An Interview with a Travel Agent

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With us in the studio is Mark Smith. Mark owns an online travel agency which offers unusual holidays, and he’s here today to tell us about them. Welcome, Mark. Hello, and thank you for inviting me. Mark, has much changed in the way we travel or spend our holidays in recent years.

Oh yes, in the last decade we’ve witnessed a few new trends emerging, which doesn’t astonish me at all. People have become fed up with packaged tours, and are now trying to experience something new. So they look for more unusual types of holiday breaks and accommodation. A lot of people seek an adrenaline rush, and want holidays which will pose some kind of challenge to them, rather than just a rest. And it’s here to stay.

Wow, I thought holidays had been invented to help us switch off and relax. What challenges do you have in mind? Well, for a start people have taken to hitchhiking again, and it isn’t for financial reasons only. It’s for fun, and I must say I’m delighted with this development because I think it gives people lots of freedom and teaches them independence. These days it’s called carpooling or lift sharing, and it works fantastically well because of the internet, and sites like Itham, for example.

Basically, you look for a lift online. I must admit I feel a bit doubtful about the idea of hitchhiking. Isn’t it a bit risky, especially for young people? Students always take some risks, and the modern version of hitchhiking seems quite safe to me. Lift sharing sites are very popular these days.

They let their readers leave feedback for each other, and encourage them to look at each other’s social networking profiles. The best idea for me, however, is the fact that the websites check the driving licenses, so that every hitchhiker knows who is giving them a lift. Maybe, but I’d still be in two minds about it. You also mentioned less typical types of holidays and unusual accommodation. What did you mean by that?

For example, more and more people want to go on so-called charity holidays, where they can help those in need. They build shelters or educate those less well off, instead of lying on the beach and doing nothing. I went on a holiday like that last year, and frankly speaking, it was the most incredible time of my life. I felt so useful, and I believe I really made a change to the people I was working with. I didn’t even feel tired.

Wow, how extraordinary! And it probably was quite a cheap holiday. Not quite. Just the opposite. But I didn’t mind paying towards those shelters.

Yes, I understand. And the unusual accommodation you mentioned? More and more often people opt for farm stays, beach huts, Indian teepees, or even igloos. Back to basics, isn’t it?