A community is defined as “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common”. Since March of 2020, the social distancing and closed borders has forced us to move this community online through FaceTime, Zoom or any other means to stay connected.

We are 15 months into this pandemic and 14 months since we decided to pause our business and made the heart-wrenching decision to lay off all our staff and allow them to find other employment. These rockstars were not unemployed for long!

When I think of community, I think of the office team we had and the culture we cultivated. We sincerely enjoyed coming to work and building a business together. We all contributed towards improving the customer experience and had some fun along the way. I miss them!

We also have our Tour Directors and Step-on Guides who are an extension of our office team. They are the ones who deliver the product. We were one big extended family who enjoyed each other’s company. I miss them as well.

We also have a larger community that we have made many connections with over the years and that is YOU, our customers. You have been staying in touch through emails, phone calls and through social media. You have conveyed empathy and compassion during our business pause and we are truly appreciative of your support.

You may not think of it in this light but every group travelling on a motor coach is also a community. You are together for 4 to 14 days for the expressed purpose of visiting a place you all have dreamed about. You make connections, tell stories and discover shared interests. In your conversations, you find out you know the same mutual friends and acquaintances. You become friends yourselves.

The pandemic has been difficult on our communities. We have stayed apart because it was the right thing to do. We know that in order to come back together, we need to be vaccinated. I am encouraged that I can see a time in the future when we can all safely gather on a bus, travelling down the highways, listening to stories, discovering shared interests, and finding new friendships. I look forward to building a new office team that will be making your travel dreams come true. I look forward to getting our Tour Directors and Step-on Guides back together to deliver you an awesome product. And I look forward to getting back together with YOU and living our purpose again which is “Connecting People Through Travel”. Until then, stay safe, wear a mask, wash your hands, and get your shot. See you soon!

John

P.S. We are always adding more tours to our line-up. Check them out here.