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 a Business Development Manager, my role involved me 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 in 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 extensive knowledge and strong relationships in the industry, which led me to June 2010 when I launched Ponders Cruise and Travel. 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 enjoy 40 years in an industry I love. My adventures have taken me on over 130 different cruise ships including hotel barges and river cruise boats around the world and have travelled extensively. All of which allows me to inspire you with all your travel needs and allow you to create memories that will last a lifetime.
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, Thailand, and Antarctica! I plan to extend that list much further.
Favourite trip so far?: Antarctica
Travel is in my blood. Having worked across a few different travel agencies and tour operators in London, I have finally settled back in my home town, working alongside none other than my lovely mother, Clare! The time, training and experience working in different setting, with different clients has given me is a huge help in allowing me to plan and organise worldwide travel.
I have been fortunate enough to visit over 60 countries and travelled in all styles, backpacking, small group tours, all-inclusive holidays, many cruises and even some of the most luxurious hotels, flown business class with some of the most prestigious airlines. I am always thinking about the next adventure!
Settling into a small team has been easy and I cannot wait to help with your next adventure.
Favourite trip so far?: Guatemala or Barbados or Greece!
Fun fact about me: I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I have done a Bungee jump in South Africa, been Ziplining in Costa Rica and Paragliding in Guatemala.
I was new to the travel industry when I joined Ponders back in 2019 but have always had a love and passion for travel, it was a subject I studied at school, and I was always excited to plan my own holidays! I couldn’t think of a better place to start my journey in travel, we have such a great team who always go above and beyond for our customers, nothing is ever too much trouble. During my time at Ponders I have been given the opportunity to visit some fantastic destinations and I cannot wait to visit many more!
Places I have visited so far include France, Spain, Gran Canaria, Majorca, Lanzarote, Malta, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Holland, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Grenada, St Lucia & Dubai.
Favourite trip so far? St Lucia
I’ve been working with Ponders travel since 2022, I walked into the Ponders office having no travel experience and wondering how I would get on in the industry. I can hand on heart say that it’s one of the best decisions I have ever made, I love spending time looking for holidays for our wonderful customers and going above and beyond to make sure their holidays are ones to remember!
I have been lucky enough since working her to go to Paris, Slovenia, Cyprus, St Lucia, Tunisia and most recently an Ambassador cruise around the Norwegian Fjords.
Favourite trip so far? Paphos, Cyprus
I have been working at Ponders Travel since I left school in 2023, I was determined that I would start my travel journey at Ponders. Joining as an apprentice, I have learnt so much in my short time working here, not just from the apprenticeship but also from my amazing colleagues who have made me feel right at home within Ponders. I realized that I wanted to work in travel when my sister-in-law (Millie) would rave about going off and traveling the world, seeing elephants and penguins. I have already had the privilege to visit some amazing destinations and can’t wait to see what the future brings me!
The countries I have been lucky enough to visit so far include Spain, Portugal, France Belgium, Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Croatia, Italy, Canary Islands, Canada, Greece, USA and Tunisia
Favourite trip so far? Iceland
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 before I joined Ponders Travel in 2014.
Since starting my travel career I have had the opportunity to gain a huge amount of knowledge by visiting some fabulous places and experiencing many 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, Austria, Hungry, Morocco, Iceland, USA & Hawaii, Barbados, Holland, Demark, Switzerland.
Favourite place so far: Hawaii
Wish list: China to do a Yangtze River cruise and to see the Panda nursery in Chengdu
Canada/USA to do a Rockies tour and Alaskan cruise
Australia to cuddle Koala bears
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 9am - 5pm
Saturday - Sunday Closed