Around the world with Brendon Bush

One day last year, while he was guiding a group of tourists in northern France, Trafalgar travel director Brendon Bush began reading entries from a journal that was written in 1916.

One of the tourists from the United States had given him photocopies of some pages written by his grandfather who was in the Battle of the Somme, “one of the bloodiest battles during World War One with 60,000 casualties on the first day alone,” Brendon says.

With the guest’s permission, Brendon read the journal to the entire coach as they were passing by the River Somme. “It was very moving and my hands were shaking, and obviously the guest was very emotional. The soldier wrote about riding his bicycle around town and being in the front lines, and then being pulled out of the front lines and riding his bicycle again as if everything was normal, and how it all felt so surreal to him.”

Knowing that it was a very personal trip to one of about 40 tourists in his group, Brendon took them beyond where they normally stopped “so they could see the trenches and walk around to see what it was like.”

That trip is one of the most memorable in his entire career with Trafalgar, a company that offers guided holidays around Europe and the rest of the world. To be sure, it was also an unforgettable moment in the tourist’s life — being where his grandfather fought in WW1.

It is tours like this — or “guided holidays” as Trafalgar calls them — that makes being on the road worthwhile for him. Brendon has been with Trafalgar for almost 11 years now and before that he was with the sister company Contiki for six years.

How he got into the travel industry at the very young age of 22 is a great story on single-mindedness, determination and a lucky coincidence. When he was 21, he went to Europe for the first time on a Contiki tour with his younger brother and best friend. 

“We went to Spain, France, Italy and Greece. In eight days I fell in love with Europe, the history, the stories, the kings and queens, the revolution and bloodshed. I was like, ‘Did this really happen?’ I thought this was Disneyland and fairy tales. I was ignorant, I felt very stupid. I thought, I need to learn about this. There were only two ways I could do that — one was to go to university and the other, I thought, who is this person running the tour? She looks like she’s having fun, she’s seeing the world, and she knows everything. I’m going to do that.

“So after eight days I went up to her. We were down in Barcelona and I said, ‘I wanna do your job. It’s impossible I know but if you can help me, how do I do it, how do I become you?’ She told me, ‘That’s impossible.’ I said, ‘Why?’ ‘Because you’re a postman.’”

He was a postman at the time — he was 21, it was an interim job.

“Was I insulted? No, it takes a lot to upset me and she was joking. It made me more determined. Less than 12 months later, I was running a tour for Contiki.”

Well, it did happen that fast but not quite as easy as it sounds. Brendon was rejected three times because he was only 22 when the minimum age for Contiki “travel managers,” as they were called then, was 23.

“Three application letters later, they were still saying no, no, no. I gave up. I was living in a house in London with some friends I met traveling in Greece who’d done a Contiki tour also. Their tour leader was staying in the house in between trips. I spoke to him and said, ‘I applied at your company and they rejected me three times. I don’t like them anymore.’ He said, ‘You want to work for us? Here’s the personal address of the boss, you can write a direct letter to her and put in your CV.’ I wrote a letter and two days later, I got a phone call. ‘This is Jo Wilkinson,’ she says.  ‘I’m sick of hearing from you, this is your fourth application and you got a letter to me without even going through the right channels. You’re determined. Come and see me tomorrow.’”

And the rest, as they say, is history. In this case, a lot of travel history — 75 countries on both personal and working trips.

He has been to the Philippines three times and gone scuba diving in wrecks in Coron and El Nido, swam and partied in Boracay, Siargao and Cebu, visited the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa. On this trip to Manila for the Travel Tour Expo 2014 at SMX Mall of Asia, which ends today, Brendon took a walking tour with Trafalgar PR specialist Choy Teh in Intramuros three days ago.

“The best thing I did in the Philippines was a boat expedition from El Nido to Coron on Tao Philippines. It took four or five days and we’d stop at all these little known islands along the way.”

In Palawan, for most of the time he was disconnected from the rest of the world and it “felt fantastic.”

“There were times I just walked by myself on a deserted beach. You need to do that sometimes in your life,” Brendon says. “You need to get a little time to yourself.”   

Excerpts:

THE PHILIPPINE STAR: How do your own travel experiences help you as a travel director?

BRENDON BUSH: It makes me try to instill in my own guests to open their minds. A lot of people come with preconceived notions of what a place is going to be like. They take that information off the Internet or they talk to other people. They get on the coach and say, “Oh, I’m not going to like this place.” I’m like, Why not? “Because I’ve been told that the French or the Italians are…” And I say, “Have you been there? How do you know?”

What are the standout trips that you’ve been on?

Many. I’ve spent a lot of time in Southeast Asia. Obviously between the UK and Australia, I would stop in Thailand, Laos or Cambodia and it was very good for me. I never used to eat Asian food like lemongrass, so I opened my mind a bit. The lovely culture of the Thai people and just the simplicity of life as well. I found it very humbling and very beautiful to visit. Laos is very special, too, it is one of the most untouched places I’ve been to.

When I was working with Contiki, I loved going to the former Eastern Block. Russia was my favorite. It was 1999, I crossed the border and it felt like I stepped into 1979. They were so far behind in many ways. On the other end, you had people who were exploiting this new capitalism. And you explain to your guests the history and the changes. The wealth and beauty of Russia — you go to Hermitage Museum, which still has the largest collection of artworks in the world. It’s enormous. The wealth of the Romanov family — to me, it was unfathomable. I come from a small town in Australia with 4,000 people. To see wealth on that scale was unbelievable. It hit deep within me. It made sense why the revolution happened — you can’t have that much wealth and power and have people living in poverty.

Why do a tour with Trafalgar rather than on your own? Isn’t it more expensive?

No way, absolutely not. I’ve asked my guests why they do our guided holidays. The first is ease and convenience, and the second is the cost. There is no way you can do a tour of Europe with the same budget as you do with us. If you break it on a daily basis, it works out about 180 euros a day, including the hotels, transportation on a beautiful coach that is less than four years old, you’re getting picked up and taken from point A to point B. Your hotel alone would cost more than one day on a Trafalgar tour.

On top of that you have your breakfast every day, half your dinners included, sightseeing and fantastic local guides that can give you deeper insights that you can’t get by yourself. You’ve got the travel director every step of the way — if you have questions, you don’t feel well, you need to be taken to a hospital — all of these a travel director takes care of.

I heard there’s going to be WiFi on all the coaches.

Yes, that’s happening this year. It’s the most asked-for thing in the world, it’s crazy! Too many people are integrated into the system they forget to look out and beyond, sometimes they miss a beautiful landscape because they are on their devices. Even as simple as taking too many photographs. I know everyone wants a memory of their holiday, but if you’re taking your holiday through a lens, you don’t see it yourself with your own eyes.

Sometimes I tell people, a beautiful view is coming up and it’s going to be there for just five or six seconds, don’t even bother taking out your camera, just enjoy it and take a photo in your mind.

What is the biggest concern of travelers?

Apart from WiFi, some people want to check the information the travel director is giving them about a place.

They fact-check you?

It hasn’t happened to me but it has happened to other people. My biggest concern on a coach is my guests’ health and well-being and that they understand everything that I say. We’re crossing so many cultural boundaries now and not everybody can speak or understand English, and some people are so polite they won’t tell you. It worries me that they would get lost or disoriented in big crowds.

Have you lost a guest?

We give a “get lost sheet” to every single guest, a list of the hotels and phone numbers. You give these to couples and you know what happens normally? The wife or the lady takes both sheets and the gentleman doesn’t keep his. Is it a man thing? Now I have to specifically tell everybody to fold it up and keep it in their wallet or purse.

What are memorable “Be My Guest” experiences your travelers have?

A little place outside Florence, about 30 to 40-minute drive. Guests are welcomed by the owners with proseco and magnificent food. It’s a 16th century villa with original frescoes, a huge fireplace and exposed wooden beams. It’s amazing. They put on an amazing meal. You feel like you’re in the 16th century. The whole history of the house is told when they give you a guided tour. I love going there.

What makes a great travel director?

Trafalgar has seen the importance of travel directors seeing the trips through the eyes of our consumers. For the last two and a half to three years the company’s been rolling out what we call the professional development program whereby they’re running trips specifically for travel directors. We go onboard in a region we don’t normally work. It’s run by a travel director and by the head of our development team and they get us to understand things in a different light because the world is changing, consumers are changing, and if we don’t adjust, we will miss out. We’re not just sitting on a coach but all of us have to deliver a speech in front of our colleagues and peers, and we get critiqued. And to hopefully become better skilled.

What is your favorite city in the world?

I love Rome. I lived in Italy for five years, one year in Rome. I have a big soft spot for it. I love it because when people first see it, it’s a mess. It’s dirty, it’s overcrowded, it’s chaotic. It’s not what people expect. After a day and a half and you’ve shown them all the amazing sights and explained the history...You show them the Colosseum and take them across the river to the Vatican, they forget about all the crazy traffic and graffiti. They’re like, “Oh, wow, this is Rome!” You can change their minds in a day. That’s what Rome does to you.

Favorite museum? 

I like small, intimate museums. I like Musée D’Orsay, and Musée de L’Orangerie which has the water lilies of Monet. I love the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Favorite sculpture?

David by Michelangelo (in Accademia, Florence). Absolutely. There is no sculpture that can come close to David. It’s perfection.

Favorite painting?

I love some of Caravaggio’s, there’s quite a few of them that I’ve seen. But then also simple things, like Van Gogh’s “Bedroom in Arles,” it’s very simple, beautiful and gorgeous in many different ways. Monet’s water lilies are very cool, they’re big and amazing.

Favorite building?

That’s easy — the Pantheon in Rome. Without a doubt, it’s the best building in the whole world. Perfection as well — the dimension, the size, what it means.

Favorite modern building?

The Shard in London (by Renzo Piano), which met a lot of opposition when it was first built. Also the glass pyramids in the Louvre (by IM Pei) and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

How many languages do you speak?

Twenty-six.

No way!

I’m lying (laughs). I speak a little bit of French, very good Italian, a little bit of German, not bad English, and very good Australian!