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I’ll never forget the moment I knew I wanted to become a tour director.
You may have read my recent article “How Tour Directing Gave Me the Dream Life I Didn’t Realize I Wanted.”
And you might have tried to figure out from my mentions of other jobs I’d done how old I was when I made that choice.
Let me end your speculation. I was 52 years old but ready to make a change. And I led tours for 18 years.
There I was in the reception area of the language school, getting ready to head into class to teach English to Indonesians. Don’t get me wrong. I had enjoyed this work far more than I had enjoyed teaching in the U.S., but after 15 years, I was ready for something more exciting.
Friends had suggested I become a tour director, but I was sure that was not what I wanted to do. But when I asked a young lady who had walked in if she was looking for teaching work and she responded that she was a tour director, the light-bulb moment hit me like a freight train.
I didn’t want to waste another day. I needed adventure, a reason to jump out of bed in the morning and greet the day with joy.
Let the Training Begin
Tour directing. It wasn’t just a job. I was pretty sure that tour directing could be a passport to the world, a chance to turn my love for travel into a full-blown career.
The idea wasn’t entirely new. I’d always been the one planning trips for myself and my traveling buddy. I came up with the idea about where to go, and she just needed to know when to get her flights. She was willing to go wherever I wanted.
How lucky I was to have a traveling buddy who would let me plan out the itinerary, whether it was choosing stops on the Siberian Express, the SE Asian islands for scuba diving, or the interesting sites in Bolivia.
But the thought of doing it professionally? That seemed like a pipe dream, something for the younger, more adventurous crowd. Surely, I’d missed my window. Or so I thought.
You see, society has this pesky little habit of telling us that if we haven’t “made it” by a certain age, we’re out of the game. But here’s the truth: It’s never too late.
At 54, I wasn’t too old to start something new. I was just the right age, with a lifetime of experiences under my belt that made me uniquely qualified to lead others on the journey of a lifetime.
So, I took the plunge. I enrolled in a training program, one that was specifically designed for people like me – those of us who were ready to swap out our briefcases for backpacks.
The learning curve was steep, sure. I had to master everything from crowd management to emergency protocols. But you know what? It was exhilarating. I felt alive, more engaged than I had in decades. Every lesson and every bit of knowledge I soaked up brought me step closer to my new reality.
Who Was I Fooling?
And then, the moment of truth came! My first tour. It was a domestic tour, and I had to drive to the place where the tour coach would pick us up to start the journey.
Driving to the pick-up point, I was sure I’d made a huge mistake. How could I get out of it?
But once the tour members started arriving, I knew it was too late. I had to go through with it at least this once.
Then as I started talking, sharing the stories and facts I’d spent so long studying, something incredible happened. The nerves melted away, replaced by a deep sense of belonging.
This was what I was meant to do. It was like I’d found my calling, and it was a hundred times more fulfilling than any corporate or teaching job I’d had before.
Age Turned Out to Be a Huge Benefit
Let’s be clear. Tour directing is a job for adventurous souls of most ages. In fact, being a bit older can be a huge advantage in this line of work.
At 54, I had a wealth of life experience to draw from. I knew how to handle tough situations, how to keep calm under pressure, and how to connect with people from all walks of life.
My age gave me credibility and made me relatable to my travelers who were often around my age or older. They trusted me because they saw a bit of themselves in me – a seasoned traveler who had been around the block and back, who had wisdom to share and stories to tell.
I’m not saying the journey was without its challenges. There were moments when the demands of the job felt overwhelming. But those moments were fleeting.
What outweighed them by far was the sheer joy of waking up every day knowing I was going to do something I loved. I wasn’t just going through the motions. I was living, truly living, in a way I hadn’t before.
And the best part? I wasn’t alone. On my travels, I met so many others who, like me, had decided to take the leap into tour directing later in life. There was Susan, who left her teaching job at 52 to guide art tours in Europe, and Mike, who swapped his law practice for leading hiking expeditions in South America at 60. We were all proof that it’s never too late to start a new chapter, to chase a new dream.
And What About You?
So, if you’re sitting there, feeling stuck in a job that drains you, thinking it’s too late to make a change, I can tell you that it’s not too late at all.
The world is vast, and there’s a place in it for you, no matter your age. Whether you’re 40, 50, or 60, you have something unique to offer as a tour director. Your life experience, your perspective, your passion for exploration – all of these are assets that can make you an incredible tour manager.
I’m living proof that it’s never too late to take the leap, to reinvent yourself, to chase after a career that sets your soul on fire.
Becoming a tour director at 54 was the best decision I ever made. I’m retired now, but it gave me a new lease on life, a purpose that I never found in the corporate world and was more exciting than teachng.
So don’t let the fear of age hold you back. There’s a world out there waiting to be explored, and it’s calling your name.
Answer it.
