{"id":7441,"date":"2016-01-12T18:40:56","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T18:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/?p=7441"},"modified":"2020-10-07T20:21:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T19:21:42","slug":"meet-james-travel-specialist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/meet-james-travel-specialist\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet James, our new travel specialist"},"content":{"rendered":"

James, with his in-depth\u00a0knowledge of India, Borneo and Southeast Asia, is the newest recruit to the\u00a0ETG\u00a0travel team. He’s joined us following a sensational demand for our holidays and we’re very pleased\u00a0to welcome him as a travel specialist. Over to James…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Travelling and exploring has always motivated me, whether it was climbing to the top of Wakefield castle as a 4-year-old (having escaped the clasps of my mum), diving\u00a0down waterfalls in the Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia or teaching Yorkshire English to children from the tribal castes of India.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/a><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t leave Europe until I was 19, having always holidayed in campsites all over France\u00a0whilst\u00a0growing up.\u00a0I ventured to California for three months to coach football during university and followed this up by four\u00a0months in South America. But it was Southeast Asia that really captured my imagination.<\/p>\n

\"James9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I spent three months in Indochina, travelling from Hanoi to Bangkok overland. I loved the buzz of the Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Saigon, the laid-back and tranquil nature of Laos and the ancient sites\u00a0of Cambodia, not just Angkor Wat but the further flung temples of\u00a0surrounding Battambang.\u00a0 My highlight, though, had to be motor biking around central Laos, visiting an area of the country untouched by mass tourism and staying in local people\u2019s houses who were generous enough to let a scrubby backpacker invade their well-kept home.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/a><\/p>\n

A few years later, I went on an epic eight-month tour of India which included time working in the holy city of Varanasi and volunteering in a rural development commune in southern Kerala.\u00a0 I knew I wanted to see as much of the country as possible but also wanted to get to know people and see what\u00a0\u2018normal\u2019 life was like.<\/p>\n

I managed to get up to the very north east of the country which is little visited by Indians, let alone tourists! Arunachal Pradesh is the least visited state in the country and long may it continue.\u00a0 It is tranquil, sustainable (a balanced climate means the state is perfect for a subsistence lifestyle) and stunningly beautiful with the mighty Brahmaputra and Upper Siang a vibrant blue colour I\u2019ve never seen before and the vastness and remoteness of the Tawang valley is unrivalled to anywhere I\u2019ve ever been.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/a><\/p>\n

I have since travelled to Malaysia and Borneo where I became obsessed with the street food of Penang in the process and gained first-hand experience of turtle rehabilitation in the secluded and beautiful surroundings of Selingan Island.\u00a0 The highlight was getting extremely\u00a0close to orangutans \u2013 such an amazing species \u2013\u00a0and seeing\u00a0them in their natural\u00a0environment, combined with staying in such lovely accommodation.<\/p>\n

\"James<\/a><\/p>\n

More than anything, travel is about the journey and that\u2019s what I love about visiting different destinations in Asia \u2013 such is the variety, you\u2019re always guaranteed different experiences.\u00a0 \"James<\/a><\/p>\n

For me, travel allows you to see amazing sceneries, taste amazing food but also see how different people live, understand different ways of life and the challenges others go through.\u00a0 It gives you time to think about things from a different point of view and re-evaluate yourself to an extent.\u00a0 For me it\u2019s a way of life and I think it\u2019s the best education there is. \u00a0I’m very happy to join Experience Travel Group \u2013 as we\u2019re all about the journey, getting under the skin of a destination and really experiencing it.<\/p>\n

\n

James specialises in India, Borneo and Southeast Asia and would be happy to help with planning your holiday or just offering some travel advice. Have a look at his favourites from our portfolio of experiences for inspiration:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Uttrakahand Himalayan Adventure, India<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Essential Rajasthan with the Taj Mahal, India<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

All our holidays are tailor-made, so if you wanted to get a personalised itinerary or just some more ideas, do call James\u00a0on\u00a0020 3468 3029<\/span>. He’ll be\u00a0very\u00a0happy to help \u2013 no matter where you\u2019re at with your holiday planning. There are\u00a0no obligations to book and you don\u2019t have\u00a0to pay a penny until you are completely\u00a0sure\u00a0that you\u2019ve found your perfect holiday.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James, with his in-depth knowledge of India, Borneo and Southeast Asia is the newest recruit to the ETG travel team. He’s joined us after a sensational demand for our holidays and we’re very pleased to welcome him as a travel specialist. Get to know James in his introductory blog. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":7443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[1354],"coauthors":[1316,1261],"class_list":["post-7441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-news","tag-why-etg"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":3056,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7441"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.experiencetravelgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}