Have you been there?
Tons of times. I practically forward my mail there.
Yes, but it’s been a while, so some of the attractions weren’t there for me to visit.
Once, on a business trip, but I want to go back and see what I missed.
Not me personally, but one of my coworkers has, and she loved it.
No.
As an agent, responding to ”have you been there?” is daily challenge -on a good day we can hear it as much as Hilary Swank hears “who are you wearing?” on the red carpet. If you’re not prepared to field this one, you’re in the wrong business. The catch is that, for the most part, the people who ask are looking into traveling to the most odd, remote and “how do you pronounce that exactly?” places on the globe.
It always makes me want to laugh (I know, not the most professional thing to do, but really? Do these people think about it before they ask?) when someone comes in asking for flights to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, and, after getting the air and hotel options they requested, they hit me with “have you been there?” No. But I did see an episode of The Amazing Race that went there, and it looked cold. Being an agent, personal/business travel is a huge part of my job, so I can experience as many destinations as possible, but I’m not that old (er, ”seasoned”) yet. I just haven’t had the time to go everywhere, but I’m working on it. My coworker Shirley, who’s been in the industry forever, really has been practically everywhere, but that’s a whole ’nother story.
From Vancouver, places like London, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Cancun and even Hong Kong are all pretty logical “yep, I’ve been there” places. We have great air connections and send hundreds of people a year. When you come to my desk, I have a “Malaysia” business card holder, framed photo of a Cathay Pacific plane landing at the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, and my filing cabinet covered with postcards. Ask away. I promise that I have been to most of these places, all but the ones in the postcards sent to me from satisfied clients, and those ones I have heard some really great things about.
Honestly, I think it’s the deeper meaning behind this question that interests me. You’re not asking me if I’ve been to Suriname or wherever because you want to know how I spend my free time, you’re asking me because you have no idea what to do there. There was something so enchanting about this destination that compelled you to forgo today’s Days of Our Lives and come down to the agency, but yet you don’t know how you’re going to fill your days once there. Was it just a cool sounding name, so you figured you’d drop that extra three grand you had kicking around on your coffee table and go there? Take a moment and consider what do you like to do on vacation? If you’re a beach bunny, Orlando is going to leave you painfully high and dry (I know Florida is a thin state, but it’s not that thin); or if you have the attention span of a gerbil (like me), an all-inclusive resort designed for nothing but peace and relaxation is going to have you pacing around like a caged lion.
What you really need to do is read my blog on stage 1 of the 3 stages of travel (the Anticipation). But seriously, you need to start the research. I will gladly sell you your trip to Leichtenstein, and I’ll tell you every shred of info I know about it, regardless of whether I’ve been there or not, but to really make your trip yours, you need to plan your days around what you enjoy. No matter how cool the place sounds, if it doesn’t offer a chance to broaden your mind/partake in your favorite hobbies/drink yourself stupid/whatever you want to do, it’s not going to be a truly satisfying vacation. Buy a guidebook. Google it. Take this trip and make it your own. And when you come back, I’ll ask you “Have you been there?” and you’ll have a great answer.