Easy Transition to Tour Guide

I was a professor of geography at CSUS for 28 years; half of the final 10 years were spent in Malaysia, Thailand, and Laos running faculty exchanges, student programs, travel study, or Fulbrights. As I segued into retirement, with time on my hands and lured by the dry, pleasant winters of Southeast Asia, I began taking tour groups to places that I knew well.

These began as study tours with credit available and evolved into more standard tours.
Most of the tours go to traditional destinations: Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Rajasthan. Others, such as Iran, Nagaland, the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Xishuangbanna, Bhutan, north Borneo, and Kalimantan are more off the beaten path.

Festivals and events in these out of the way places are organized by the people for themselves, not for tourists; we are sometimes the only outsiders at the events. In November 2012 we were the only visitors at a Yao Harvest-End Festival; in earlier years we have been the only outsiders at gatherings of thousands of Angami or Rengma Naga. We are such oddities that the local people take photos of us and we are featured on the front page of local newspapers; I have twice been interviewed by CNN India while in Nagaland.

Even a small group of travelers has an impact on the people we are visiting; a larger group has a devastating effect on what we are trying to observe, understand, or enjoy, perverting the entire experience. I usually take 8-12 people, and never more than 16. Travelers like the smaller group experience; several have gone with me on 6-10trips. Most of the travelers are retired so are "older"; they tend to be well educated and very well traveled. These educated, active minds stimulate interesting, wide-ranging conversations around the table, campfire, and bar.

For me, this endeavor has been great. I've seen Everest several times, and the first rays of the sun light the top of Kanchenchunga. I’ve been one of a dozen foreigners among 10,000 Angami Naga warriors in Kohima, climbed to the top of Sigiriya and Wat Pu and seen the sun come up over Angkor. I get to travel to exotic locales, visit different cultures, enjoy great food and an array of tropical fruit, and travel with an assortment of interesting, stimulating people. And I spend the winter where it is sunny and warm!

Bob Phillips
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