Imprint Tours

Finally we arrive at our second day in India. Friday, November 5 began with a buffet breakfast on the Good Times rooftop terrace. It was simple but adequate spread with puri and vegetable curry, oatmeal, omelet and a dish that looked like skinny broken refried pasta. Reid was standing next to me while we were perusing this dish. I asked the waiter if this was an Indian dish. He told me it was. Reid asked him if he was sure about that and the waiter insisted, "Yes, sir, it is Indian dish." We asked him what it is called. "Vermicelli," came the reply.

November 5 was the official start day of the group tour and our first activity was a group meeting on the terrace at 9:30. I think now would be a good time to explain how we came to be at this hotel at this time and how to forestall such questions as "Who the hell is Reid?"

We travel every other year or so with a group of people we have collected through the years on our various tours. The group is quite diverse geographically. (Alas, we are not so diverse culturally or racially.) The "core group" hails from Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Besides a love of travel, we have two things in common: nearly all of us are alumni of a Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD) tour (and followers of Rick Steves school of traveling) and all of us have previously been on tours with either Reid or Julie Coen, a husband and wife team who are both ETBD guides during the regular tourist season.

Our Travel Guru, Reid Coen

We first met Reid in 1997 when he was the lead guide on the ETBD Best of Europe tour. We loved Reid's style, penchant for history and culture, and his enthusiasm for travel experiences. I remember being particularly impressed when we were at the Hauf Brau House in Munich and watched Reid get into the singing and partying like he was just on vacation with the rest of us. I decided this was a guide I would enjoy traveling with and hold him personally responsible for my current addiction to travel. We kept in touch periodically through e-mail.

In 2004, a group Reid had guided through Italy liked him so much that they asked him if he would take them on a specially arranged ETBD sponsored tour of Spain. When spaces opened on this tour, Reid offered them to other people who had previously toured with him. Carol and I impulsively signed on for what was probably the best all around tour experience to date. It was from this Italy/Spain tour group that our core group coagulated. At a reunion of the Spain group, we decided that we wanted yo travel together regularly as a group and decided to get Reid to lead us on a tour every other year. The next destination would be Greece. Reid was not able to get ETBD to sponsor this tour, which led him to form his current tour company, Imprint Tours, which is running our current tour to India. Reid continues to be an ETBD guide so imprint operates in the off season and targets Asia and other markets ETBD does not cover.

Our group in India numbers 21, including Reid. Thirteen of us have previously traveled together with Imprint. The "core group" of Imprint travelers are maybe 30 to 40 people. The number increases with each tour. We have a certain mindset about travel and it doesn't take long to recognize people with a similar mindset. Pretty much anyone who goes on a second Imprint tour is part of the core group. Besides Greece and India, Imprint Tours has taken us to Thailand and Bali. Reid and Julie put together an itinerary and our "core group" serve as the guinea pigs. We let Reid know what works and what doesn't. Sometimes things get a little rough but that's how we like it. We can fancy ourselves as pioneers and adventurers without a whole lot of discomfort.