Freelance Tour Manager for Rail Based vacations around the world
It's been only six days since I got back from China, but I'm off and running again! Like much of the Travel & Tourism Industry, the work of a Tour Manager is highly seasonal. Apart from an occasional flurry around Christmas, the Winter months from November to April are usually pretty quiet - there may …
On 01st October 1949, Seventy years ago today, Chairman Mao Zedong announced the birth of the PRC after the Communist Party of China defeated the ruling Kuomintang. https://youtu.be/UvgLUGRhuwU The last Tour that I took was to China (just got back on Thursday, so still a tiny bit jet-lagged) and the rehearsals and preparations for the …
I've been busy again. We had a rapid Tour of Shanghai and then the flight home, from where I'm writing this! (Tired but conscious) We started the day in Shanghai with a visit to the Jade Buddha Temple. I love this place because it contrasts the old and new Shanghai, while being a small lake …
I'm sorry to be so slow getting things out. Connectivity is a real issue on a ship in a river gorge and since we have finished our cruise we have been on the move continuously. As I write, I'm sitting in a Shanghai hotel room with not much time before I meet the clients, so …
So much has happened during the last couple of days that I thought I would just throw up some photos as we go along and explain them one by one. I'm now on a ship on the Yangtze River, cruising from Chonqing to Yichang so bandwidth is rather limited for uploading Blog Posts. I thought …
Thought I'd put up some random photos to give an idea of day-to-day life in a Chinese city. Let's start with road traffic, which can best be described as anarchic. Stop lights are purely advisory and traffic can travel in both directions on the same side of the road. There are an awful lot of …
We left Xi'An this afternoon, but first we visited the Small Goose Pagoda for a gentle stroll and a chance to search for inner peace and tranquility (Couldn't find it unfortunately - think I left mine on the bus). While we were there our Local Guide Jason ran some of our group through some basic …
Okay, another busy day today. The header picture for this page shows our local guide Jason and I taking five minutes relaxation together. Not something that happens that often.To start with we visited the terracotta army. Pictures below.The best is an amazing thing, which is that we got to watch a warrior being dug up …
Today was a travel day, from Bei Jing to Xi'An. Getting 44 people on and off trains and managing bags and hotel transfers is a fairly exhausting process so tonight I'm a little bit shattered. Today we made an early visit to a Bei Jing Hutong, a residential area in the oldest part fo the …
We made an early start today to drive out to see The Great Wall of China, one of the modern Wonders of the World. A cable car took us up to the top where the clients enjoyed a couple of hours of free time to explore before descending for lunch. God did us a favour …
Continue reading "The Great Wall and Beijing is getting a bit weird"
We arrived in Beijing yesterday. The group originated from many different places, with some flying with me from London, others coming in from the UK on different regional flights and of course we are joined by some Travel Marvel clients from Australia & New Zealand. I set up a Welcome Meeting in our hotel last …
Today is the day that we remember the dreadful events in 2001. It's one of those events, like the JFK assassination or the moon landing that many of us over a certain age will recall, and always remember where we were when it happened. I was in a shopping mall in London. Hearing that something …
That's the line up for the next few weeks. July and August have been quiet, with little work for TimOnTheTrain. That's actually quite normal. My clients tend to be a tiny bit older, and they don't do heat and they don't do kids - both of which are everywhere during the Summer months. This Thursday …
This Blog has been quiet recently - not because nothing has been going on but because quite a lot has been going on behind the scenes (Also, I was on holiday... very nice, since you ask). I'm excited to announce that I will be working with a new, additional company, in addition to working with …
I watched this and had to share. This the kind of music that just makes you feel better about the day - the last video that did this was Pharrell Williams singing 'Happy'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXf1nUVdVuM Jacob Collier and Dodie are huge talents in the making. He caught the attention of Quincy Jones, who had him flown …
The Blog has been a bit quiet recently, but it's not because I haven't been busy. I have been prepping up for my next Tour, the Grand Artic Circle Explorer... 21 Days, 5 Countries, 15 Hotels, 18 Trains & 3 Ferries - There's also a few coach transits, but I haven't got around to counting …
Well it's been another great day on memorial day weekend, but this time in New York City. this week has been Fleet Week, which basically means that the Navy visits New York and has a thoroughly good time. Everywhere you go in midtown Manhattan there are the men and women of the Navy in their …
Today we visited the Jersey War Tunnels, housed is an underground tunnel complex (yup - even more German concrete) built largely by Forced & Slave Labour and about 4 miles inland from St. Helier. The entry Gate Guardian is a German Sturmgeschütz III Assault Gun, shown in the header image (I tell you this because …
I imagine by now you’re all getting a bit sick of beach photos... sorry but it’s hard not too. We’re on Jersey now and had a coastal tour today The island is only 9 miles by 5 miles, but progress is slowed by the tiny winding roads in the North. Perhaps even more than Guernsey, …
Excursion around Guernsey today. Photos on the Facebook page
