I’m an experienced world traveller who prefers independence and doing things a little differently, even if it’s harder. I have a passion for planning and piecing itineraries together, viewing each as a logistical challenge that needs to be solved. No off-the-shelf tours or packages here, please. The world – with amazing sights, people and food – is out there, waiting to be discovered and I want to use this platform to share my stories and inspire you to consider something different!
My early years
Brought up in a small town in the North-West of England and once my (older) sisters and I could cope with a longer car journey (imagine, no mobile phone to keep us occupied….), we would go on camping holidays to France and Germany. This felt adventurous at the time (complete with big road map of Europe) and no doubt inspired me (similarly, our daughter is now on a gap year and currently in Laos, having previously been in Thailand and India, and heading to Vietnam – so the inspiration is being passed down!).
My teens
OK, it sounds a little nerdy, but I became a trainspotter and would travel as much as I could on UK rail rover tickets in the holidays. During my 3 years at University (confession – it was a Polytechnic at the time), I took a number of Inter-Rail trips around Europe, visiting all the usual destinations, although a trip to Hungary represented an adventure behind the “iron curtain” at the time.
Late 20’s
I got a degree (Urban Estate Management, which has served me well in a career in real estate/facility management) and a good job. First worked in Manchester. Moved to the bright lights of London and went to work with one of the big companies. Got a nice company car. Bonuses. And then…jacked it all in to go travelling on my own. Big, bold move at 27. Changed my life in more ways than one. Spent an initial 3 months visiting India, Thailand and Hong Kong (during which time I unknowingly met my wife to be, despite my bad haircut and awful travellers clothes) before returning to England for a few months for a best friend’s wedding and to top-up savings. Part 2 of my travels continued with a 10 month overland journey from Turkey to Nepal, travelling through Iran, Pakistan and India, where I spent the greatest amount of time and to this day, continue to be drawn to the country.
Family life
Returning to London, almost penniless at 28, I made some efforts to get a job but nothing clicked and I felt Asia calling. I begged and borrowed what I could to fly back out to Hong Kong which was still under British rule. Plenty of job interviews followed but no offers. My bank account was now substantially in the red. However, a few days away from heading back to England with my tail between my legs, I landed a great job that was the start of an amazing 14 years in Hong Kong, a place that will always be home for me and my family.
Asia travels
Living in Hong Kong gave us the luxury of being able to easily access all the Asian countries. OK, it was a bit of slog back to see family in the UK, especially with babies/toddlers, but we made it a mission to travel as soon as we could when each of our 3 children were born. We travelled frequently – Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, China and Vietnam. My roles working at JPMorgan and Microsoft also took me to many countries including back to India frequently, staying in substantially better places (I’m remembering The Oberoi) than when I had a backpack!
Relocation to the United States
Things were going well with Microsoft and I was offered a fantastic opportunity to relocate to the USA. A summer holiday to Seattle in the Pacific North West, followed by a road trip through Oregon, helped seal the deal for my family. It was gut wrenching leaving Hong Kong and it took us a good year to settle in to living in to Seattle and US life. We were conscious to explore as much as we could and even the locals were inspired by some of our trips! I guess we only scratched the surface of the US but highlights included New York, New Orleans, San Francisco and the road trips within Washington State and Oregon (write-ups will follow on the road trips we took – they were real highlights!). Further afield holidays included Mexico and Costa Rica, both being fabulous. Rail travel in the US was limited to a (very) slow train from Seattle to Portland and a somewhat faster train from New York to Philadelphia.
Relocation to the UK
The circle, for me at least, completed itself in 2018, with another relocation with Microsoft – to the UK – the first time of living here as a family. Our children’s American accents confused people when they met us! Settling in proved slightly less challenging than it did in the US and again, we set-about discovering new experiences as quickly as we could. COVID did its best to try and prevent that, but we tackled all the challenges and barriers to travel as and when we could. In the 5 years since moving here, we’ve completed train journeys to Edinburgh (love the Azuma train), Glasgow, Paris, Amsterdam and Torino (Turin) twice (for skiing holidays) and had self-touring holidays to Southern Italy, Crete, Mallorca and, last year, India. The summer plan for this year is Turkey. There’s so many places on the Crockford list…