Day in the life of
Travel Designer – Kristen Slizgi
Since I am able to work remotely (this is a common perk as a travel designer) I currently live in between the U.S. and Europe.
A typical day is speaking to clients. Whether it’s answering a question about a destination (for example, I get emails everyday for updates on Europe travel), sifting through travel news to keep informed and updated, and ultimately working on a client itinerary.
Perhaps that day I am mentally in Kenya, working between reading all of my notes and information I have on that specific client, doing research, conversing with Qualified DMC operators in that specific region to work on getting them to do certain activities and sights that are must-sees for the client, while also designing a visually appealing proposal or itinerary.
Phone and Zoom calls are common as you really need to get to know your client as a traveler in order to perfect a personalized trip tailored to their needs.
Pros
I think a fun thing to add about this job is the site inspections and property stays. This is a huge perk of the job. Basically, before I can sell something, I like to try it out. So this job requires a lot of traveling! I scope out new hotels and openings, I go on agent trips to destinations to discover and sell to my clients. Best part of the job!
Every client and every trip is different which keeps things exciting and fresh. Since I work on itineraries that go around the world, I am able to see so much of the world from my own home. I also love working with my clients. It is so fun designing their trip together and being able to see the process from our first initial conversation to full execution of their holiday.
Cons
There is an immense amount of pressure when your client is actually on the trip. The responsibility as a travel designer to ensure everything goes exactly as planned is high. But the reality as many of us know, things happen- especially when we travel. It’s all about helping clients manage expectations and how to solve problems quickly as they arise. It’s a small window of high stress (making sure everything is going smooth on the trip) but so worth it!
