Well, I’ve travelled a fair bit in my life, both for personal and business reasons.

When I was a child, I was fortunate to have several family holidays to Malaysian Borneo to visit family that I have there, as well as a trip to Thailand in 2001. In those days (1989 – 2001), the travel industry and the locations themselves were not as developed as they are now. I recall a trip back to Kota Kinabalu in 2013 and it had changed dramatically to what I remember. I visited a place called Poring Hot Springs, which was ‘off the beaten track’ when we were kids, with us being the only people swimming in the pleasant waterfalls and hot baths. This time, it couldn’t be more different – it’s now a major tourist attraction, with coach loads of tourists all splashing about, eating and drinking in the hot baths. I remember feeling sad that the special place I remember as a child has lost its magic charm. Another example, were the islands we visited as children which were a short boat ride from Tanjung Aru beach, we would take a picnic with us, spend the morning swimming in the crystal clear blue waters and playing on the white sandy beaches. Again, we were the only ones there. Yet, in 2013, it was not like that at all.

Although I was young, I’m sure it was these early family trips which opened my mind to travelling. Perhaps it was these experiences that have driven me to continue to seek out special, unique and unspoilt places in the world.

I first visited Africa in 2001, when I travelled to Sharm el Sheikh, a well known holiday destination in Egypt’s Red Sea Riviera. I’ve since been to Egypt around 11 times since then, mainly to feed my appetite for scuba diving in one of the best locations in the world.

Scuba diving was a major part of my life for around 16 years and besides Egypt (and many other places) also took me to South Africa in 2004, where I dived with the infamous Great White Sharks of Gansbaai, seals of Dyer Island, abseiled down Table Mountain, and explored the comparatively warmer waters of Durban and Aliwal Shoal.

Since graduating from University of Brighton in 2006, I have worked in HR technology and followed the corporate career path, which has been interesting and enjoyable but I found that some of my true passions, such as scuba diving, have been much more limited. This is something I’m now on a mission to change!

More recently, my connection with Africa has become much more personal.

In March 2015, I travelled to Nairobi, Kenya to meet my future wife. Little did I know that I would be visiting the country twice more that year, quitting my job, packing up my life in the UK, moving to Kenya and getting married before the end of the year! I then spent nine months in Kenya before we had to move to the UK due to various circumstances. That’s a full story in itself – actually I could probably write a book about it!

At present, my wife, my son and I still live in the UK and I’m back in the corporate world. This suits us well for the time being but we would like to relocate back to Kenya at some point in the not-too-distant future.

In the last few years, we have been back to Kenya a few times to visit family and I’ve been to Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa in an effort to grow and promote my HR technology business and to speak at industry conferences.

I have been fortunate that most of my travel so far has been what I would describe as ‘comfortable travel’. Although I enjoy camping and overlanding adventures, I have never been keen on the idea of staying in hostels or shared accommodation. This is possibly because I’m a fairly private person, who likes his own space and if I’m travelling without my family, enjoy my own company too. So, I’d always opt for having my own room or tent over sharing with others (except my wife and son of course!)

When I travel, I like to experience and absorb as much of the culture, food and surroundings as possible as well as enjoying water sports, safari and other adventures. My ideal trip would be 80-90% exploring and adventure and 10-20% relaxation.

For these reasons, much of my content will be well suited to both couples and family travellers, who want to enjoy a comfortable travel experience on a mid-range budget and who have a passion for culture, food and adventure.