About Anna
I always strive to give my guests excellent service with that 'extra'. I want my guests to feel special and very well taken care of. Here on the Aland Islands and abroad.
A tour - no matter long or short - should always be a special experience!
Look at this amazing olive tree! It is more than 1000 years old. Here I am at work by the Garda Lake, Italy.
I started as a freelance tour leader in 2006. In 2012 I quit my job as a travel agent and producer of tours and started doing full time tour leading all over the world.
Since then I have met so many nice guests - several of them have become regular returning guests as well! For several years a large group of guests came with me every year in October, to different parts of Italy, to taste and drink some wine, eat some good food, enjoy culture, architechture, history and to have a really good time.
In February every year, there was a group of families and adults joining me skiing in different ski resorts in Austria.
This is from a hike in the Åland archipelago this summer.
I have been working as a Tour Leader since 2006.
Tour Leader School in Spain in 1989
Bachelor of Tourist Administration in 1991
I worked in the tourist and restaurant business (mainly as a Maître d' on cruise ships in the Baltic Sea) until I had my son in 1994.
In 1996 I went to school again, for a few years and I got a "Bachelor of Information Technoloy and Economics" and then I worked in the computer programming business for a few years.
But you know...it is in the travel business that I belong! I want to work with people, I want to give great service and find solutions to different things that occur along the way. I finally realized that, and now I am back, doing projects I just love to do.
Here I am on my way down a slope in Austria with some of my guests.
I just love the mix of different tours and different guide assignments I do!
I do return again and again to several of my destinations, and I love it! On the other hand there is usually one or two totally new destinations every year and then I need to study some extra, to learn more about that place as well. And I do love that too!
I might go to Italy for a tour filled with food, culture, history etc. A few weeks later it might be a hiking tour to Lapland. Or a tour with a bus to Navajo Nation with all it’s grand natural monuments.
The same goes for my local guiding assignments here on the Åland Islands! One day I might go with a group in bus to Kastelholm Castle and also having lunch at a restaurant there. Another day I might be going on a bicycle tour for four hours, with a group of guests.
On a boat on Geiranger Fjord in Norway.
I have also been a tour leader on trips in the Nordic countries, like Denmark (Copenhagen for example), Sweden (Lapland in the summer, skiing in the winter, theater and concerts in Stockholm and Gothenburg), Finland (different trips in the south of Finland) as well as Norway (Hurtigruten, Bergen, Geiranger fjord, Tromsö, “Norway in a Nutshell” etc).
Here I am with a couple of guests after flying a helicopter over Grand Canyon.
Since I started full time as a Tour Leader, I have worked a lot in the USA and especially the western states like California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, but also on the East Coast and some parts of Canada.
We have just finished a local guided tour by bus in the Åland Islands. Our guests were international cruise passengers in the summer of 2019.
It is a pleasure to be able to do some local guiding at home during the summer. It might be a history tour by bus or a bicycle ride or a hike where we mainly enjoy the beautiful nature! Or the opposite 😊.
I also work as a freelance guide at Åland Maritime Museum and on board our unique Tall Ship - Pommern.
This is a mix of pictures from Australia and from Fiji.
In the fall of 2017, I worked on an Around the World tour. We visited Los Angeles, Oahu, Fiji, New Zealand, Sydney in Australia and Hong Kong.
I was working alone as a tour leader and teamed up with local drivers and local guides in a couple of locations.
Here I and the purser of the cruise ship are on our way ashore at St Barts in the Caribbean.
I spent a few years as a tour producer as well and because of that, I think I have a pretty good knowledge of both sides of tour business, so to speak. On one hand, I know what will work out in the field, considering obstacles like heavy traffic in some areas, narrow roads, speed limits for buses, waiting times for boats etc. and on the other hand, I have some insights in issues like the economy, rules, laws, booking situations etc that may affect a tour schedule.
Somebody once said....
Life is like a book. If you never go anywhere, look around or try to meet
new people it is like reading only the first page in a book.