contentment.

As of today, I’ve got 2 New Orleans Culinary History Tasting Tours under my belt.  Although I realize I shouldn’t jump ahead of myself, I’m feeling pretty confident.  When I was training & just tagging along w/other tour guides, I have to admit, I’d get a little pooped in the 3^rd hour of the tour.  That’s not the case when I’m guiding the tour.  As with all my other tours, I’m invigorated during the tours & on a high for at least another hour afterwards, the exhaustion doesn’t hit until later (especially if it’s been a tour in the heat of a New Orleans summer).  I guess that’s what happens when you’re doing something you actually enjoy.  After nearly 10 years working at UNO library, enjoying my work is something that I’m still getting used to.  I love this tour, seriously, it’s fantastic & a must when in nola, even if you live here, take your out of town guests next time you’re hosting.  You get great food & excellent behind the scenes sneak peeks in amazing old restaurants. 

For those of you that have been following my blog since the beginning, you know that I’ve come a long way in the past year & a half.  After 2 car accidents, lots of physical therapy, losing my job at UNO (& the benefits package, including health insurance along with it), I didn’t think I had anything left in me.  I was low, really low & it took a while to work up the motivation to pursue something new & something unknown.  Fortunately, I finally worked up the courage, took the tour guide training course with Friends of the Cabildo, & well, the rest is history. 

Every tour, I make new connections with people from around the country & even around the world.  What a difference from staying cooped up in the offices behind the scenes at an academic library.  For those who know me well, this is quite an achievement for me given the fact that I’m sometimes a self-proclaimed misanthrope.  I normally don’t like strangers & won’t talk to them…I mean, I’ll make friendly conversation waiting in line or with a cashier, but otherwise, if some stranger tries to talk to me, especially at a bar, I will have none of it!  When strangers are my tour guests, I’m happy to chat with them & bond.  I guess I don’t question their motives as much.  I don’t just trust strangers, people have to earn my trust, so I don’t generally open up with those that I don’t know, at least casually.  However, on my tours, I’m an open book…stories of my childhood in nola, surviving Katrina, nights out on the town.  So, my tours actually give back to me in many ways.

I’m also getting a lot of great reviews online from my tour guests.  I have to say, I can never get enough validation.  As someone that grew up with pretty low self esteem (a chubby girl with big curly hair), getting all this great feedback gives me quite a boost.  The most common comments that I get are my high energy, passion, knowledge, & the connection that I make with my tour groups.  That all makes sense to me, because I knew that’s what I’m good at before I began guiding tours; along with my love for my hometown, it’s why I decided to become a tour guide. 

So, I guess I’ve finally chosen the right path…