First conversation with a NextGen travel advisor

I wanted to shoot you an e-mail per your direct message (I'm an English major, so keeping it to 140 characters is hard for me), thanks for getting in touch!

I love being a young travel consultant because I feel like the industry is going through such a dramatic change and it's exciting to be part of that change. With the internet's threat to the industry, it's sink or swim – either fight it or learn to integrate it. I'm happy to be involved in a Virtuoso agency so I learn from fellow agencies that are all swimming. I'm actually an advisor at 21 – I'm the youngest I've met so far, even at Travel Mart, but I definitely don't regard my age as a disadvantage. I think I've really had an incredible opportunity to learn at such a young age from veterans in the industry and the Virtuoso network has been so welcoming to my rookie self.

For a little over a year, I've been selling travel as an independent contractor from my apartment in Athens, GA (my home agency is in Columbus, GA) while finishing up my degree and certificates at the University of Georgia. I graduate in May and it's a little up in the air what will happen after that. I want to pursue a career in travel full time, my complication is that I'm not sure which part of the industry is the best for me. I really enjoy being a consultant, but I would love to try my hand at either travel writing (I currently keep a travel blog and write a travel section for a regional magazine in GA) or, as high-stretching of a dream that this is, I would love to get into travel hosting. I've done a little commercial work in the past and feel that if I could combine that passion with travel (all the while keeping up my writing via a travel blog), I'd definitely be living my dream job. Samantha Brown, watch your back!

Speaking of blogs, I checked yours out when you tweeted about the Oceania Marina. What a beautiful ship! I saw the Entertainment Tonight feature on the ship and fell in love – your post just fueled that love – looks like you had an incredible time. Your writing is great!
So, that's a little background on me and my short but growing time in the travel business. I would love to hear your story – how you got involved, what you do now, where's the number one place you've visited that everyone should have on their bucket list, any advice, etc. :)

Sorry I wrote a short novel – told you those 140 characters just don't cut it! Thanks again for getting in touch, look forward to hearing back from you!