It’s been a little while since I last updated this website but when I say “a while” what I really mean is that I haven’t for almost 5 years. Please join me in asking: “Why?”.
I’ve had this domain since 2007 and I did quite a bit of blogging in my early years. It was in danish and then in English and then back to danish. I’m not sure which language to stay in.
Fast recap of the past five years
After moving back to New York City it didn’t take longer than 1.5 month and then I caught Covid. The first variant. The one before we got the vaccines. I had to quarantine for 17 days – well, not initially but because the kids wasn’t positive I had to wait for a while to check if they would catch it. It was quite a traumatic experience. I lost the sense of smell and it took way more than a year before I got it back.
I was approved to become a substitute teacher in NYC Public schools just as there was another shut-down. In March 2021 when they opened up the schools to a hybrid model I had my first assignment. It was at a high school in Flushing.
The same high school that I would take about on my Taste of Queens tours. Historic building. Never been inside until then. I still say that it was one of the “upsides” of the pandemic being able to step foot in the building and be able to add to my tours when it comes to the interior of the school.
While the borders were still closed to the international travelers for quite some time I substituted and I kept my small business afloat with virtual tours, and ton of content. I assumed that my business would pick up as soon as the borders reopened however it never really did. I have focused on the danish market and it’s not large. The financial, and political circumstances have led to hesitation and outright boycotts. Student groups aren’t coming. The groups are the bread and butter.
During Spring 2022 I have a job interview with a global tourism business. I get hired. I start and I feel so blessed being able to work fulltime in the industry I care about but it was short-lived. I dont’ want to publicly throw the company under the bus but I saw and experienced behaviors that does not align with how I am and how I work. While it took some years it is a bitter-sweet realization that I was right – they’ve closed down destination and most of management have been let go.
I did quite a bit of road trips with the kids in 2021-2024. Budget-friendly, of course. It was amazing. Was up and down the east coast several times. Went to my favorite place several times; Shenandoah National Park.
In 2024 and 2025 focused have been primarily on building the English part of the business. The danish market was on the back burner. Couldn’t really dedicate a lot of time when the return (yes, the return of travelers) wasn’t worth the effort.
All tours are conducted in English; private tours can be booked in Danish. We launched a Pizza tour last summer that sold very well and we achieved “Excellent status” on Viator.
Now I’m offering services that will help small operators or solo tour guides grow their business by providing them with a platform and administrative help so they can focus on being story-tellers.
I’m hoping that my danish tourists will come back in the same volume as before. Until then I will grow the other part of my business and I will substitute teach whenever I can.
Oh no .. How could I forget; I’m a 5x NYC Marathon finisher! My relationship with marathons requires a separate blogpost or you can follow along on IG: www.instagram.com/mariasnycmarathon
This is it for now … Give me a nudge if a year goes by before I write again.
Best intentions,
Maria