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About Me

About Me and My Travel Experience

I’m lucky enough to have spent more than 37 years of my life travelling for work. The first 6 years were spent travelling for business and the rest of the time I’ve been working as a Tour Manager taking people on touring holidays and river cruises all over the world.

Infact I’ve taken over 10,000 people on holiday!

I have worked with the following touring holiday companies;

  • Travelsphere
  • Titan
  • Saga
  • Newmarket
  • Wallace Arnold (Shearings) for British travellers.

About Me – How I Started in Travel Video

About Me

Touring Holiday Experience

My first two years working for Travelsphere were spent in Lake Garda for the first year and Lake Como for the second year.

Guests would travel overnight from the UK and arrive in whichever hotel we were using. I would then organise and lead the excursions which included;

Lake Garda Tours Included:

  • Weekly visits to:
    • Dolomites
    • Verona
    • Venice
    • Lake Tour
    • Limone

Lake Como Tours Included:

  • Weekly visits to:
    • Lake Maggiore
    • Lake Lugano
    • Lake Tour
    • Milan
    • Bellagio
  • More than 50 tours in total

About Me

Holiday Representative Experience in Italy

I also got a job as a holiday representative in Italy. This involved being responsible for an geographical area. If guests were on holiday at hotels in that area I was then responsible for looking after them.

I covered the Lake Garda area and had a company car to get around.

  • Responsibilities included:
    • Health and safety checks for hotels
    • Meeting and greeting guests, including those from the Orient Express

About Me

Worldwide Touring Holidays

After my work in Italy, and getting over my fear of flying, I decided to start taking tours by air. By then Ryanair had arrived and overnight coach journeys started to disappear, being replaced with a short flight instead.

Touring Holiday Experience

  • Austria: Sound of Music tour
  • German Christmas Markets: Cologne, Trier, Rhine, Moselle, Dresden
  • Berlin: Multiple trips for pre and post-cruise tours
  • Special Events:
    • Wimbledon
    • Formula One
    • Golf Tours
    • Robbie Williams
    • Andre Rieu
  • Private Group Tours: Including a Cambridge Alumni tour

Asia Touring Holidays

  • China: 6 trips including:
    • Cruising the Yangtse Gorge
    • Visits to Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Xian
    • 5-day cruise along the Yangtse
    • Grand Canal

Australian Touring Holidays

  • Australia: 8 trips including:
    • Perth
    • Darwin
    • Cairns
    • Sydney
    • Brisbane
    • Adelaide
    • Melbourne
    • Uluru
  • Notable activities: Wildflowers tour, driving down the East Coast from Cairns to Sydney, and multiple Best of Australia tours.

Touring Holidays Worldwide

  • New Zealand: 1 trip
  • Bangkok: 8 trips including city tours and floating market visits
  • Singapore: 8 trips including city tours and visits to Raffles Hotel
  • Azores: 8 trips with stays on Sao Miguel, Faial, and Terceira; multiple visits to Pico Island
  • Morocco and Spain: Tour including Tangier, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Seville
  • Baltic States: Tour including Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, and Estonia
  • Paris: Multiple city tours conducted by me

UK Touring Holidays

  • London: Multiple city tours including theatre breaks, New Year’s trips, Windsor, and Windsor Castle
  • UK Tours:
    • Weekend breaks
    • Christmas tours
    • Norfolk
    • Chester
  • Tours with American Guests: Including commentary throughout and stays in Bath, Caernarfon, York, the Lake District, and Edinburgh
  • Highland Railway: Over 20 tours
  • Lewis, Harris, Isle of Skye, and Shetland: Multiple 1-week-long trips

About Me

River Cruises

In addition to taking touring holidays all over the world I have also been lucky enough to take guests on river cruises.

These are similar to touring holidays, except you don’t have to move hotels, the hotel travels with you!

River Cruises

  • Petersburg to Moscow: Cruise with 135 British guests
  • Baltic Cruise
  • Dresden and The Elbe Cruise
  • Douro River Cruises

About Me

My Travel Background

I grew up in the 1970s and was lucky enough to enjoy long haul holidays.

At the time British Airways had a membership scheme for children called the Junior Jet Club. They would organise events and activities, keep kids amused on planes and celebrate special occassions.

I remember once being given a birthday cake, complete with lit candles on a plane flying to the US. That was when you could smoke on a plane!

During a holiday to DisneyLand the tour guide asked me to help her. I carried the flag and my family have said that was the start of my Tour Manager career.

About Me and Solo Female Travel

In more recent years I have experienced the joy (and sometimes terror) of solo female travel.

about melanie photo showing baku promenade

I have enjoyed solo stays in:

  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Istanbul
  • Baku
  • Hungary
  • Slovakia
  • Austria

I have lots more solo trips planned!

About Me

Places I Know Particularly Well

I am lucky enough to have visited lots of places more than once. This has given me a much better insight into the place.

Shetland wins the top prize. I have now taken 27 tours there – more than anywhere else in my life, and I still love it. My family are convinced I am going to move there!

Scotland (Particularly Scottish Highlands)

Of course, I have to start with my home patch but I’ve actually been bringing travellers to the Highlands since before I lived here.

I’ve been lucky enough to lead tours and trips all across the Highlands and the Islands.

about melanie shetland image showing puffin and nesting materials

Shetland

Yes, I know it’s in Scotland but it’s so different and special that it deserves it’s own mention. Shetland is amazing, unique, unforgettable and very different from Scotland. In 2024 I will be visiting for the 17th plus time and I still love it.

about melanie azores showing hydrangeas

Azores

The Azores are a delightful archipelego in the Atlantic ocean. Each island has it’s own charms and all the islands are different. I can’t wait to get back!

Australia

I’ve taken multiple trips out to Australia and have seen a great deal of this amazing country. Tours I’ve done have included Wildflowers of Western Australia, a drive down the East Coast from Cairns to Sydney and the ever-popular Best of Australia tour several times.

China

China was the reason I conquered my fear of flying. I was determined to see the Yangtse Gorge before it flooded and I’ve been back and travelled on the river after the flooding. I’ve done a variety of different tours including an amazing Waterways of China which included a cruise on the Grand Canal. What an amazing country it is.

Independent Travel Agent

In 2024 I undertook training to become an independent travel agent.

Now I help people to find and book their perfect touring holiday or river cruise using my experience and knowledge.

Find out more on my Independent Travel Agent page

You May Have Seen Me In or On

Here are the publications or websites where I have been mentioned or quoted;

Travel Articles I Have Contributed To

Some Other Places You Can Find Me

I’m A Member Of

My Travel Agent Skills and Qualifications

why choose me?

Touring Holiday, River Cruise & Holidays from Inverness Specialist

I do all the searching so you don’t have to! I’ve taken over 10,000 people on touring holidays and river cruises all over the world I can access 250+ suppliers to find the right holiday option for you The price you pay with me is generally the same as booking direct – but with all that extra service included

Just Fill In An Inquiry Form and I Will Get Cracking

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