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Hi and welcome to tommytraveller.com
I put this site together after much motivation and encouragement from Marcus MacDonald, a friend I met while travelling in Melbourne, Australia back in 1998. A couple of years later, after receiving some emails I sent out about my adventures, Marcus asked me to write about my travels for his own web site www.mywoollyhat.com. I had never really thought about writing or displaying my photos before but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I wrote my first piece and got a lot of encouraging words back both from friends and relatives and even from people I've never met! Recently, Marcus changed his site to concentrate on his music and I was left with a number of stories and photos and no outlet for them. I realised at this point that I was really enjoying putting my experiences together and Marcus offered to design and get my own web site on line. Well, how could I resist? As I am sure you will agree, I think he has done a remarkable job and all my thanks goes out to him for this. So, who am I and how did I get to be doing what I am now? I started a career in retail in the 80s and worked my way up to Area Management level. From there I changed track a little and went into buying, marketing and business management. It was good work with plenty of responsibility and more than ample money. However, after several run ins with a new boss, pushing me into an admin role which didn't suit me, I quit the rat race and left the shores of England to explore some of the world. To be honest, I didn't expect to be away for very long. It was in my first couple of weeks away whilst in Africa that I picked up the name Tommy. It was basically due to a confused conversation about The Who and somebody overhearing part of it which led to my nickname. It stuck, and for the next few years I changed from Ian Picken, the serious career businessman to the adventurous and more carefree Tommy; the traveller with an exciting and fresh outlook on a world that I was previously unaware existed. With my change of name came a big change in my way of life, my way of thinking and my perception of the amazing and diverse planet we live on. Since that fateful day that I left England: August the 20th 1996, I have travelled through Africa, Asia, Australia, North and South America and the Caribbean. As is often the way when travelling on a budget, I have had so many incredible experiences. I have been swimming with killer whales in the wild off the coast of Australia; I was arrested in Bangkok, threatened with a knife in Jamaica. I was diving in the Galapagos Islands when a school of thirty hammerhead sharks were schooling a few feet above me and I came face to face with a 3m long Komodo Dragon in Indonesia. There have been many exciting, fascinating and scary times, but travelling is not just about the adventure and discovery, it is also about people. I have met so many interesting and fantastic people in the last six years and learnt so much from them. Many of them are a key part of my travels and without them I would not have done what I have done, learnt what I have learnt or become what I have become. Thank you to everyone I have met along the way and to those back home whom I still hold very close even across the thousands of miles we are apart. Also a big thank you to Emma, my girlfriend who has been so patient and supportive while I have been putting this all together. Obviously, I have had to support myself whilst being away, travelling can be an expensive business and I have worked in a wide range of jobs. From fruit picking to pizza delivery, from diving instruction to business consulting, from door to door sales to what I am doing and loving now, leading overland expeditions across and around South America. A vast change from my life back home but once more, experiences that have broadened my horizons, taught me new things and changed my way of thinking. I've only just begun putting all this down in words and in photos. It is not nearly finished yet, and to add to that, every day is a new experience or adventure and hopefully will continue to be well into the future. I hope you enjoy sharing these experiences as much as I have enjoyed putting them together. This site has just started, make sure you come back regularly to see what's new - I will be adding new stories, facts, tips and photos regularly. Write to me and let me know what you think about the site or post a message on the 'friends' page and recount some moments we have shared. Get back in touch with friends we have met along the way - you never know who else might visit the site. If you are going anywhere you think I might have been, drop me a line and I'll try and give you some hot tips. Got any interesting (and preferably useless!) facts? Get them on the facts page for the world to see. I am looking forward to hearing from you. See you again soon! Tommy
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Photos and travellogue also featured on www.mywoollyhat.com |
