(courtesy Times of India)
Dear Friends & Fellow Travelers:
Thank you for visiting our website. Please feel free to browse around
and enjoy our photos, travel insights, vital links and sense of
humor... We of course welcome your comments.
That said...
Growing up with a farm across from my front yard and another country
across from my backyard, you could say that I've always had an international
perspective. Okay, so I was only looking across Lake Saint Claire
at the United States--but it was really another country,
as all us fellow Canadians know!
From there I went on to saving stamps and coins. Where the heck
is that postcard from? Who is that guy with the funny hat on that
coin? In school I was passionate learning about the famous explorers
during the Age of Discovery. My favorite movies were all travel-related:
The Sheltering Sky, Out of Africa and The Man Who
Would Be King, to the Indiana Jones series. It simply
has never stopped for me and I've been traveling the globe ever
since--captivated, fascinated and intrigued by all I've been blessed
to see and do and people I've met. My own personal Big Book of
Life (a listing of all the things I should see and do before
I depart this world) is, instead of getting shorter, paradoxically,
getting longer the more I travel!? Some wise man once said that
the more you learn the less you know...indeed.
I consider myself a North American, a Newlander, being neither a
Canadian, a Mexican or a United Statesian, but am in the end all
of them at the same time. For a period of time all my friends worked
for airlines, Pan Am especially (Gawd I miss that airline...RIP
Pan Am!), because they had so-called Buddy Passes on
which I could circle the globe for a nominal fee with my buddy du
jour in seat 1A on a blue and white 747. Having the good fortune
of being educated in three countries: Canada, United States and
England, I really consider myself a citizen of the world. Yet, I'm
having the greatest of difficulties applying for a passport for
the Global Village. Mother Earth, it seems, doesn't have any bureaucrats.
In 1989, I was involved in a travel adventure like no other before
it--or since! It was a mad, mad wacky race around-the-world on public
transportation. To make a long, and sordid story short, my partner
and I won that race, traveling 40,000
miles in just 17 days! I had always wanted to participate in that
type of contest again, but alas, no one had been able to pull it
or anything like it together. Until we did with our first event
GreatEscape2002: The Global Scavenger Hunt!
The Global Scavenger Hunt idea came to me in 1999 while I was trekking
in Nepal. It seemed so obvious when that little light bulb went
off in my head. Clearly, I had the experience to do it, a passion
for travel and I certainly had learned about all the pitfalls from
participating in a previous race around-the-world. Indeed, it was
oh so obvious that I should be doing this for you. That on top of
mixing my other real passion for helping others with my Foundation.
What more could I ask for?
What we deliver to all the travelers of our annual event GreatEscape2008:
The Global Scavenger Hunt's, is to literally, take you on A Blind
Date With The World to sweet destinations around the world that
are truly sacred, unique and wonderful. We want to create for you
the opportunity to interact with people from different cultures
with histories. Indeed, The Global Scavenger Hunt is all about cultural
immersions. You will not only have more fun than you thought possible
on a travel adventure, you will also learn things about the world
and yourself that you never imagined. We will help you refill your
memory banks and replenish your soul at the same time. With sunrises,
sunsets, markets, natural beauty, WOW! world-class sights, exotic
festivals and engaging people. It is our hope that when you're done
you will understand how connected we all are, how much alike we
are all, and of course, how beautiful this world really is.
As an active GreatEscape2008 participant, you will do and
learn things not by passively reading a travel guide, following
a tour guide's canned briefings, perusing a glossy travel magazine,
being herded from site to site, or being an armchair traveler watching
travel shows on cable TV--you will be an active participant in the
world's special party of life. Indeed, we want our independent travelers
to want to experience the world up close and oh so very personal.
The experience we are planning for you and will put you through
for three weeks, will be forever etched on your memory. You'll be
able to relive these memories with your children, your grandchildren,
your family and friends. You may even become famous or become The
Worlds Greatest Travelers!
First and foremost, we will personally take care of you and offer
you the most hassle-free, care-free, and worry-free safe First Class
adventure-of-a-lifetime. For three weeks your life will be transformed
leaving the daily grind behind and take on an entirely different
dimension. You will be a safe and happy fish-out-of-water from your
daily routine trusting strangers in strange lands. We promise
that you will never, ever, travel the same way again!
Of course we feel that we ought to be giving something back to the
world that allows us the privilege of experiencing such wonderful,
beautiful and fascinating sights. And so, aside from taking you
on The Global Scavenger Hunt travel adventure of a lifetime, we
want to help raise both consciousness and significant sums for our
GreatEscape Foundation's noble causes. We trust that you
will share in our enthusiasm.
So come and join us! The Global Scavenger Hunt has become an annual
international phenomenon and the first ever international competition
designed for travelers. Please know that we will always keep our
promises to you and to our most basic and cherished philosophies.
Thank you for your time. As always, I welcome your comments. Write
me Here.
Sincerely,
Event Director
GreatEscape Adventures Inc.
