A Little Bit About Us
By Greg Mattson, ERV Editor - Updated: Jan 24, 2012
Do we just travel around the world to exciting spots and stay in nice places?
(Well no, although that would be nice...!)
I started my travel career in 1987 as a travel agent with ANZA travel, booking airline tickets and selling packages to the South Pacific. But I got itchy feet and couldn't stay behind the desk any longer, so I saved up enough to embark on a voyage to Australia & New Zealand, living, working and travelling around for 8 months in 1988-1989.
Back in Canada, I began working in the airline industry, first for Canadian Airlines and then Air Canada. I loved it despite the shift work and frequently getting soaked by rain (which can be anytime from November to April in Vancouver!)
I met Maureen for the first time in 1992 (she worked in a dental office where I was a patient) and by 1994 we were married and starting a new chapter in our lives globetrotting together.
We’ve been to some amazing places in the last 15 years…Scotland, Quebec City, Dominican Republic, Italy, Paris and Sydney, Australia just to name a few. Often people ask us: where is your absolute favourite spot?
When we travel, we like to blend in a bit with our surroundings, and feel it's important to meet each new destination with an equal mix of curiosity and respect. Oh, and a few words in the local language helps too (even if they're mispronounced!)
Why We Started This SiteBy 2003, Maureen was burnt-out from 12 years of dentistry. So while she took a much-needed break from the dental world, I got the idea for this website. Basically, our goal was:
We were fortunate enough to find a complete do-it-yourself website package called Site Build It. SBI helps you learn at home in an easy step-by-step guide how to build a real home-based business on the web. Although I knew how to surf the web and send e-mails, I'm not into "tech stuff" at all, so the fact that it's very easy to use has been a big plus.
Fast-Forward to 2011:Things have gone well - so well, in fact, that not only has Maureen hung up her dental-mask for good, but in 2008 I retired (“freedom 45”) from the airline industry! It was hard giving up a few of the travel perks, but as our online business income grew, working 9 to 5 at an outside job became totally unnecessary. And we actually travel more now than before (and in a more relaxed way too).
We both love working from home (well, mostly at home - sometimes you can find me at my "office" in Starbucks...). I always say to people: "I'm the best boss I ever had!"
The success of our site has really blown us away! In just a few short years, it grew from "hobby status" to what it is today: over 1 million visitors a year!
If you want to know a few more details on how we built this site, especially about the decisions and choices you need to make when building a travel web site or blog, click here. Thanks for wanting to know a little more about us. Happy Travels!
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