News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
“Amazon Sue” piranha fishing in the Amazon. The Sisters travel agent has a taste for adventure herself. photo provided
Susan Waymire has set up shop in Sisters to help local folks answer the call of adventure.
The Luxury and Adventure Specialist Affiliated Agent for TravelStore has recently moved to Sisters - but she's been here before.
"I'm a Camp Tamarack Girl for about 10 years," she told The Nugget, recalling her days as a young camper and camp counselor at the youth camp west of Sisters. "I spent my summers in Central Oregon."
She recalls piling in the back of a pickup truck and rolling down the highway to town for ice cream at Sno Cap Drive In.
"That was a big evening, when it was our camp's turn."
The experience of travel and adventure in the great outdoors has always been a guiding force in Waymire's life. It led her into a 30-year career in the travel industry.
"It's been both a passion and a career," she said.
Waymire specializes in helping clients enjoy experiences of a lifetime. She's recently heard from clients who traveled to Jordan, where they visited ancient Petra, sandboarded on the dunes and rode camels. She's sending others off to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya. Trips to the Amazon, the Galapagos, Costa Rica, a freighter cruise through the Marquesas - they're all in Waymire's portfolio.
And if you simply want to put together a memorable Hawaii trip, she can help you with that, too.
"Expedition cruising is really big right now," she notes.
Waymire offers "concierge-level" travel services, and she can help clients create elements in their travel that they've never thought of.
"I think outside the box for them," she said.
She's expert in the intricacies of international travel.
"I'm very versed in international and getting people where they need to go," she said.
TravelStore has alliances with hotels worldwide, which means she can access upgrades and perks that may not be readily available otherwise.
With the advent of the Internet and cheap airfare sites, many people have taken to booking their travel themselves. Waymire has no issues with that. For a basic flight-and-a-room, the do-it-yourself route can work just fine. But for anything more intricate, or involving multiple activities, Waymire's services save in time, efficiency, in dreams fulfilled - and, ultimately, in dollars, too.
Her services offer significant added value for the client, through custom-designing travel packages, ensuring that flights and accommodations are what the client thinks they are and problem-solving when it's needed.
"Actually, I thank the Internet," she told The Nugget. Clients often find that the online, do-it-yourself route just isn't worth the risks and the headaches.
"They ultimately come back to me - and the reason why is that personalized service."
Waymire's client base is wide and varied - and she's looking forward to working with people in Sisters, who seem to have a built-in sense of adventure and a desire to experience life to its fullest.
"I wanted to make a local presence and let people know they have this option here," she said.
Armed with a laptop, she can sit down with a client just about anywhere and craft an adventure of a lifetime.
"I can meet people in their homes if they have Wi-Fi, or in a coffee shop," she said.
To contact Waymire call 541-719-8997; direct on her cell at 503-828-4705; or email [email protected]
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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