meet our retail staff
Our Islington crew have some incredible experience & great stories to share with you - read a bit about their backgrounds...
simon
I was born with itchy feet, an inherited genetic condition for which I blame my mother! Within 3 weeks of gracing this planet I was off travelling with my family and I haven't stopped since; in fact my time here in London is the longest I've ever stayed in one place (coming up to 4 years now, wow!).
I've lived in every state of Australia, backpacked throughout South East Asia, spent 3 months in Mexico and now I'm using the UK as the perfect base for exploring Europe: France, Germany, Austria & Italy have all been visited with many more to come. Oh, and I've also travelled with Intrepid to Nepal, Egypt and Turkey in the past 3 years... So come into the store and let's talk travel (I know a thing or two about it).
emma
"We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls" and isn't it true that life is all about the journey? I feel that travel can give us so much, take us outside ourselves, outside of our comfort zone, and open up our eyes to the world we all share.
I was lucky to have grown up in a family where travel was always a big part of our world & have had some great adventures from snowboarding in the Rockies to rafting down the Zambezi, scuba diving in the Red Sea, yoga on the beach in Bali and folk dancing in Bulgaria.
I recently took off with a surfboard across Indonesia and Australia and as a result accidentally ended up spending two years living and working in Australia & New Zealand! That's one of the best things about travel: you never know where it's going to take you. I'm back at home in London nowadays, getting my travel fix vicariously through you guys & planning my next adventure.
siobhan
Travelling seems inherently Australian. We Australians traverse our own country in search of the highest mountain or the most beautiful wind swept beach. And when we feel that travelling Down Under is not enough we head north. But why do we travel so far from our homes? Travelling presents personal challenges and the chance to learn about life. And it is addictive. These are the reasons why I travel and why I just can't seem to get enough of it. Already I have camped with Bedouin in Syria, sailed up the Bosphorus in Turkey and as a leader in Morocco I have trekked with the Nomads through the High Atlas Mountains. But where we will I go and what will I do next? Will I trek the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, sleep in a Yurt in Mongolia, sail down the Ganges in India, or camp with the Masai warriors Kenya? My list of places to visit next is endless but that's another great thing about travelling, the next challenge is just right around the corner.
katrina
Konnichiwa from Kat!
I guess it all started with studying Japanese at high school back in Oz.
The seed was sewn and after graduating from Uni I moved to Japan... initially for 6 months, it soon turned into 6 years! Japan was a fantastic base and saw me backpacking around Asia every spare chance I had. I'd love to tell you stories of eating spiders in Cambodia, toilets in rural China, where to get the best Gulab Juman in India, hitching a ride on a Korean tour bus to the DMZ and being made to sing karaoke to the entire bus of locals, climbing Mt. Fuji every year and hundreds of other stories from travels to Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. And a little further a-field to cross Russia on the Trans-Siberian, marvel at the Acropolis and paraglide off the cliffs in Turkey.
Of course I'm a little biased, but Japan holds everything I think a traveler could ever desire to see, taste and experience and thanks to leading trips for Intrepid I was extremely lucky to visit the most magical places time and again throughout the changing seasons.
To mix things up a little I moved to Toronto for a year and had a ball living and backpacking throughout North America (with a nice little trip to the Caribbean too).
And now here I am in London with Europe on my doorstep and Africa a hop, skip and a jump away. In the past 2 months I've traveled to France, Belgium, Morocco, and Germany and all I can say is look out Europe here I come!
Travel is my passion and I look forward to helping you get out there traveling with Intrepid too...or teaching you how to make an origami crane!
silvia
Born in Brazil, I was brought up amongst Barroque colonial icons and beautiful national parks. Since very young I felt I had to go...I just didn't know where! At Uni the feel turned into urged, and as soon as I graduated I moved to the UK, where the passion for travelling could be fed by the hard earned British Pound.
The Travel Monster grew bigger and bigger, Europe only wouldn't saciate it...
I legged it: across the Atlantic, from the Amazon to the Southern Pampas in my homeland Brazil, over the altiplano Boliviano, around the Inca land of Peru, criss-crossing the Andes into Argentina and Chile, exploring Easter Island, Tahiti, Australia, and ended up with both feet stuck fimrly on the Indian Subcontinent!!
Back in the UK, I bring all my experience travelling to help you choose your most exciting getaway to come!
john
Realising from an early age that travel was better than work, I soon headed off to India and round Europe for 6 months at the tender age of 18.
University provided 3 leisurely years for me to plan my next trip, so after that I was off to summit Kilimanjaro, and chill out on the beaches of Zanzibar. The offer of graduate employment was tempting indeed, but a trip on the Trans-Mongolian, a month going through China with Intrepid and many bountiful months in South East Asia and Australia provided me with the reason not to join the "Real World".
A short daliance with award winning garden design projects, and a 9 month stint as an Intrepid tour leader in Morocco led me to work in the retail store. After 29 years it is great to combine an amazing job, and still be able to travel; the perfect combination. Come and see me in store for a race on my space hopper or just to get a big hug. One final word of advice..."The problem with the Rat Race is, that even if you are winning in it...you are still a Rat!"
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