Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 08/99) - Just as the interview began last Saturday morning, the phone rang on Terri Chegwyn's desk and within seconds she was passing on her expertise about the best time of year to see wildlife in the Serengeti.

After she hung up, Chegwyn launched into a story about how she'd always wanted to work as a travel agent. Judging from the comfort with which she fields calls and manages the Iqaluit branch of Qamutik Travel, it's easy to see that the business is in her blood.

"When I was a young teen, we travelled and lived overseas and when we started travelling internationally, I told my family I wanted to be a travel agent," said Chegwyn.

Instead, she attended university at their request, promptly dropped out, proceeded to graduate from travel college, and on the day she graduated, secured a full-time job with an agency. That was 11 years ago.

"It's been the greatest opportunity of my life," said Chegwyn, referring both to her chosen career path and to her move to take the helm at Qamutik Travel, an agency that is undoubtedly one of the busier ones in Canada.

"It's overwhelming. I have six full-time girls that work anywhere from 10 to 12 hours a day and most of us work six days a week. We could work more, but there just isn't time."

Because the agency is so busy, Chegwyn said she often didn't have enough time to use the perks she got from travel companies and airlines, but she did try to visit new resorts to make sure they were good recommendations for her clientele.

After so many years in the travel industry, Chegwyn has built up a good reputation and people know they can call her at all hours of the day to fix their travel problems.

"I had a gentlemen get to Ottawa and someone picked up his bag. He was leaving for Hong Kong the next morning and he phoned me at home at midnight and goes 'What do I do?' At that point all you can do is console somebody."

That being a rare case, Chegwyn said most people's travel problems can be solved, even when they're en route to a destination far from Nunavut.

As for the benefits of working in the travel industry, Chegwyn has been able to see most countries in Europe, has taken six cruises and seen most of the Caribbean islands, done Australia and parts of Africa.

So what would an accomplished travel agent have up her sleeve for her future travel and career plans?

"My biggest goal is I would like to work for Disney and travel internationally and domestically and sell Disney World. How much better could life be?"