While Dave pursues his kombucha passion out in Walla Walla,
I have been busy tour guiding in my hometown: NYC. The idea came to me in 2008. I was working at Tent & Trails, an outdoor
gear store downtown and a tour guide came in to get outfitted for some upcoming
world travels. He explained to me the
pros of his job (he worked on the double-decker buses) including the variety of
people he met each day and how he was able to take time off in the winter.
 |
|
“This is TIMES
SQUARE! Next stop Empire State Building.” Working the double-deckers.
|
Three years later, after graduating from college, the idea
was still bouncing around my head. In a
way it bothered me that, despite growing up in New York, there were many places
and sights I had never seen, both on and off the tourist track. As my friends headed off to grad school or career-track
jobs, I returned home to Brooklyn and began to learn about tourism. It was definitely a challenge to enter an
industry without prior knowledge, experience or contacts and I got off to a
slow start. The first order of
operations was to pass the Sightseeing Guide licensing exam given by the
Department of Consumer Affairs. I was
able to find a prep class offered by one of the double-decker companies but
sadly it was canceled after just two sessions due to the approach of the low
season. In the end, self-guided walking
tours, guidebooks and other NYC literature served as my main sources of
information and I was able to pass the test after six weeks of studying. There were 150 multiple choice questions—what
were they like? Check out the examples in
this NPR article.
 |
|
Patchin Place: A
stop on my original Greenwich Village walking tour.
|
But then winter arrived (along with chances to travel and
visit friends all over North America) and my professional progress stalled. With the warm weather in March and April came
the job opportunities and I was finally able to start working full time in the
business. New York receives 50 million
visitors a year and I was determined to get in on a piece of the action showing
them around.
 |
|
My Lower East Side
food tour stops by Streit’s Matzoh where the Rabbi shows us the World War 2-era
baking facilities.
|
As a tour guide in New York, it is rare to receive 40 hours
a week from any one company. Instead,
many guides work as independent contractors, piecing together their schedule
from multiple employers. I started off
working for a walking tour company, leading groups through Lower Manhattan and
Greenwich Village. From there I diversified,
getting involved with a bike tour company, charter buses and “over-the-road”
trips where I accompany school children to destinations like Philadelphia and
D.C.
 |
|
Working
hard—escorting a 6th grade class through Philadelphia’s Eastern
State Penitentiary.
|
I’ve since added the double-deckers to my resume as well as
the occasional private walking, food and/or Spanish tour. All in all, tour guiding has been a
rewarding, diverse, challenging, and fun experience. I am not sure of the direction I will choose
next, but I know that the skills that I’ve honed in the past year will continue
to benefit me. Public speaking,
presentation, improvising under pressure and logistics planning—these are all
part of my job every day.
And now, to bring Dave back into the equation: a rare recording
of the legendary “Brothers Unite” handshake.
