The world has changed, but travel agent Joe Shammas is still in business after 45 years.

Joe Shammas was always fascinated by planes as a child. While growing up in Pacific Grove his dad would take him to Monterey Regional Airport just to watch planes take off and land. Little did he know then that planes – and trains and ships – would take him around the world many times over as a travel agent.

When Shammas opened his agency in 1979 as a young man, he had no way of knowing that the industry he chose would undergo massive changes, first through computerization and later the internet. Located on Lighthouse Avenue in the heart of Pacific Grove’s downtown, his is the only streetfront travel agency left in Monterey County, which used to have over 50 agencies – seven in P.G. alone. Only a handful of offices remain in the county.

He got into the travel business after his religious education teacher at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church asked him if he’d like to help her at the Your Travel Agent office, located inside the Holman Department Store. He then attended Monterey Peninsula College, all the while receiving on-the-job training to be a travel agent. When the owner of the office got busy with other interests, Shammas, just 22, offered to buy it with the help of his father. He renamed it Pacific Grove Travel.

In his spare time, Shammas volunteers with the P.G. Chamber of Commerce, where he serves on the board, and with the P.G. Rotary Club, as well as at St. Angela’s. He’s been on more trips than he can count, but he’s never wanted to live anywhere else besides the Monterey Peninsula.

Weekly: What interested you in the travel business?

Shammas: My father was from Baghdad, Iraq, and he came over after [World War II] and got a job at the [Defense Language Institute] teaching Arabic, so I’ve always been interested in cultures. All of his friends were from different countries.

When I went to St. Angela school for grades one to eight, about half of the kids were DLI kids. We had all different nationalities… what a great way to grow up.

But I just always loved transportation. I just loved airplanes.

What was your first big trip?

My mother was from Pennsylvania so we got to go when I was 6 and 9 to spend summers with my grandparents. We would take the train all the way across the country. Those were wonderful summers.

When I was 17, my dad got the whole family together – I had three older sisters and we had never met our grandmother – so we flew to Baghdad. We went to Lebanon, we went to Syria, we went to Cairo and we went to Baghdad for six weeks. That was an eye-opener.

The industry has changed dramatically in 45 years. How have you managed to stay in business?

I never concentrated too much on [airline travel]. I was alway a leisure agent and I always concentrated on cruises and tours. So when those [airline] commissions went away it didn’t hurt me as much as the other agents, because the cruise lines and the tour operators still paid us a commission. Now people walk by and say, “Gosh you don’t see many of those around anymore, it’s odd to see a travel agent,” so we have to kind of explain it to them.

When people are spending a huge amount of money, they want to come to somebody that knows what they’re doing and who they can trust. There are all these questions that go into it and we take care of all that because we do it every day. So there’s still a need for travel agents.

How many cruises have you been on?

I don’t know – I’ve been to Alaska 35 times.

What’s been your favorite trip?

When I was very young I went to Kenya, and it was a safari. It was called “Wings Over Africa,” where they fly you between different national parks. It was like a dream. It’s still one of the highlights of my life.

Is there somewhere you haven’t been yet that you want to visit?

I haven’t been to South America. I’d like to see Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Igazu Falls [in Argentina]. It’s one of the largest, widest waterfalls in the world.

What makes the Monterey Peninsula so special as your home base?

There’s no place as beautiful as here. I’ve been all over the world and when I go to Pebble Beach – that view from the lobby of the lodge overlooking the 18th green, Carmel Bay and Point Lobos is absolutely stunning. I’ve never wanted to move anywhere else.