Far and Away Travel takes you there
There aren’t many places on this planet Ruth Kuehn hasn’t been to. After all, it’s part of her job as a travel agent.
So it’s it kind of ironic that when she’s booking a cruise or a tour, she does it from the comfort of her own home.
Kuehn, who runs Far and Away Travel Agency, is a veteran of nearly 80 cruises and of 30 years in the travel industry, which has changed dramatically over that time to the point where the term travel agent has become an anachronism.
Kuehn started her career in travel at a small agency in El Paso, Texas in 1985. She and her husband relocated to Southwest Florida in 1998 to “be close to the cruise ports,” before associating herself with a host agency in 2006 and started working from home.
The difference in being a travel agent now as opposed to when she started is like night and day.
“It’s a lot different today. When I started we didn’t have the computer, we had to use the phone which took lots of time,” Kuehn said. “The airlines used to love us, they don’t anymore.”
There is a silver lining, however. The clients she has are more informed and know what they want. They learned the hard way that doing it yourself isn’t always the best way.
“They can make terrible mistakes on their own. Doing it themselves is the least fun and more costly,” Kuehn said. “They don’t know about that hotel with a dog. They could do it better and faster with us.”
Her work has earned her the Best of North Fort Myers designation every year since 2010.
Far and Away specializes in cruises and tours with a partiality for Ireland and Scotland. They also travel to places such as China, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt and the Galapagos Islands. They do river cruises in Europe the U.S., Russia, Asia, South and Central America, even Antarctica, where Kuehn has been to twice.
“I love the tours. People think they’re school buses, but they’re not. Ireland is my top dog. I’ve done 19 tours there,” Kuehn said. “If people want to do customized tours, there are people I know who will help them.”
Kuehn said she can’t count the number of countries to which she has been. She recently went on a Star Clipper, a tall ship that resembles an old vessel from the 1800s, for a 38-day world cruise through Europe, the Suez Canal, Red Sea and eventually to Thailand.
She has earned credentials as a master cruise counselor, tour consultant, a specialist on the Caribbean, Ireland and niche cruises and a member of the Seven Continents Club.
Kuehn can be reached Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., at 543-5008 or via e-mail at rekuehn@yahoo.com.