Tour Guide Q+A: Meet Garvan in Dublin

We interviewed a number of long-term ToursByLocals guides recently to get under the skin of what it means to be a tour guide: what challenges do they face, and what makes it a job worth getting up for in the morning? We loved the thoughtful answers that came pouring in, and will spend some time in the coming months sharing some of our favourite stories.

Today, we get to know Garvan in Dublin, Ireland, a guide with us since 2011, with nearly 500 ToursByLocals tours under his belt.

Tour Guide Q+A with Garvan

I became fascinated with ancient Ireland through my university degree of Medieval Irish & Celtic Studies. What I learned inspired me with a desire to share this culture and history with not only visitors but Irish people as well. I’ve been guiding since 2009 and with each year my enthusiasm grows!

What do you think travelers remember most about a tour with you?

There is no other time when I am more myself than when I do a tour. I believe that people can sense that transparency and authenticity. Fortunately for travellers, my true self is not a furrowed-faced school teacher! I’m an animated, extroverted and energetic person who doesn’t just have a passion for sharing Ireland, but a passion for connecting with people. This means that, after the 5 or 8 hours have flown by, we feel like old friends.

Is there a type of traveler you enjoy touring with most?

Although I’m energetic and young enough to connect with groups with kids or teenagers, I really shine when I can provide deep, thought-provoking insights - the type of insights that you’ll recall in 10 months’ time when having dinner with friends - so well-travelled and well-educated people (generally, over the age of 50) really benefit from my tours. I’d say over 90% of my clients are from the USA. They’re really good people. But I like it when I tour with folks from other countries like the UK or Australia, for example.

The tour is not a one-sided lecture, it’s a conversation, so I love to learn about different cultures and perspectives and, by doing so, I become an even better interpreter of Irish cultural contexts. Regardless of the demographic, the common factors are: these folks are culturally curious (they ask questions); keen to have the tour suited to their needs and desires (I don’t do scripted tours involving the same route); and they are happy to allow me to create an unforgettable tour experience for them.

Do you have a favourite memory you've made on tour?

One time I was with some folks in the Temple Bar quarter. A nice black car pulled up behind me. The travellers asked “Hey Garvan, is that someone important?”. I turn around and it happens to be someone quite important. Actually, really important. In fact, the most important person in the country - The President of Ireland! They’ve since joked that I should offer the ‘Presidential special’ as an add-on to my tours!

What is the most special tour you’ve organized and why?

I’ve had so many tours where I’ve made a meaningful and deep connection with people over the years. I’ve even visited them in Texas, California, and New York. But I’ll tell you of one story that had a special beginning: So the traveller contacted me to arrange, just before our tour started, a punnet of strawberries and a bottle of champagne at the summit of this hill outside the city. They were hiking up the summit and it was rather hot so I was getting worried as the ice was melting quickly. They finally made it to the summit with the wife looking a bit worse for wear. It turned out this young lady had a bit of heart condition and so they had been resting for 15 minutes just before meeting me at summit. Thankfully the champagne was still cold and the strawberries still delicious as they enjoyed them with an amazing vista over the city. The city was Dubrovnik.

The tour guide was Tomislav and I was the traveller. It was my honeymoon.

What do you think is the toughest part of a tour guide's job?

You can’t be lucky enough to enjoy your dream job without some drawbacks. I learned back in 2014 that doing amazing tours with such emotional and energetic intensity is only possible if there is time to rest and recover. Otherwise, I risk burnout and, worse, risk becoming one of those guides who does too many tours - you can tell that their enthusiasm is gone (if it were ever there to begin with!) So I endeavour to restrict myself to 4-5 days of touring a week, which is tough during summer when I could accept bookings for 30 tour days in a row. Unfortunately, when winter comes, I’d love to be able to have bookings 5 days a week. So I guess seasonality is the hardest thing. Many guides might have alternative work after summer, but I always wanted to give this vocation my all. Life’s too short to do anything but your dream job, right?

Has working with ToursByLocals impacted your life in a meaningful way? If so, how?

When I started guiding back in 2009, I had to take ANY tour request I could get my hands on. Even with that, there weren't enough tours to sustain me over winter. As tourism grew in Ireland and TBLs went from strength to strength, I was eventually able to make most of my annual income from summer’s tours. The desire to book private tours over group tours also grew amongst travellers and, with that, the popularity of ToursByLocals. I started to get more bookings outside summer. I started to think that maybe I could make this dream job more than just a dream. And so here I am, 10 years a professional private tour guide. I thank ToursByLocals for helping make it a reality.