Tour Prep !

So, today, I started my regular tour preparations….. meaning I began working through my list of ‘need to do’s’, that I go through before leading any tour. Next week I’ll be in Porto in the Northern half of Portugal, with my friends and colleagues, Elizabeth Boardman and Fatima Bugarin. It’s a 10 day tour ( we’ll be running it next year as well), that will get us out and about on a voyage of exploration.

Actually being on a tour is one thing, but going through the process of preparation for leading one is another.

My new UK passport has been returned to me, complete with blue binding . It took just 3 weeks for me to send the old one to the Uk passport office and for them to get the new one back to me…. Happy Days. I’ve just booked my flights from Nantes International to Porto…. €120 round trip… a good deal. Having researched the cost of driving down this was a ‘no brainier’. I’ve checked all the updated info on Covid via the different government websites. The hotels are all set up as are the various itinerary activities, and a working time sheet has been drafted for each of the guides to use.

My Portuguese education is ongoing, and I hope to have a pretty good breadth of knowledge as well as some great anecdotal and local information stored away in my head, somewhere, by the beginning of next week.

My tour clothing has been put to one side and my bag is waiting…..

I love this whole process. Going on tour is lovely but leading a tour is fantastic.

And like any tour you may have been on, the sense of expectation and excitement is building.