Oprah announces results of a well-being study that identified the four happiest jobs.

The full story was published by travelweekly.com's Richard Turen and titled "We're a happy bunch. Who knew?"

Doesn't it seem that there is a perceived improvement in our collective lot? Is it my imagination, or are many in our profession starting, once again, to enjoy what we do?

In my conversations with my fellow travel consultants, I've been struck by the sudden optimism because folks are traveling again, because interest in the more exotic parts of the world is soaring and because the media have finally come to realize that when you determine to leave your nest and fly, it is better to have a trained professional at your back, a flying wingman to stave off hassles.

Could you have imagined two years ago what they are now writing about our profession? It's as though our entire career is one final episode of "Survivor" and, somehow, we have all managed to win.

The media, from Forbes to the New York Times to USA Today and the "Today" show, are all touting the real value of a travel professional. So I wonder: Is that making us happy? Are we enjoying our work?

We're told that the youngest active travel practitioner in the country is a 53-year-old agent in Tulsa.

We commiserate among ourselves that our know-it-all clients actually take in and digest the suspicious reviews they read on the Internet. They think they know more than we do, they constantly change their minds, they think what we do is easy, they expect us to be at our desks 24/7 and they feel that their little vacation is so rich in commission-generating income that 12 of us ought to be willing to bid for the privilege of helping them out.

So are we really happy?

For the answer to that question, as we do to all questions dealing with the true meaning of life, we turn, once again, to Oprah.