The trip was fast paced, active, interesting, personally and socially challenging at times — which forms the ingredients of great personal growth! The sights were obviously amazing and there was a lot of free time to do what I wanted to do as a solo traveler in a group-setting. I won’t focus too much on that for the review, but rather more on the trip leader and driver - as these two people made the experience so much better for me, personally! Overall, I was very impressed with the experience I had during the Play & Pause Epic European Trip with Alan Beaumont as our trip leader and Alex as our driver. Friendliness I thought that Alan was very friendly and personable and made me feel at ease. This trip was overwhelmingly filled with tourists from Australia and New Zealand and, as the only South African, Alan played a key role in making me feel like part of the Topdeck experience in a way that was meaningful, kind and inclusive. He also went above and beyond trying to connect with me as a person, taking into account my views on certain places, asking me questions about my own experiences, and treating me in such a way that always made me feel welcome! He was very witty and humorous and made some of the longer drives go down a bit faster by being a good sport! He was also kind enough to attend a birthday of two of our trip mates in Berlin, where we all hanged out at Tiergarten eating doughnuts! He didn’t have to attend, as this was his free time, but he still did — which, I felt, played a big part in fostering camaraderie in our group! All in all, I’ve been very impressed by his friendliness, his inclusive and kind demeanor throughout the trip, without exception! Professionalism Alan was an astute professional and appears to take his job very seriously. He always kept to the schedule and we were never late once. He set an example of punctuality as a way to show respect for everyone’s time and the group followed suit. He always made sure that everyone was where they needed to be to ensure the trip moved along smoothly and did an excellent job at solving problems as they came up. Not once did I feel like I wasn’t sure of what the next step in our trip would be! He also seems to be very proud of Topdeck as a company and makes good recommendations for other countries/trips that we might be interested in, like the UK/Ireland trip, which I am now strongly considering booking as my next tour. This is all because of Alan. Another thing I’ve observed, is how well he manages people around him. He excels in conflict resolution and always tries to find the middle ground when minor issues arise in the group! I feel like this level of professionalism is only achieved through years of experience in this kind of job and a genuine care for tourists having this Topdeck experience. At some of the hotels, we ran into some minor issues, like twin beds not being separated in the rooms and, although the hotels were less helpful in solving these problems, Alan took it upon himself to try to solve this problem in a way that is prompt, efficient and satisfactory to all. Organization Alan exceeded my expectations in this domain. I thought that all of the recommendations for places to see, good restaurants to eat at and novel experiences to have in each location that he gave us, have been the main reason I’ve had such an epic experience during this trip. He did an excellent job in posting a “What’s On” well in advance so we know what to expect every day, including the times we are expected to check in, settle in, arrive and depart from various locations, public transport connections and how to access them, pins of locations for all meeting points, etc. He even walked us to/from optional tours we booked through the app, which was a really nice touch! He responded to all trip-related queries posed to him on our WhatsApp group, promptly, kindly and efficiently. Although some of the mornings were a bit grim because we had to make an early start on drive days, I thought that this level of organization benefited us in the end, especially on days we’ve had to cross borders (looking at you, Montenegro crossing into Croatia!) Alan was also great at liaising with the border crossing officials to ensure that we all had a smooth border crossing experience (especially for me, traveling with a non-EU passport on a Schengen and U.K. Visa). He also played an instrumental part in my own personal trip-itinerary. I came into this trip with a list of experiences I wanted to have, and he was kind enough to assist me in double-checking whether they made sense time-wise and also added his valuable opinion, which benefited me in the end. (A practical example of this, was when he helped double-check my plan to do a solo experience of Luzern while we all had our free day in Engelberg, Switzerland. He gave me valuable advice and tips on train booking and departure time from Mount Titlas in the morning, so I could get to and from Luzern in time to rejoin my tour group in time.) This also shows that he was instrumental in realizing one of the selling points of this trip: a chance to explore surrounding places during my free time, thus giving me the feeling of still solo traveling and exploring, while having support from my trip leader. This was really not lost on me and I appreciated this greatly! Overall, he was meticulous in planning all aspects of this trip experience, without any clashes in time or redundancies, which is actually quite impressive considering we’ve had such a long trip! Knowledge As someone interested in world history, I can’t praise Alan’s knowledge of all of the locations we’ve visited, enough! I particularly enjoyed the in depth introductory talks he had with the group while on the coach and I felt like I gained not only a lot of deeper knowledge about the sights I was to see, but I could also interact with all of the landmarks, sights and people more deeply during my limited time there, which ultimately enriched my experience on this trip. This is the domain in which I think Alan stands head and shoulders above other tour guides I’ve had in the past (I’ve been to 70+ countries and have had 8+ similar group experiences with other tour companies). He gives information that is truthful, verifiable and accurate. He is knowledgeable on a wide range of topics directly relevant to our trip and even recommended me a book for further reading about the history of Europe at a glance. As a lover of languages myself, I was very impressed by Alan’s command of each major language we encountered on this trip. I’d say I had a basic command of most languages we’ve been exposed to on this trip, and I could still learn something new from Alan! Included in his “What’s On” for the day that I’ve spoken about earlier in this review, he also wrote out basic phrases to survive in these new countries with correct pronunciations and even practiced them with us at the end of his introductory talk about the history, culture and current state of each new place we would go to. Another area Alan shone in, was during our walking tours! They were all very informative with just the right amount of information. He would also answer all of the questions we had (even the silly ones) in a way that was professional, friendly, knowledgeable and relevant. Passion Judging from the sheer amount of feedback I’ve given here, I am sure that the reader can pick up on the passion Alan has for this job and the extra mile he goes to make this a meaningful experience for all. It is evident that he loves what he does. He is outgoing and personable and absolutely lights up when he talks about the history, the political milieu (both past and present) of the countries we’ve visited. His passion for his job went beyond just finishing each day by delivering a service to customers. He really cared about giving the group a strong understanding of where we were and what our place is. A practical example of this was on our tour of Muthausen. He made us realize and take seriously the massive impact of what had happened there all those years ago and through his passionate oratory during his introductory talk, made us appreciate the level of respect and sensitivity we as tourists were to have, when entering that monument space, in. A passionate tour guide, in my opinion, isn’t just somebody who is a hype-guy, but also somebody who, through delivery of poignant introductions, lets the group feel/appreciate/perceive the importance of whatever places we go to, and I thought Alan succeeded in this regard. Overall, I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks for Topdeck for this experience. It has truly been enriching and life changing. My trip leader, Alan, was a pivotal part in my experience and I doubt it would’ve been this way, had it been with another guide. I hereby would like to recommend him for even more of these longer and more in depth “Play & Pause” trips, as he sets the tone for a great experience. I feel like if I’ll have another Topdeck experience and it was with Alan as a trip leader, I wouldn’t even think twice about booking it! Areas of growth 1. Hotels were a bit of a hit/miss and were quite far from the center of where everything is happening, which negatively impacts the time one has spent traveling and the ubering back to the hotel also burns a euro-shaped hole in one’s pocket by the end of the trip. 2. Optional activities were fine, but make contingency plans for when not everyone wants to join in on those activities. 3. More walking tours and fewer driving tours. On certain parts of the driving tour, I found it difficult to see what the tour guide was actually showing us. The tour guide for said tour was also less than good (referring to the person who was in charge of hosting the driving tour in Albania…) 4. Included dinners. For the entrees: WAY. TOO. MUCH. SOUP. In the heat of the European summer. Ahhh! 5. WiFi on the bus. It would’ve been really useful if it worked. It was advertised that it would, but it didn’t. 6. Make the app more user friendly! The tour leaders had to jump through hoops manually helping some tourists sign up manually. Feel free to reach out to me for any additional information or other parts of my trip experience. I’d be happy to share more detailed feedback to ensure this experience can be even better for future tourists! Regards, Ash.
