BethMagon : MyBlogHer Profile

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Warm coffee and dark chocolate on a cold day soothes the soul like nothing else can.

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Tour guide vs. Tourist: The challenge of being a tour guide in London

9/28/10 2:38am by BethMagon
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“You’re too loud!” A man’s nylon-enshrouded arm waved for my attention, for everyone’s attention. He looked miserable.He sat among rows of over-prepared tourists, all wearing shoes so sensible they had no place in London. Some were shod with hiking boots. Others with bulbous white trainers, the sort resembling miniature cruise liners on each foot, which is, I suspect, their natural environment. But we were on an open-top tour bus in the centre of London, not the Alps or a 14-day cruise to the Bahamas, though a few wore the T-shirts.Somehow in a sea of immigration and unparalleled diversity, amid faces and accents of all hues and tones, these tourists still managed to concoct a look that said: We don’t belong here.Looking back at the still-waving man, I paused, microphone in hand, to assess the situation. He locked bespectacled eyes with mine and crumpled his face like he had a migraine that was entirely my doing. This one’s a problem, I thought – my first delinquent passenger as a new London tour guide.  Read more >

Camping culture shock: England vs. Canada

9/20/10 9:44am by BethMagon
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I’ll admit I was expecting some trees. Camping would be the perfect break from the cacophony of London, I needed – respite from the queues, the cost and the constant threat of pickpockets and train delays.For the peace of the countryside, I was willing to incur a few itchy welts and fall slack with my hygiene. From my tent in the shadow of the trees, I would mistake the sound of the wind for traffic, and the buzz of mosquitoes for shit electronica reverberating through from the neighbour's flat. But then I would awake to my refreshing new reality in the countryside. And I would take a long, deep breath of clean country air and smile contentedly – completely relaxed and rejuvenated. There would be little to do, other than play cards in the dancing orange light around the campfire, and perhaps cool our beer in the frigid North Atlantic sand.I had no idea what I was in for, but driving through a military weapons test site on the way to the campground was the first sign I wasn’t going to get the peace I’d been expecting.  Read more >

Charity Muggers or Charity Lovers: What do you think of street fundraisers?

9/11/09 11:59pm by BethMagon
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There are two kinds of clipboards. The kind my boyfriend likes using to interview celebrities and festival goers, which attract 5-minute fame-seekers like free money, and the kind I've been issued for my new temporary job, which makes even grown men jump into traffic-heavy streets to avoid me.That's the power I wield.  Read more >

London Calling: My ill-fated call-centre interview

8/31/09 12:39am by BethMagon
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I went for an interview at a call-centre. I know. I know. But when the going gets tough, the tough'll do anything to stay afloat. That's what I tell myself. And being a foreigner and a job-seeker in the midst of credit crunch hysteria – melancholy so severe and so adored by Londoners that advertisers city-wide use it for rhymes and puns – I can't even splurge for the discounted 'Credit Crunch Lunch'. It's a blessing really, that food in England has the reputation it does. Basically, if I can trade my time for money, I'll do just about anything until I can find a real job – one that's somehow, even mildly related to anything I learned during 8 years of university. Getting hired by an inbound call-centre is harder than I'd anticipated. From a customer's perspective, it seemed anyone could get a job at one of these places. Anyone with the aptitude to speak a language and don a headset. Anyone with the ability to read a sales script like a robot and put me on hold. But it's just not that easy.  Read more >

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All Over the Place (Montreal to London)

Travel, relationships and other mistakes

Information

Full Name
Beth Magon
Member Since
May 2008
About Me: 

If you visited London in 2010, I may have given you a tour of the city. I’ve been working as a sightseeing tour guide there. Maybe we’ve met elsewhere. I enjoy an advanced case of wanderlust and have travelled throughout North America, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America.

I’ve picked mangoes in Colombia, worked with human rights groups in Central America, argued with cab drivers in New York City, dodged bullets in Honduras, shared maté in Argentina, outwitted hostile macaques in Thailand, and learned to appreciate the luxury of clean water worldwide.

My background is in Public Relations, which I studied at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and in Cultural Anthropology. At the end of a two-year working holiday in the United Kingdom – where I encountered the Queen, Claudia Schiffer, the pope and Tim Burton – I’m making the move back to Canada where I aim to work in tourism and travel. I plan to settle in Toronto with my English partner, at least for a little while. Eventually, I'll head back to the tiny, and literal edge of the world I know best, rural Nova Scotia.

I also like coffee, chocolate, red wine, comedy and kittens, but I don't consume the latter.

My blog, All Over the Place, celebrates its 7th birthday this year.

Profession: 
Writing, public relations, tour guiding
Location: 
Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Nova Scotia), the United Kingdom
Location Tags: 

montreal, toronto, nova scotia,canada,london,united kingdom

School Tags: 

mcgill university,concordia university

About Me Tags: 

uk,south america,latin america,family,relationships,dating,travel,humor,humour,food, london, living overseas, nova scotia, tourism, tour guide, bartending, visa

Causes Tags: 

green tourism, fair trade, diversity, equality and clean water

Favorite Tags: 

adventure,wanderlust, travel, london, canada

 

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