On Sunday, March 21, at 3 pm Eastern our classmate Paul Tuhus will lead a Casual Conversation on travel. Paul’s description below of his lifetime of traversing our country and the world ought to entice all of us to attend this timely session held on the first full day of Spring. Get ready for your own travel when the lifting of pandemic restrictions gives you comfort. But there is no time like the present to plan for you to spread your wings. On March 21, let your imagination take flight. If you want to join us, please RSVP by close of business on Friday, March 19 to Paul at pktuhus@hotmail.com or Arthur Fergenson at arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com.
Just a year ago most of us, given the opportunity, wouldn’t have thought twice about jumping on a plane for a midwinter break somewhere warm, joining the throngs for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Super Bowl, or at least firming up plans for a foreign tour. Suddenly Covid appeared and all those thoughts were essentially extinguished.
Now, the future is starting to look brighter thanks to the widespread efforts to vaccinate a significant share of the U.S. population as well as those living in many travel destinations. I’m not sure that everyone will accept the remaining risks for some time, but I believe a lot will. So, as our thoughts turn to hitting the road, we thought a broad casual conversation might be of interest to some members of the Class.
A bit of background about me. Even in childhood, I got around a fair amount in the U.S. with my parents and made my first trip to Europe when I was 11. By the end of high school, I’d been to all of the lower 48 states, a good chunk of Canada and Mexico. After grad school, virtually every year involved a trip to some foreign land. When I sold my small business at age 45, I again had to face the question of what to do when I grew up.
The answer came when I discovered the opportunity to become a tour manager leading groups first around the American West, and later around the world. So for over 13 years I added to my experiences and destinations. All told, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have visited over 100 countries and all seven continents.
It’s not my intention to be telling war stories about being a tour manager, or go into great detail about individual destinations. Rather, I hope to be able to dispense some guidance on how to decide where you might want go, what type of experience best fits your energy level, choice of transportation, your wallet, etc. Of course, I’ll be happy to try to answer your questions. And I’ll likely give you my list of all-time favorite journeys.