Timing is essential when requesting a tour.
Although there is always time in between tours where a guide might be able to make a tour available but then it runs the risk of being not quite right due to lack of preparation. For a tour guide, preparing for a tour is as important than conducting a tour, especially when the request does not contain crucial information such as specific starting times, expected duration or even a firm date. What is your tour guide to do?
Think of a friend you haven't seen or talked to for a while. You are planning to travel to a city near them and want to spend some time with your friend while you are there for a long or short layover. Would you wait until the last minute to contact them? Even if it's a short span of time that does not allow any advance preparation, would you expect your friend to be available for you, not knowing how their schedule is or what else might be going on in their life? You might think, well, it doesn't hurt to ask, right? But generally you would not take the chance missing your friend due to lack of preparation on your part.
Although I am a virtual stranger and not the friend you are thinking of above, I would like to welcome you, as a friend would, when visiting from out of town. Sure, my time as your personal guide is not a free service, but because of that, I want to make sure you will get your money's worth. In order to do that, I would like to properly prepare for you and your customized tour. The most important thing for me to do that is to get notified in advance, and I mean, at least a week or more prior to your arrival. One or two days notice, especially on weekends, will result in me declining to be your tour guide as I will be otherwise booked for other tours and activities. As they say, "the early bird gets the worm" and the early travel request gets booked first.
I am setting up a free calendar so that potential clients can track my available time. Recommendations are welcome as to how this calendar can best be utilized by you, the traveler.
In the meantime, I appreciate every inquiry and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person soon.
