Blue Monday 💙

I hope you got through Blue Monday ok.

We know that 17 January, AKA the most depressing day of the year, is an invention – designed as a PR stunt for travel firms looking to sell holidays.

But travel firms are in a tricky position, so I think we can go easy on them.

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I mean, we’re all our own travel reps now. Who needs to ask Bob at Lunn Poly to book their flights and accommodation for them when we have Skyscanner, Hotels .com and Avis?

Well actually, plenty of us, according to Virtuoso, the US-based network of agents, which says it saw the number of people seeking a travel adviser grow 50% in 2021 compared to the previous year.

That’s because of the pandemic.

A raft of ever-changing travel restrictions, testing rules and last-minute cancellations has made travel more complicated than ever; people have lost time and money trying to navigate new bookings and refunds themselves, and so the guidance of an expert travel agent who do it all for them is valuable once again.

Who’d have thought?

But you know where I’m going here…

There may be a raft of do-it-yourself investment options out there, free gurus and TikTok influencers, but on the other hand, there’s also some high-profile potential complications. For example inflation. What happens if you do the wrong thing with your money?

In this climate, you could say advice is almost essential.