She works hard for her money

Backroads is an interesting job. You work hard. You work very hard, and at the end of the day you hope that the guests you have been leading around see that and appreciate that and report that it was their best vacation ever. Seriously, that's what we strive for: the best vacation EVER.

Kenmare: Where we stay our last two days. Also where the leaders live when we are off work.

Every guest has the opportunity at the end of their trip to rate you on a 1-10 scale. The backroads leader's average (that's a "C") is 9.6. If you get an 8 that's something they might want to look into: "what happened? was there a problem? did everything go ok?" We strive for perfection daily then kick ourselves if it doesn't work out that way. We pick everything apart down to the tiniest detail: what rooms they have at night, where they sat in the van, did they get enough face time, did they get good seats for the cultural events that we hosted, did they like the snacks we put out for their hike, did they get their coffee by 6am despite the hotel not putting it out before 7? Someone mentions in passing that they used to ride horses and by the next day we have slipped a piece of paper into their hand providing the name and number of some stables near our hotel on day 3 should they choose to opt out of the hike. Options. It's all about options.

Devin (my co-leader) and I after the second day hike by the ice cream truck. Yum.

At the end of it all you are pretty exhausted mentally. Most of the time your tips reflect that they had a good time, but sometimes they do not. I recently got an email from a former guest with several links to her photos and a photo book that she had put together. It was so great to see the vacation from the guest point of view!

The forth day hike past Torc Waterfall and onward to Derrycunnihy Church.

This family was one of the greatest I've worked with yet. She and her husband were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and their son was celebrating his 22nd birthday. On the "on your own dinner" night we took their son out so they could do some celebrating on their own and little did we know he had a few pints before meeting up with us for dinner on his own. Several hours later Devin, Matt (the son) and I are all out at Crowley's (one of our favorite local pubs) and Matt is not looking so good. Long story short his parents and 2 other couples come in so proud that they "found" us. It was pretty hilarious. We had to assure his mom that we did not give him that much beer and she said, "oh please, I know. I know my son." After that we could all just laugh a little and it made their vacation that much better that they "busted the kids partying". The next day I also had to drive everyone to the trailhead (this was a walking trip) then come back to the hotel to collect him (since he over slept) and then drive him out to the picnic spot (half hour each way) where he could continue to sleep it off a little while I prepared lunch.

Matt, Devin and I after we'd been "busted" by Matt's mom.

The email I got from her with these pictures spoke of their vacation being seamless and how we really raised the bar for what they expect from a vacation now. We "made" the trip for them and that is something to be proud of. We provided their best vacation EVER and had a blast doing it! Here are some pictures from a guest's point of view:

Where we stay the first and second night: The Carrig House

The second day hike: Windy Gap. Need proof? Look at my hair.

Where we stay the third night: The Killarney Park Hotel

And the last two nights: The Park Hotel Kenmare. This is their dog. He doesn't have a name.

Saying farewell to the gang on a van drive day. Before I had to go collect Matt.

Post trip high five.