Asia has always played an important part in my life. From backpacking around India as a 19-year-old to meeting my Kiwi wife on a beach in Thailand, it’s been a huge part of my personal life. Professionally, too – it’s where I established the ETG “immersive holidays that give back” philosophy, starting in Sri Lanka in the early 2000s. There’s. Just. Something. About. The. Place.
With a 6-month interruption caused by the Asian tsunami of 2004 (during which my ETG partner Tom and I became ‘Aid Sri Lanka’), that time in Sri Lanka was the perfect opportunity to really research and develop the ETG approach.
By 2006, Melissa had joined us to explore Southeast Asia extensively for distinctive, experience-based holidays. We were ready to launch.
Nearly 20 years on, our team has grown from strength to strength in the UK and further in Asia, and we now have hundreds of partners and guides throughout the continent.
Proud? You bet. Proud that others ‘see it’ like we see it. Proud that we took an idea we believed in and ran with it. And proudest of all that thousands of other people have experienced Asia in the very best way – through travel done right.
The great thing about Asia is that there’s always so much more to see and so many more people to meet, which is why I spend so much time travelling with my wife and children (now cynical but still travel-loving teenagers).
And as a 6’6” farang (Thai for foreigner) who stood out like a sore lanky thumb, smacked my head on countless Asian door frames, and even accidentally took out someone’s house in Sri Lanka (they laughed about it later, somehow), I know all about the need for extra legroom. So if you’re tall, travelling with kids, or just curious, just ask.
Or even if you’re not super tall or travelling with teens in tow, it’d be great to hear what kind of experience you’re after and share a few ideas to help make it happen.
“Sluggish and sedentary peoples, such as the Ancient Egyptians, with their concept of an afterlife journey through the Field of Reeds, project on to the next world the journeys they failed to make in this one.” – Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines
Feedback from ETG Travellers
ETG look outside the box
Experience Travel Group live up to their name
An Epic Adventure Across Southeast Asia
