There’s something to be said about returning to a company after time away. And for Charlie Riewoldt, who left the charms of New Orleans for Intrepid Travel’s Melbourne office, it’s all about love.
“It’s great to be back doing what I love, where I love,” Charlie says.
“It’s kind of like coming home,” he tells Karryon.
Charlie first started working with Intrepid Travel in 2016, coming across from Flight Centre Travel Group. He started at Intrepid as a Sales Consultant before moving to a Business Development Manager position.
When the pandemic hit, Charlie tried his hand at other jobs before moving to the United States.
But despite loving his time in New Orleans (he says New Awh-lins like a local) and Baton Rouge, “it made me realise how much I have missed this place,” he says.
“Specifically Intrepid itself and the industry that I know and love.”
Charlie comes back as Intrepid Travel’s Key Partnerships Manager, and is set “to strengthen partnerships and drive sales through Intrepid Travel’s Australian partners”. But that’s straight from the press release. Chat with Charlie and it’s clear that his job is all about connection. His love for how Intrepid travellers get to really experience the world is matched by his respect for the agents and partners who make that travel happen.
“We are thrilled to have Charlie back in the team as our Key Partnerships Manager,” Yvette Thompson, Intrepid Travel’s General Manager of Sales & Partnerships ANZ, says.
“And I know that his agents will be just as excited to hear he is back to support them”.
But how do you give up New Orleans?
There’s little doubt Charlie loved his time in the States.
“New Orleans was awesome!”
“They love a parade. If there’s any excuse to have a parade, they’re on board and everybody just dives into the experience and celebrates.”
I ask him what he will bring with him from that time away.
“A wife,” he says.
Charlie met his now-wife during his first week there. After their second date, he sent a message to his old Intrepid mates, saying, ‘I think I’m in trouble guys’. They tied the knot a couple of months ago.
But aside from his wife, Charlie is bringing a bit of that joy and celebration of New Orleans back home. His time overseas and away from the B Corp-certified Intrepid made him realise that “there is something for everyone out there”.
“You get all types of customers, all types of people travelling and there is something out there for everyone that we can provide. With over a thousand trips in more than a hundred countries, our different travel styles and themes, we do everything.”
“And at Intrepid, we not only care about where we go, but how we go.”
For more information on Intrepid Travel and where (and how) it can take your clients, head to its website, www.intrepidtravel.com/au.
