About us

About us

So you want to know a little about us, well here it goes;metronews  Here’s a short article for starters that appeared in Metro News.

Janet and I met over 30 years ago, a friend of ours introduced us at my going away party as I was leaving for Toronto to study Design at Ryerson Polytechnic University.  Janet had just arrived in Calgary from Toronto.  We were polar opposites and as they say ‘opposites attract’, we instantly made a connection but neither of us would have foreseen being married to each other never mind the amazing life we’ve been able to build together.  I thought she was a bit out there, kind of punk with her purple hair, black fedora and mesh t-shirt (remember the 80’s). I was a preppy, artsy fartsy, Michael P Keaton with Argyll sweater and boat shoes, the universe brought us together though and the rest is history. We moved in together a few months after I returned from school and I never did go back to Ryerson, we were married the following year.

We’ve had satisfying and varied careers in retail Sales Management, a stint in Fashion Design, Sales Reps for some major brands in the Cosmetics industry, had positions as Sales Managers, Sales and Marketing Manager in oil and gas, Key Account Managers, Advertising sales and we owned a Café-Bakery.  Janet left a 30 year career in cosmetics a year ago and is currently working as a Sales Rep for a Canadian juice company (shameless plug-A.Lassonde) while I have just left a 15 year career in sales at an oil and gas publishing company.  Wow, 30 + years of our lives in one paragraph or so.

We have raised two fantastic kids and we wouldn’t be able to take this journey without their approval, love and support.  Our son is a 21 year old apprentice mechanic and our daughter is a 25 year old flight attendant/trainer, must have been the years of family travel that instilled a passion in her to choose a career in travel and she loves her work.  Our happiest and fondest memories were made during those few weeks of holiday’s we coveted each year together and often our dinner discussions will transgress to memories of those past vacations.  When we are away the human children are happy to look after their furry brothers as we also have two dogs, OBI and Dexter (Dexter was inherited from our friend that passed- you can read the storying in ‘Our Inspiration).  We are all obsessively in love with these two muts and miss them when away but look forward to coming home to their sloppy kisses and furry snuggles.

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We love anything travel, you could say we’re travel junkies.  We love to listen to friends when they return from their vacations with pictures and stories, we are addicted to House Hunters International, Hawaii Life, Island life and PVR every episode.  We follow other travel bloggers, we read Frommers, Lonely Plant, Foder’s and DK Travel, we watch Rick Steves on PBS , BBC Travel and many other travel shows.  We are perpetually planning our next vacations, excited for months before we leave for one, always happy when we get home but days later we’re wanting more and planning the next adventure.

Our first travels together began as economical camping trips through western Canada and the US as we dated.  We married when I was 21 and Janet was 24, we took our first big vacation to Vancouver and Victoria for our honeymoon.   We had no money then but always managed to find economical solutions and would save a bit for vacations that grew as our means did.  Our first big destination dream was Greece.  I remember I had this relaxation cassette (CD’s weren’t invented yet) that had the sound of waves crashing on the beach (actually it was suppose to be a subliminal message tape for better study habits), we’d lay in bed with the window open so the wind would blow in and we’d listen to it pretending we were laying on the beach in Greece.  My study habits never improved but on our 20th wedding anniversary we eventually made that dream come true on a 12 day European cruise.  During that trip, although Greece was stunningly beautiful we totally fell in love with Italy and have been planning our return ever since.  We never imagined we’d ever be able to leave for a year long trip, a trip of a lifetime but we hope we’ll have many more and live a life of travel!