Independent – Square Peg – Round Role!!
As any independent traveler knows, they are square pegs that just don’t fit in societies round holes.
While this can make trip planning anywhere from a tad annoying to downright infuriating (especially when dealing with the Melbourne office of Qantas), the rewards for sticking to your ideas can be amazing & in most cases cheaper than following the flock!
As an independent business owner for 30+ years, in a niche market of the school bus industry I prided myself on being a square peg & offering excellent service at fair prices. This worked well until the turn of the century when the “bigger is better” syndrome really took hold in Ontario’s school bus industry. The main reason (not publicly known) is the pure laziness of the top executives of the boards transportation departments which became blatantly evident (to insiders) with boards amalgamating their transportation departments (bigger is better again).
As one minor functionary told me one day, when I was being a thorn in his side, “Why should we have to deal with 65 small operators like you, when we can get it down to 3 or 4?”
That goal hasn’t quite been reached yet but is approaching fast. The sad consequence of this is that the students are being deprived (especially for sports & field trips) of quality transportation at the times they want/need it. Also the vast majority of school buses not to mention public inter-city bus transportation is foreign owned, most by Great Britain, with a US company picking up the pieces.
To make a long story short, I saw the writing on the wall, sold out & spent the next couple years traveling independently. This approach to travel made for great trips at a fraction of the cost the mainstream tourist pays & showed me that in other parts of the world small business is the backbone of the economy (even in communist countries), the way it used to be in Canada.
Also noticed vastly different medical systems & the way other cultures cared for elderly family members.
Two things that had become apparent before this trip & reinforced during it are:
1) most doctors practising in Canada’s Socialist medical system are inferior
2) for quality care & advise it is necessary to consult a private entrepreneur
So when seeking advise on medications, prior to taking my trips I consulted a private Travel Med Clinic, with satisfactory results.
When the nursing homes doctor informed me that my mother’s condition precluded her flying commercially, I proceeded to check around with air ambulance services & private charter companies. The result being that, ironically, a reputable, local company right here in my town supplies the service mother requires & can obtain medical clearance for her fly commercially, accompanied by a RN escort at a saving of tens of thousands of dollars.
Sort of makes one think that the patients welfare is the last thing being considered in this country/province, while the money the doctors & nursing homes make off these unfortunate souls, is priority one. With any scare tactics that can be fed to persons responsible for their care is fair game!!
Guess there’s enough gullible sheep out there that believe the only way to cope with the elderly in Canada land, is to shove them in a home, that the loss of a few patients to the diligence of travelers able to seek out alternatives isn’t going to phase the corrupt system!
Tags: Travel
busman7