When I was a kid I adored holiday brochures - the glossy publications given out by travel agents to promote the countries, hotels and resorts they could potentially transport us to. There were entire shelves of brochures at our local Thomas Cook, and on Saturday morning I would often pop in and take a few. Back at home I would flip slowly through the colourful pages, daydreaming about places my parents could not afford to take me: Hawaii, Tanzania, Brazil, Thailand. Sometimes I would write short stories inspired by the photos, about a ten-year-old secret agent who closely resembled James Bond. My hero's world was one of luxury hotels, swimming pools, white beaches and palm trees. My life in England was nothing like that.
Thomas Cook holiday brochures still exist, I'm happy to say. Now you can look at them online, or even download them as apps. But I fear that travel agents may soon vanish. These days, most of us book our flights and hotels independently, through websites like Opodo and Hotels.com. We can arrange a trip to the other side of the world without leaving the office. In fact, the last time I consulted a travel agent was for my honeymoon. It felt like a luxury. But it also felt like nostalgia. Maybe I'll pop into one of the last travel agents this weekend, just to pick up a few brochures. Let the journey begin.
