Q&A: A Longtime Reader of TravelAge West

Judie Parr’s love affair with travel began in the early 1950s when, as a child atop her father’s knee, she saw a photograph of a Burmese pagoda as “On the Road to Mandalay” played on the household gramophone. Even as a 6-year-old, Parr knew that one day, she would see a pagoda in real life.

The U.K. native went on to spend much of her young adult life abroad. She eventually made her way to the U.S., where she married a British Airways executive before settling in Los Angeles and beginning a career in sales representation for travel companies.

It was in this role — during routine sales calls to retail travel agencies in the 1970s — that Parr first stumbled upon a copy of TravelAge West (TAW), what she referred to as “the bible” for West Coast agents. Decades later and retired, Parr still reads the magazine.

Q: Tell me what the travel industry was like in the 1970s.

A: When the 400-passenger Boeing 747 launched in 1970, airlines came out with group-inclusive fare tours and began to work closely with tour operators. That changed the whole travel business. So, when TAW started in 1969, it really came about on the cusp of change in the travel business; it was becoming available to the mass market.

Q: What was the perception surrounding the magazine?

A: West Coast advisors had a love fest with TAW right from the beginning. You saw it on each desk. I realized that, as part of my sales calls, I needed to know what TAW was all about. Many agents commented that it was nice to have a magazine with articles on a local basis, about local people.

Q: Did any issues or articles stand out to you?

A: In the early days, the magazine’s photos and articles showed what was going on with local agencies. Carolyn Yarbrough, a correspondent for TAW, profiled my company in 1979. And Los Angeles Bureau Chief, Gerald Orlin, was especially memorable. His writing truly painted a picture. One of his articles was about the Cook Islands — a place no one knew about — and he gave such a vivid description; it still gives me goosebumps now. It made me want to go there.

Q: Speaking of going places, did you ever make it to Myanmar?

A: Oh, yes. I did my first trip in 2011, and I’ve been back twice.