Bill decided he was in business. He upped his prices again, advertised and found four more customers. This time he called himself a guide, and took them over the same route as his last trip, and this time as he went he collected tourist literature, and boned up on the local sights so that he could rattle off a little talk on the more important things to see and do. When I met Bill Jensen he was what amounted to a one man tourist agency whose office was in his hat. Whenever he felt in the mood, or whenever his cash supply began to get a bit low, he'd take on another tour. He'd found just how much he could charge and still readily get all the passengers he wanted, and he'd worked out tours to just about any place in Europe. If he, personally, got tired of seeing Spain, Portugal and Southern France, he'd switch around to some other portion of the continent. Once he even took a party to Greece and Turkey through Yugoslavia but the roads were so poor through Tito-land that he all but ruined his car. Now he sticks to the more usual tourist lands. From time to time, he told me, he considers the possibility of hiring a man or two, buying a couple of more cars, and going into business on a larger scale, but then he thinks "the hell with it." He doesn't want to become involved in a full time business. Nor does he look forward to expanding to the point where he would have to get French licenses and in other ways embroil himself with French red tape. As it is his office is in his hat and he needs no work permit nor anything else to conduct his business. Could you do this? You could if you have the initial investment money to buy a car and to run a few ads. In fact, we know of one fellow who gets his customers together in the States. From time to time he decides upon a European tour and advertises for tourists interested in "splitting expenses." They may not know it, but the rates he quotes them pays all his expenses on these trips and even nets him a small profit. Each time he crosses he buys a new car in Paris, through one of the agencies that guarantees to buy it back for dollars upon completion of the tour. Each time he charges his fellow travelers enough to pay all his own expenses, even the fare across the Atlantic. They still see Europe considerably cheaper than on a tour advertised by a regular agency. §
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