Pam Buttner – Travel Consultant

The places I’ve visited

Canada (there’s more to discover), various parts of USA including Hawaii, Mexico, Cuba, United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Kenya, Tanzania (including Zanzibar), South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The year I started in the business

2007

The year I started with Travel Beyond

2009

The things I enjoy most about consulting

Who says you can’t combine your passion and job? My decision to become a consultant, and join Travel Beyond, had to do with what excites me in life which is experiencing other cultures and places. I am privileged to be in a position where I can pass on my enthusiasm and delight in new experiences.

My most memorable travel moment

I often think back to when I made that first ‘leap’ and made the decision to go on a trip to Africa, by myself, instead of waiting for friends to commit and come with me, was when ‘it all began’.
The special memories.

Many people told me that I was crazy to go, I’m going to die, get sick, be attacked and that I wasn’t going to be safe. I thought to myself “These people have never even been there, how do they know?! If all of that is true then why do so many people travel and still live to tell the incredible tales? Do I want to live in fear and negativity and miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime?”. The answer to that was a resounding ‘NO!’.

So, I made the decision to follow my heart, my instinct and see things for myself instead of watching it through the Discovery Channel. You never know what’s around the corner, and I have found that travel has led me to incredible experiences, places, people and opportunities.

Travel is a gift that keeps on giving memorable moments.

My most embarrassing travel moment

My embarrassing moments I’ll save for conversation around a campfire. However, I can share some funny stuff that has happened along the way.

There was this one time – not at band camp (that’s a campfire story!) – but in Cape Maclear, Malawi. I decided to join our Malawian staff (of the esteemed Mumbo Island) for a Kayaking Guide certification course. The course instructor on our first meeting told all of us that we had to jump in the lake for a swim test.

The swim test was to a boat mooring and back, not terribly far .. maybe a full length of a pool. However, I wasn’t going to blindly jump in. I managed to negotiate a shorter swim explaining to the instructor that since I’m not a strong swimmer do I really need to go all that way? What is the swim test for? Since he just wanted to demonstrate the importance of life jackets he let me go a shorter distance. Great! Shorter swim negotiated, in I go! Trust me when I say, seeing me swim is anything but graceful!

Our dive instructor for Kayak Africa , was rooting for me since I was the underdog of the group being the only chick and he was cheering from the jetty/beach. He (Dive Instructor) sees, for the first time, my version of ‘swimming’. How he escaped that experience I’ll never know. However, he stops mid-cheer and starts to walk away in disgrace (?!). I further aggravate him by stopping him to say “Rob, can you pass me a life jacket please?” as I edge closer to shore.. He throws the lifejacket to me and says “You weren’t kidding when you said that you couldn’t swim!” … “Umm, what part of that sentence didn’t you understand in the first place?!”, I yell back.

Meanwhile chaos has ensued with the guys that have all jumped in and swam as though they were being chased by a croc or like it was an Olympic event and they were all going for gold!

As your eyes would’ve panned across the scene, you’d see me leisurely staying afloat (a swim that I have dubbed the ‘cottage crawl’) and move forward in some way, shape or form. Just taking my sweet time. Pan the opposite direction to see one of our employees start to sink! He couldn’t really swim but he set off like a bat out of hell and then just stopped swimming and sunk. The rescue mission happened quickly, effectively and flawlessly. No one harmed and valuable lessons learned.

Luckily I didn’t follow suit and, as my Dad used to say, ‘swim like a rock’ like the other guy did. I was just trying to get back to the jetty, under the radar escaping people’s notice at how ungracefully I really do swim. Mission accomplished. Well, almost.

It all happened in less than 4 minutes.

My favorite meal while traveling

I love food and am in heaven when any meal is paired with lovely wines. I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food and will try anything (except bugs and roasted vermin).

A quirky little bit of information about me is that I actually look forward to (and even enjoy) airplane food! Strange, I know.