Travel for Fun and Profit?

The best I can say about 2007 is that it was profound. We’re all bound to have one of those years if we live long enough and care about anything at all. I am the cynic of this group; the one most likely to point out that if George Bailey hadn’t in fact been suicidal, It’s a Wonderful Life wouldn’t have been much of a movie. But, I have to confess that I’m fascinated that the law of unintended consequences can land us just where we need to be.

Like most 12-year olds of my era I didn’t want to grow up to be like my parents. I had also never heard of public relations let alone travel public relations so never were my dreams of my current career. But, once upon a time when I was only 12 and Micato Safaris was still an upstart outfitter, my family went to Kenya for Christmas. When we arrived at their Nairobi office, we were informed that due to some rescheduling necessitated (I think) by Tanzania closing its borders to foreigners, we were to be reassigned to a different, shorter expedition. My mom loved to travel and had for years presented travelogues to clubs, schools, church groups and on two occasions, the Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth, KS. Travelogues, for those who may not remember a time before cable TV and the National Geographic Channel, were a common and popular way for people to share their trips, experiences and a hefty amount of how-to information with a broader public just beginning to imagine international travel as possible. So, my mom, supported by my dad and probably 60 lbs. of camera equipment, explained that she intended to share the story of our safari with hundreds of people when we returned home. A driver was summoned, our itinerary amended to sacrifice not a single day on the African plains, and we enjoyed a private family safari.

So today I wonder if I should be all that surprised to find myself here. I also wonder whether there was much organic branding in my mom’s slides or my dad’s movie. I can attest that they were true to their word and referred hundreds of people to the company. Like George, I might have been headed somewhere else, but I ended up just where I needed to be.

Valerie