When I set out to interview Sean Simmons,
owner of Sean Simmons Travel and exclusive
travel concierge to LBDGroup, there were two
things that quickly became evident.
The Road
More
Travelled:
Sean
Simmons
and The
Best Bucket
List On
Earth.
Kate Matheson
One: I am not the only person who is obsessed
with detail when it comes to grammar and
spelling, which made me possibly a little bit too
happy; and two, there are two people three
states apart who live at their desks, and may may I stress - sleep at them on occasion.
Sean Simmons is, I have to confess, something
of an oddity in terms of my experience with
travel agents. I will cheerfully admit to not
being a fan. Past experience has lead me to
this conclusion, and funnily enough one said
past experience was with his past employer.
More on this later. However - I have never
heard of a travel agent, let alone someone
who owns the whole kit and caboodle - being
at the helm at nine o’clock on a Friday night
sorting out a tense and fairly horrible situation
for a corporate client with no fuss, no drama,
no ‘why me’ and quite likely no return for
themselves.
So what brought Sean to the formation of his
own corporate travel agency, and why is it such
a passion? And, more importantly... just how
many countries has he visited, exactly? (Be
prepared. It’s a lot).
‘I started at BA in London 1991, having
had a past life as a chef ( I admit to a slight
disagreement in the kitchen!). I fell into a temp
job there, and was recognised as having a
talent for international airfares, which is one of
the hardest jobs in the travel industry.
Strangely enough, at school I hated
geography and maths was my worst subject –
now I do it all day everyday. Within 4 months
at BA I was a supervisor and trainer with 600
staff reporting to me. I absolutely loved it.’
I asked how many countries he had visited,
whether on research or just for pleasure. I won’t
repeat my remarks about the frequency of his
visits to my favourite place in Bali.
‘It’s actually easier to say how many I HAVEN’T
visited - at last count, it’s 30. I have seen all