Pints, Pastries and the Five-Year Trip: More Reasons to Love Working at Walker Sands

At Walker Sands, we talk a lot about why our agency is such a great place to work. I suppose that’s not unusual. Unless they work on a cubicle farm or clean Porta Potties for a living, most employees are proud of their workplaces and the company cultures they have helped create.

But over the past three decades, I’ve worked a lot of jobs in a lot of industries, and I can honestly say that Walker Sands is unlike any other place I’ve worked.

Why? Because of things like the five-year trip.

What Is the Five-Year Trip?

The five-year trip is a benefit that Walker Sands offers to employees who have been with the agency for more than five years. When you reach your fifth-year anniversary, Walker Sands makes a significant financial contribution to a trip of your choosing.

On the surface, the five-year trip is a reward for employee loyalty. But it’s more than just another employee benefit. It’s recognition that we’re in this thing together.

Employees who commit to Walker Sands over the long term receive a tangible expression of the company’s commitment to them – a commitment that enables us to continue our personal development through travel.

What I Did on My Five-Year Trip

In a happy accident, my five-year work anniversary coincided with my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary – an event that my wife and I had already been planning to celebrate with a trip to Europe.

After considering all of our options, we settled on a whirlwind tour of the U.K., with stops in England, Scotland and Wales. Looking back, it’s kind of ridiculous how much you can see if you set your mind to it.

Over the course of eight or nine days, we visited Windsor Castle, Shakespeare’s birthplace, the Cotswolds, York & York Minster, Edinburgh & Edinburgh Castle (had lunch in the café where Rowling wrote Harry Potter), the Lake District, Wordsworth’s grave, Liverpool (way too Beatles-centric), Cardiff, the Roman Baths, Stonehenge, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and more.

Thanks to a week’s worth of pints and English breakfasts and haggis (surprisingly good), I gained about five pounds. But more importantly, I gained a better  perspective about the people and places in a part of the world that I’d previously taken for granted.

And to me, that’s really what the five-year trip is all about. It encourages team members to embrace our agency’s core value of constant learning through an up close and personal encounter with the world.

Thanks, Walker Sands!