you can do on your trip!  Whether you're twenty-five miles from your own neighborhood or a half a globe away, always be open to new experiences, foods, and people.

Don't be tempted to stick to a rigid schedule at the expense of missing those sudden magical moments. Slow down and "stop to smell the roses." Tales of a Female Nomad author/globetrotter Rita Golden Gelman summed up our philosophy perfectly:  "Smile every chance you get, strike up conversations with strangers, taste every food you're offered, and accept every invitation you're given."   And as renowned author and inveterate travel writer Rolf Potts said, "Experience some of the best gifts of travel:  anonymity, a genuine connection to your immediate environment, and the unique opportunity to process and ponder new experiences before you share them with others.”

  La Boca - Buenos Aires, Argentina  (photo courtesy Wikipedia.org) 

WE:  Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?

TC: Far away or close to home, this is the year to take advantage of your hard-earned well-deserved time off.  Travel refreshes and invigorates. It's good for our health. It can expand our minds, stretch our muscles, and lower our blood pressure. Don't let the gloom and doom in the media influence your vacation plans. Bargains abound now and you deserve a break. In our stressed-out nation with the world's highest percentage of unused "use or lose" vacations, now's the time to get out there and enjoy a slice of the amazing earth we are fortunate to share. Happy travels!

WE: Thanks so much, Ann and Wendy - your travel experience and philosophy are a treasure to come across in today's busy world.

Here's more information about how to contact the Trip Chicks:

Ann Lombardi & Wendy Swartzell,
Certified Travel Associates, Tour Managers, & Travel Talk Radio Hosts
"The Trip Chicks"
Passport to Adventure, Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia
404-320-3033 or 770-454-7205
770-454-8486-fax

http://www.TheTripChicks.com
http://www.thetripchicks.blogspot.com
 

All photos provided by The Trip Chicks.