By Sally Abaza, Regional Product Manager, Middle East
I began working at Grand Circle in 2009 and consider myself extremely lucky that I was blessed to find such a great job. As Regional Product Manager for the Middle East, I am responsible for the day-to-day activities in our Middle East office, including updating any changes to the itinerary on our trips, working with hotels to find space and finalize contracts, and working with our finance managers.
My role at Grand Circle allows me to learn something new each and every day. It makes me challenge myself and discover that I can do a lot more than I ever thought I could.
I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt—and have spent my entire life here. I believe the top three highlights about Egypt are its history, food, and people. And what I truly love most about Egypt—and why I’m proud to call it home—is how welcoming, warm, and generous our people can be with others.
My circle of friends has always been very diverse, as I attended an American high school in Egypt. And while I have learned a lot from my international group of friends, I’ve found that traveling to another country is a completely different kind of cultural experience.
The first time I left Egypt to travel abroad was on a Grand Circle training trip to Tunisia in March of 2009—followed shortly thereafter by trips to Croatia and Jordan. The first time I came to the United States was for a Grand Circle company meeting last August. I was surprised by the stark contrast between spending a day in metropolitan Boston, and then traveling to the woods in New Hampshire for the offsite. It was a whole new world for me: the greenery, the animals, and nature in general. It was touching to see such beauty.
What I love most about traveling is the exposure one gets of different cultures and backgrounds. It makes you think about everything that you take for granted in your life and really changes the way you think—and makes you start to think in a different way as well. It’s so important for people to travel to see a broader view of the world outside of their own, and to realize that although there are many differences between other cultures and our own, there are also many similarities as well. We simply need to explore the world in order to find them.
In my spare time, I like to swim, ride horses, play basketball, dance, and try new things—like ice skating, which I attempted for the first time when I visited Boston last month. It has become one of my favorite, new things—and something I would love to master. I love to learn new things, which I believe is why we’re here: to learn and experience different aspects of life.