Hello, I'm a Walking Tour Guide

It's done!!! I finished my first week as tour guide for a group of walkers about two weeks week ago. Still chuffed with actually having made it this far. This has been a dream of mine for some time, but having settled for my IT full time job I would've never thought I'd be able to do this kinda stuff without quitting my job and completely starting over.... until Martin came along like 2.5 years ago, asking me if I would consider guiding some of his tours. He's offering some 20 week long walking trips for German speaking people every year, most of them in Scotland but with the odd one in England or Wales.

I took my first aid and advanced navigation courses, got me a D1 mini bus license and shadowed him on two tours. Step by step I got a wee bit closer, but it only felt real when I sat there all alone on Friday April 26 in the driver's seat of a white Mercedes 16 seater bus parked in a lay-by near Bristol airport, killing time before picking up my group.
Martin had handed over "The Beast" - as I quietly called it - at the airport before heading home on the next flight to Edinburgh. Just me now, being responsible for 14 people for the next 8 days. Shit just got real.

I went through some of mine and Martin's notes, played around with the buttons and controls of the bus and went to a nearby pub for some coffee and a lavish piece of cake. Screw my diet, I needed a treat to calm my nerves!

Picked up nine customers (the rest made their own way to our accomodation) at the airport bang on time 6:30pm, amongst them two of my Berlin friends. Their booking had been a very pleasant surprise and it was great to see them again. Eventless drive down to South Devon near Halwell where we met the rest of the group at the beautifully converted Bickleigh Farm.
The first night is always a bit awkward and already knowing our cook Christina helped a great deal. Great seeing her again and working with her proved to be a breeze.
The group seemed nice enough, we did a bit of an introduction round, I talked a bit about admin stuff like meal times and what to take on the walks, then everybody went to bed soon after pudding.

I was shattered, mentally. Day 1 done! The following day was our first day of actual walking and I didn't sleep much with thoughts on the walks and where to park and where to have picnics etc coursing through my brain.

With every night I slept better, with every day I got more relaxed and my initial fears around driving the bus along those narrow single track lanes proved to be unnecessary. I soon got the hang of it. There were a few tight moments, but nothing that got me into trouble at all and I actually enjoyed the challenge of squeezing the beast past cars, vans and the occasional lorry.

People relaxed as well after a day or two and there was a lively chatter every night around the dinner table.
Leading the walks was easier than I thought. I realised very soon, that I didn't need to count my folks all the time, only when we stopped somewhere or had a wee break and just generally paid attention how the group was spread.
We did two long and one short coastal walk, two walks in Dartmoor, one along the Avon near Loddiswell and one from the house to Totnes. For me it was veeery gentle walking with no more than 8 miles per day. But I didn't mind. The weather was fantastic apart from one day and I brought back a nice tan.

I did a cider tasting session at dinner for the group which went extremely well and was good fun for everybody. This proved to be a great way of getting everybody even more relaxed. Who would've known, haha.

I really started to enjoy this tour guiding from day three on I think. When I had sorted some issues and questions from customers and everyone was happy, when I knew I would not get the bus stuck, people got used to how the tour worked and trusted me as guide.

Had a fantastic week, brought all 14 back safe and sound and handed over the bus to Martin at Bristol airport. Phew. I made it!!! My first week as tour guide. And it had been great! I had enjoyed it very much and I knew I wanted more. Still, I felt a big relief as I chatted with Martin about the past week. Relief that I am no longer bearing the responsibility. It was weird. On one side happy it was over, on the other eager to go again.

It was great to show people the beauty and variety of South Devon especially with all the flowers in bloom at the time. Funny, how I'm not growing tired of seeing the same places a second or even third time. Already looking forward to doing the tour again!
But first I'm off to Snowdonia in September to take another group around North Wales. Yet, another area I really came to love and certainly want to explore more. Bring it on!!!