Profile: Alison Fortier – Planner & Momager

It’s funny that my career in ‘travel’, is being done literally as I ‘travel’. Never has my experience in this industry and being part of the ‘remote working’ generation come in as handy as it has in these last couple of years. As the mother of one of the best junior tennis players in the world, the word “Mom-ager” has been added to my resume … making (and ever changing) travel plans from flights, trains, and car rentals to hotels all over the world, part of my professional and personal norm. The greatest benefit of my job is the ability to work remotely wherever my travels take me. My most recent trip was “Down Under” to Melbourne, Australia as my son was playing in the Junior Australian Open.
While my son was battling it out on the courts, I was hunting down free WiFi (McDonalds is always a solid option) to work on a large proposal with my team back on the other side of the world. Laundromats are another great place to work (going deep in a tournament means doing more laundry!). A total opposite time zone, being almost one full day ahead created some challenges, but through the miracles of technology, we got the job done! In between matches and proposals, we were able to explore Melbourne, which is a fantastic city with a great artsy vibe, and a plethora of amazing restaurants, bars and hotels (I may have snuck in an unofficial hotel site visit or two). I enjoyed their unique cafes that make the best coffee (made fresh from the bean while you wait)! I think I saw only one Starbucks in the entire city. We particularly enjoyed our visit to Moonlit Sanctuary to cuddle a koala and feed the kangaroos. Who knows where the next tournament will take me, but wherever it will be, my laptop will be there too!