Vista Senior Sales Consultant Isla Stenning, one of the finalists for this year’s Travel Gossip Legend, tells us about why she goes to Cyprus to see a dentist, her crafting skills, and how she gained a love of travel.
I remember watching the (BBC TV) Holiday programme with my dad at a really young age and I was hooked. Honestly cut me open, and like a stick of rock I will have ‘travel’ written through me. We used to talk about all the places on television, and when I left school in 1992, I went to straight to work in Lunn Poly (now TUI) in Blackpool in a nice red uniform. I loved reading the brochures and gazetteers.
I’ve been with Vista for four years. To me, my work isn’t even work. It feels more like a hobby. I just love making holiday dreams come true. But trying to work out a holiday for us as a family is difficult because I know what we’re like; if I don’t nail it, I’m in trouble!
We live in Scotland now, but have a cottage booked in Cornwall for a month. We are thinking of moving down, but thought it would be good to do a bit of a recce on that part of the world. My husband Paul and I haven’t been to Cornwall since we were young, so it will be great to see how much we remember.
We lived in Paphos in Cyprus for eight years. I worked for Solmar Villas for a season, but then I was fortunate I could take some time out and home school my daughter, Samantha. We planned to go for six months, but ended up staying for eight years. Our friends call us ‘bohemian’, I am not sure if that’s a good thing or not!
We go back to Cyprus to see our dentist. Our dentist is great, a real character who sings to us and it’s cheaper for us to go to the dentist there than here. I could get an appointment tomorrow if I called them.
One of the best days I had during a three-month trip to America was in Florida at Kennedy Space Center (pictured). It was somewhere I always wanted to go, as back in the eighties, I won a (schools) regional competition for making a model of the Challenger (ill-fated space rocket). They had an overall winner from the regions who went out to watch the launch. It wasn’t me, but watching the disaster unfold is something I will always remember. Ever since then I wanted to go to the Kennedy Space Center Rocket Garden and see all the displays, I went in 2019 and it was so worth it.
I say to my (15-year-old) daughter she needs to become a travel agent. I even took her to World Travel Market last year! It was our first trip to London together and we had such a good time, and she met Alfie Watts from Race Across the World’, which she loved.
I cannot relax. How do you relax? Honestly, I’ve got to be doing something, because to me, it’s a waste of time not doing anything! When I am not working, I am crafting with my daughter.
I have been crafting since my grandma put a cross-stitch of Mickey Mouse in my hand aged five. When I was in Cyprus, I joined a group of more mature ladies for a crotchet class and I decided to make blankets for the local cat sanctuary as I love cats and wanted to help. I think I made about 90 blankets in total.
It’s great to be nominated for a Travel Gossip Legend for the second year. I’ve got a really good relationship with a lot of agents. They know they can email me at 11pm and by the next morning they will have their answer.
Quick Questions
Cats or dogs? Cats, obviously!
City or beach? I love a city, but to switch off and relax on a beach is my dream
Dawn or Dusk? Dawn
Crafting or cocktails? Crafting with a G&T in my hand!
The Travel Celebration featuring the Travel Gossip Awards takes place on 25 March at The Peninsula London.
