My first job in travel was when I was just 18 years old and I worked for Lunn Poly Business Travel, I then had 15 years in a lovely independent travel agency in Somerset. At the age of 35 I joined Premier Travel in Cambridge, as business development manager, my role involved me more dealing with all the leading Tour Operators and Cruise Lines. It was a great time in my career and I built many relationships that now still help me today. Gaining more experience in other sectors of the trade was necessary, before stepping off on my own and I joined Fred Olsen Travel as cruise development manager. I spent 3 years immersing myself with knowledge In the cruise Industry. It is here I gained the confidence to set up my own business. Fred Olsen is part of a multi-million-pound cruise empire and the hunger and knowledge to grow the business was everything I wanted. It was Christmas 2009 when I finally realised that I had accumulated all the background and knowledge to do it for myself. In June 2010 I launched Ponders Cruise and Travel and I am exceptionally proud of what we have achieved to date and my passion for Ponders and delivering superb service and holidays to all our clients is still as intense as the first day we launched. The business was first set up from home but now we are proud to have a call centre that helps customers worldwide and we have a lovely boutique shop in Over High Street, Cambridge. I have been lucky enough to have been on over 120 different cruise ships to include hotel barges and river cruise boats around the world and have travelled extensively.
Favourite trip so far?: Sri Lanka & the Maldives
Fun fact about me: I am passionate about helping people, photography and trees.
I have been working for Ponders and in the travel industry since May 2016. My love for travel started at a very young age and I have been very lucky to have visited some exceptional destinations already. I realised I wanted to pursue a career in travel when I was in college working on my art diploma and realised that I wanted something different, yet something that I could still be creative and passionate! I became manager of Ponders Travel in 2020 and absolutely love working for a company with such a friendly, close-knit team that take such pride in the personal service we can give our customers and getting to know each and every one of them. Places I have visited so far include France, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Croatia, Italy, Norway, Iceland, Turkey, Barbados, Florida, Argentina, India and Thailand, but I plan to extend that list much further!
Favourite trip so far?: Argentina.
Fun fact about me: I absolutely love to experiment with cooking and baking. My colleagues are often guinea pigs for my cakes and treats, although I don’t think they mind!!
I have been with Ponders since the beginning of 2019, I was new to the travel industry but have always had a love and passion for travel! It was a subject I studied at school and always got so excited planning my own holidays! I couldn’t think of a better place to have started my journey, we have such a great team who always go above and beyond for our customers, nothing is ever too much trouble. It really does amaze me the wonderful holidays that are put together for our customers! During my time here I have been given the opportunity to visit some fantastic destinations including Holland, Belgium, Grenada, St Lucia, Dubai & Portugal!
I have also visited France, Spain, Gran Canaria, Majorca, Malta, Italy, I can’t wait to visit so many more!
My favourite trip so far: St Lucia
Fun Fact about me: I love my football & keeping active. I also like to go climbing in my spare time!
I was born and raised in Hungary, lived in France, Austria and Britain for almost 10 years. A father of 3 lovely children and have been married for 15 years.
My passion for travel has developed into a love of meeting local people in their own environment, learning about their cultures and languages. I call myself a gypsy having moved over 15 times in the last 15 years! Therefore, in addition to my great destination knowledge, I can offer a good insight into the non -tourist side of the Continental Europe.
My travel career started at Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, then went on to spend 2 years working for a luxury travel agency before joining some of the most exclusive, niche cruise companies such as Star Clippers in 2010, AmaWaterways in 2011, Amadeus River Cruises in 2013 and CroisiEurope in 2017. I have seen much of their programme; my highlights include Costa Rica & Nicaragua, Mexico, Caribbean Islands hopping, Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean and the great European Waterways.
I am a true advocate for river cruising across Europe and beyond and the famous tall ship cruising aboard Star Clippers.
I would be delighted to give in-depth knowledge and personal recommendations to help you make the most of your cruising experience!
My favourite trips so far: Israel and Jordan, the land of Kanaan in the Middle East.
Fun fact about me: I love outings, being active, and soft adventures!
My career in the travel industry started in 2005 when I took a break from a 22 year career in the NHS. I have always had a love of travel and especially cruising since I went on P&O’s ‘first’ Oriana back in 1974. I embraced my new career in travel initially running Cruise Ahead and going on to win a number of business and travel awards including Travel Agent of the Year in 2009 before I joined Ponders Travel in 2014.
Since 2005 I have had the opportunity to gain a huge amount of knowledge by visiting some fabulous places and experiencing over 60 different Ocean & river cruise ships, both for personal cruises and educational cruises and ship visits and met some amazing colleagues on the way, but the most satisfying part of my job is building dreams for my clients by finding the right holiday for them allowing them to create many wonderful travel memories.
I currently work for Ponders Travel on a part time basis and enjoy working alongside a fabulous team who really care about their clients and we all work incredibly hard to provide fantastic personal service and offer a diverse range of holidays tailored to the client’s needs.
Places I have visited so far include: Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Morocco, USA & Hawaii, Barbados, Holland, Demark, Switzerland. My dream holiday would be to visit China to see the Panda nursery in Chengdu!
I have worked in the travel industry for 35 years and am delighted to have joined Ponders Travel in January 2019. I specialise in cultural tours for groups specifically for The Arts Society, U3A groups and museums but I can put together a cultural tour itinerary for any group of any size! I love working with groups from the initial tour idea, making sure every detail is perfect, to hearing from the group once they are home about the fabulous trip they have had.
My favourite things in life are my family, entertaining at home, holidays, I love city breaks, sunshine trips and skiing.
Looking for more information?
You are welcome to pop into our boutique shop on Over High Street, it would be so lovely to see you and our expert team can be on hand to assist you with any travel queries!
To see a selection of our brochures please click here, for any others please get in touch with us below.
Monday - Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm
Saturday - Sunday Closed