Meet Ken, the Intrepid traveller who took his first worldwide flight at 30 and has been around the globe since with 18 Intrepid journeys beneath his belt and extra to come back.
‘That is my 18th Intrepid journey,’ weren’t phrases I anticipated to listen to on the welcome assembly of our Central America highway journey.
It was 6 pm on the nostril, and some of us sat round in awkward, anticipatory silence, ready to satisfy the remainder of our group with whom we’d be travelling by way of 4 international locations in 9 days. And in strolls Ken, a born and bred Midwestern American residing in Tampa, Florida. He instantly warmed the room with a number of self-deprecating jokes earlier than letting it slip that not solely was this his 18th Intrepid journey, however after we crossed the border into Nicaragua on day seven of our journey, he’d be ticking off his ninetieth nation.
At a self-proclaimed ‘young-but-beaten-down-by-life’ 55 years previous, Ken has spent his years doing a little fairly rad issues. Even simply his roster of Intrepid journeys fills me with inspiration… and just a little little bit of envy. He’s seen Machu Picchu and cruised by way of the Galapagos, taken the last word cross-world journey from the United States to Australia and safari’d in Africa, toured Cambodia and even skilled Russia.
He’s visited folks he met on Intrepid journeys in England, Eire, New Zealand, Canada and New York, and plenty of have come to see him stateside. And whereas it could sound like he’s a fellow member of the journey biz or a profession traveller whose mother and father received him a passport as an toddler, the fact is that Ken by no means left the USA till he was 30.
However the journey bug bit onerous, and after that first worldwide journey, he had no drawback making up for misplaced time. On the heels of our Guatemala & Past journey, Ken famous {that a} private spotlight was the cohesiveness of our group and the vibe between strangers turned buddies, though this journey marks the primary time he was the oldest individual on an Intrepid tour. However with some lengthy journey days, tedious border crossings and stiflingly sizzling temps, we might at all times rely on Ken to come back by way of with a joke and amusing. So, actually, his age is only a technicality.
Ken and I sat down to speak about his most memorable experiences, why he loves Intrepid and the way journey modifications every part.
Did you journey with your loved ones rising up?
My mother and father drove everywhere in the US, and I in all probability noticed 40 states by the point I used to be 18. My dad cherished to drive, and we camped quite a bit and went to nationwide parks as they have been free. However I by no means went on a airplane till I used to be 22, and I first travelled overseas once I was 30.
What impressed your first worldwide and the way did it change your journey mindset?
In 1999, my girlfriend on the time advised me about an change she did in highschool the place she lived in England for a 12 months. We began to speak about journey quite a bit, and we each determined to attempt to get an unpaid go away of absence from our jobs at Hallmark to journey for a few months. She labored in artistic, they usually permitted hers, however I labored in gross sales, and they might not approve mine, so I made a decision to take an opportunity and resigned.
I used to be afraid of doing it. I had a mortgage and needed to flip within the firm automotive, and quitting an ideal company job within the 90s wasn’t one thing anybody I knew ever did. However my dad died shortly after I graduated from faculty, and he by no means received to the end line, so it modified how I noticed issues. I began taking probabilities that most individuals wouldn’t since you solely dwell as soon as.
After resigned, every part simply type of fell collectively. I received somebody to hire my home, Hallmark lined my insurance coverage and then I used to be on my manner. Earlier than we went, my girlfriend requested me if I wished to go to 3 international locations and see them in depth or see loads of Europe over two-and-a-half months. I stated quite a bit as a result of I didn’t know if I’d ever be capable of go once more. So we did. Sixteen international locations.
It modified every part. I didn’t know I’d like worldwide journey, and it’s virtually like a door opened that I didn’t even know existed. I stepped by way of that door and by no means regarded again.
Are you able to inform me just a little bit about your first Intrepid journey?
My first Intrepid journey was a few decade later – two weeks in China in the summertime of 2009. Till then, I’d been to 30-something international locations, and I had deliberate the entire itineraries and labored out the logistics, financials, lodging, language, et cetera, all alone. I really cherished doing it, and Lonely Planet was my bible.
I had turn out to be a trainer within the meantime, and this was the primary summer season I had off [in a while]. I had been so overwhelmed by all the training from my first 12 months of instructing that I felt like I couldn’t plan anymore. I made a decision to name Lonely Planet’s 800 quantity and ask if there was an organization they’d advocate that I exploit the place another person dealt with the planning, the logistics, et cetera, they usually beneficial Intrepid. So I regarded on-line and referred to as, and it was the beginning of a gorgeous friendship.
What are a few of the most memorable highlights out of your journeys?
Ankor Wat at dawn. St. Petersburg at midnight on bikes because the solar was nonetheless up. The Galapagos… wow, all of it. A tour of Cambodia‘s Killing Fields adopted by dinner on the information’s house the place he had 32 folks residing beneath his roof. Mountaineering on glaciers in Alaska and swimming with nurse sharks in Belize. Visiting Bosnia. The Haga Sofia in Istanbul is my favorite non secular web site that I’ve ever been to. On this final journey, I cherished studying in regards to the Maya cultures which have existed for hundreds of years.
On the Cape City & Winelands journey, we went to the Spier Vineyard – one household has owned it since 1692. They’d a wine there referred to as Pinotage, and South Africa is the one place on this planet you may get it. I by no means deliver alcohol house from overseas as a result of it’s such a problem, however I purchased a whole case and shipped it house with me, which value greater than the wine itself. I by no means noticed that wine within the States once more, however I really simply discovered a spot right here in Tampa that has it, so I serve it each time I’ve visitors.
Why do you like travelling with Intrepid?
I cherished that Intrepid has a neighborhood information with every journey and that we do extra than simply go to vacationer locations. The itineraries are fascinating and off-the-beaten-path, and my favorite elements have turn out to be visiting folks’s properties, which I’ve performed on a number of journeys – 4 instances in Russia alone.
Intrepid itineraries are fascinating and off-the-beaten-path, and my favorite elements have turn out to be visiting folks’s properties.
You possibly can see how folks dwell, what they eat and what they worth. When not on a homestay, we keep at resorts the place locals keep, and within the 90 international locations I’ve been to, I’ve solely stayed at an American resort as soon as. Most individuals I’ve met on journeys need to expertise the tradition like travellers, not dabblers who solely need to keep at good resorts. Among the leaders I’ve met are additionally foodies, entomologists and biologists, which at all times provides to the expertise.
What recommendation would you give somebody who’s nervous about travelling solo or becoming a member of a bunch journey as a solo traveller?
Should you’re nervous, strive a small journey first. It might be attempting an City Journey in a serious metropolis or doing one thing small the place there’s not an enormous cultural distinction or a massively lengthy flight. My flight to Johannesburg was the longest on this planet once I went, 16 hours. So perhaps don’t begin with that. Should you’re American, travelling to Europe, locations like England, Eire, Germany or France are nice to start out with, so you may get a style of the way it rolls and what it’s like. Should you’re nervous about security, there’s at all times security in numbers, and Intrepid affords that.
So, the place to subsequent? What Intrepid journeys are on the want record?
I’m going to Munich to stick with a pal I met on my first Intrepid journey 25 years in the past. After that I’m on to Slovenia for 4 days, my final nation to see in Europe. Intrepid journeys on the schedule embrace Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Any plans for nation #100?
For journey 100: Antarctica, my seventh and last continent. It’s costly so I’ll have to avoid wasting up.
Ken hit his ninetieth nation on Intrepid’s 9-day Guatemala & Past journey, new and improved because the 10-day Nicaragua & Past for 2024.
