World Nomads Travel Expo Adventures

Sydney Backpackers & Adventure Travel Expo 2007

worldnomads-on-tour — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:28:00 GMT

The Sydney Backpackers & Adventure Travel Expo is on again at Darling Harbour this weekend (9-11 November). So come along and say hi to Phil, Rob & myself at our World Nomads stand. Maybe score a World Nomads t-shirt, sunsceen or other goodies too!

The ambassador van is there on show too, before Robert (berlin bert) takes it for a spin up to Cairns, starting on Monday.

Hope to see you there!

Scouts can do anything!

worldnomads-on-tour — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:24:00 GMT

Who would give up 3 weeks annual leave to fly halfway around the world and stay in a camp with 20,000 other people to be assigned the voluntary job of.... cleaning toilets? A scout would.

Who would take 4 years to earn the money to come to the World Scout Jamboree by collecting soft drink bottles at 5c per bottle? An enterprising scout would!

The World Scout Jamboree started 27 July to 7 August and is celebrating 100 years of scouting. Never have I met a more genuinely nice group of people! I shouldn't be surprised, Scouts have always had the reputation of doing good deeds in return for badges that are sewn onto their shirts or camping blankets. The old saying dyb dyb dyb means 'do your best, do your best, do your best'. In response, 'dob dob dob' means 'done our best, done our best, done our best' is what all scouts live by no matter what race, religion or age.

We have been exhibiting here to raise awareness of the World Nomads community to the Scouts. That's our official position, in reality we play volleyball and listen to stories. All we need is a campfire, necker and a woggle and we'd fit right in except we can't get used to shaking the left hand.

There are over 200 different countries represented with 40,000 day visitors coming along, 85,000 meals are prepared everyday to feed the scouts and volunteers plus all the world food tents to feed the rest of us. This is an event not to be missed! If you find yourself in Chelmsford and want to pop in and see us we are at the Plaza section of the camp. One of our World Nomads, Julie, has helped us out for a couple of days and loved it so much she's coming back on Sunday.

Gallery: Scout Jamboree 2007

worldnomads-on-tour — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:37:00 GMT

What a weekend we had!

worldnomads-on-tour — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 06:20:00 GMT

Well after much detailed planning (mostly on the back of a fag packet), we finally reached the set up day for the Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show (www.theoutdoorsshow.co.uk) 16-18 Mar 07. Thankfully, the UK team consisting of the one and only (thank god) Stevie Beat and myself, were getting the invaluable support from our Australian Masters! In the form of Graham Kingaby and the expo Godfather himself, Nick Pound. We also looked forward to working with our top friends from Bungee Extreme; The boss ‘Bungee George’ (George Lawton), Sarah Cambridge, Hoss (James Horsefield), Boss (Andrew Boridin) and Big ‘he doesn’t talk much but loves his crane’ Sid (Jamie Hill). We were poised to give away 150 bungee jumps (200 feet up), 2 ipod Nanos, several hundred fashionable t-shirts (you’ll all be wearing them this season!) and a truck load of Sanchez luggage tags.

So with everything packed up into the ‘truck’, I set off towards a warm Birmingham. Happy and content in the knowledge that GK and NP would be joining me later that day once they had finished the business ‘lunch’ and popped on to the train to Birmingham. After the 4 hour set up, and decidedly concerned about the well being of my colleagues having not heard from them, I called them to find out that the expo Godfather wasn’t well (which would have a major impact on the running of the stand) and GK was somewhere in London in an ‘emotional’ state thanks to our friends (Simon McVey and Martin Mills at Millstream Underwriting). So we all agreed that I could run the stand with the lovely Sarah from Bungee Extreme and the reinforcements would ride to the rescue at lunchtime on day one. Well after 4 hours, I was having a deja vu moment, so I called the guys……… With a fanfare the reinforcements arrived…just in time to close the stand and retire to the bar.

Saturday and Sunday were fantastic days on the stand. Nick was back to his full expo glory, not a woman or passer by was safe. The double act between NP and GK was an inspiration, we should have sold tickets! The day was also spent making new friends with our neighbours from Visit turkey, Dive Magazine and Craighopper. Also, the chance to pick up with our old friends from Lonely Planet (Myriam) and drop them from the bungee crane.

The highlight on Sunday was the look on Kara Bagnall’s face and her mothers (or was it sister?), when she realised she had won the ipod Nano, Never ones to miss an opportunity to have our pictures taken with a good looking girl, we all crowded around Kara, then worked out who was going to take the picture!

As we still have one ipod left, we are going to give it away at our next show which is the TNT Magazine Recruitment Show, 19 April 07 at the Connaught Rooms, London. Do come along and say hello and enter the ipod draw.

Huge congratulations to all those that jumped BUNGEE! They were (in order of jumping):-

Dan Joel and Tryphaena Joel, Lowertown; Darren Webb, Spalding; Alex Mortimer, Devizes; Laura Young, Barrow; Tom Hicks, Plymouth, Daniel Davey, Summerhill Rd; Neil McCarthy, Plymouth; Russel Belcher, Braintree; Darren Andrews, Southampton; Jonathon Jenkins, Swindon; Ellis Holt, Finborugh; D Warwick, Warboys; Sam Wade, Whitstable; Jake Hardman, Newcastle under Lyme; Tom Aspinal, Chippenham; Clinton Lear, Stoke; Jenni Minchin, Stoke; Luke Mould, Chippenham, Jake Trussell, Castle Cary; David Lloyd, Camberwell; G Gourlan, Kingston; Tolgne Donst, Croydon; Julie Cartner, Dumfries; Charlotte Boan, Twickenham; P Critchner, Kingston; Daniel Bagley, Andover; Alaistair Mill, Milford on see; Michael Ross, Millford on sea; Chris Murray, Moseley; Matt Eaves, Derriford Road; D M Taylor, Plymouth; L C Shipton, London; Shuikei Tsang, Sudbury; J Richmond, Brighton; Matt Wright, Maidenhead; Adam Sawfell, Birmingham; Steven White, Leigton Buzzard; Felicity Super, Oxford; Kate Hilton, Leigton Buzzard; David Higgie, Birmingham; Laura Green, Birmingham; Andrew Lloyd, Birmingham; Lauren Foster, Leighton Buzzard; Kevin Smith; Paula Thompson, Leicester; Caroline Sieg; Sarah Orchard, Bradford on Avon; Zach Wishart, Braintree; Steven Bailey, Danbury; Katie and Alex Wheeler, Oxford; Mark Jackson, Romford, Stuart Wallsall, Shrewsbury; Caroline and Richard Greeny, Hall green; Tom Allen, Leicester; Rebecca Seven, Birmingham; D Thompson, Nuneaton; Richard Stamper, Dorsett, Gavin Wheeler, Oxford; Rebecca Stevens, Chelmsford; Michael Cohen, Essex; P Mixford, Birmingham; R Stearnman; Lucy Jones, Brighton; Kris Jutsum, Lincoln; Rob Cox, Warwick; Sean Caine, Wiltshire; Lewis, Bracebridge Heath; Jack Briers, Leeds; Lauren Philips, Leigton Buzzard; Lucy Daper, Brierly Hill; Emma Baker, Wordsley; Hayley Badesha, Brierly Hill; Owain Atkins, Pennard; Matthew Rees, Swansea; Andy Friend, Cardiff; Sue Spencer, Aldershot, Robert Dobs, Kegworth; Jonathon Aldworth, Nottingham; Alicia Doherty, Brighton; Fiona Graves, Hove; D Burns, Yorkshire; M Anderson, Manchester; Veronika Mazalova, London; Aynia Noever, London; Chris Welburn, Waterbeach; Holly Laurence, Swansea; B Mansfield, Nuneaton; Mike Merriman, Stroud; X Ryan, West Park; Ketan Patel; Greg Glinchy, Surrey; Dave Kelly, Coventry; Emma Garvey, Cheshire; Susan Martin, Sheffield; Alix Butler, Devon; Tim Freeman, Oxford; M Shraman, Cheltenham; Joeseph Rayment, Gravesend; Adam Marcinowitz, Watford; Matt Wood, Sherborne; John Bernard, Glasgow; Paul Carter, Gosport; Catherine Jaques, Wandsworth; Alec Baker, Bristol; James Axer, Nottingham; Amy Miller, Seifton; Jamie Edgecombe, Stone; S Roberts, St Helens; Kara Bagnall, Cheltenham; Matt Kirk, Hereford, Edward O'Gorman, Bromsgrove; Francine Billington, Bromsgrove; A Dunkley, Dronfield; Luke Addis; A Turner; Liam Walker, Gillingham; James Davenport, Richmond; Donna Bridge, St Helens; Maggie King, London; Esther Gore, Milton Keynes; Joe thorougood, Wetherby; Chris Draper, Nottingham; Rebecca Scothern, Nottingham, Jake Bacon, Farnham; Chris Beacon; James Davies, Gloucester; Rebecca Vaughn, Minehead; James Fowler, Devon; Terri Garvey, Devon; Chris Jackson, Minehead;

And finally the expo crew Nick Pound and Graham Kingaby, Australia.

Well see you all soon. Remember 'keep low move fast' and Travel Safely.

Gallery: The Outdoors Show- NEC 16-18 March 07

worldnomads-on-tour — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 04:25:00 GMT

Gallery: TNT Travel Show, UK, March 07

worldnomads-on-tour — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:42:00 GMT

TNT Show

Sleepless in London!

worldnomads-on-tour — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:27:00 GMT

The TNT Travel Expo in London is a big expo, a very big expo. Over the course of the single day event sources suggest that anywhere between 5,000 to 7,500 people walk through the event doors, all eager to find the best European travel bargains. So with this in mind, World Nomads decided it was time we showed our faces!

The expo draws a very large number of Australian, New Zealanders and South African travellers, all stationed in London and the UK. Now we already spend some considerable time marketing to these people in their home countries, so we’ve traditionally avoided this expo. Indeed, our only previous showing was well over 3 years ago when the event was a three dayer – not the single day as it is now.

However, having met up with Rob the TNT Boss only a few weeks before, he convinced me it was worth attending and it fit well with my travel plans, as I was already on the way to the UK for the OS Outdoors Show at the NEC [16^th – 18^th March]. So Michael Jordan [MJ] sorted out all the contracts and got us locked in and then it was only a matter of waiting…

I boarded QF31 on time in Sydney, well prepared for my 24 hour flight. When I say well prepared, that’s actually a bit of a porkpie, as the annual industry cricket match between Kings Cross and the City was the day before. And? Well, it’s a bit of an event and being a member of the Kings Cross XI, who’ve lost for the last two years it was time for a bit of revenge. The leader of the XI, Dave [co-owner of the World Bar] and I had been plotting for many months to make sure we’d secure the trophy. And indeed we did in a thrilling tightly played match. Scores on the doors, for those interested were: City 141 all out and we knocked them off with a few balls to spare. So needless to say a very very very big night was on the cards. I got home circa 03:30 feeling very ordinary and woke up at about 07:00 with two young children bouncing on the bed – who clearly didn’t really care that I had a monster hangover…great preparation hey!!

So I got to London at 06:20 on time still feeling a bit ordinary and got myself to my hotel where I was met by MJ. We then rocked up to the expo and set up our modest little stand. I had a bit of a walk around before the event started and the first stand I came to was Smashed! Travel, one of our affiliate partners. Had a quick chat and then moved on to see Niamh and Caramello at www.hostelworld.com who are absolutely gorgeous Irish girls and then finally bumped into Anna and Rob from TNTmagazine.com before walking back to the stand for a well earned sit down.

10 o’clock came by and then the show just exploded. There must have been easily over 6,000 people through the doors. It was absolutely swamped and bustling from the word go. We spoke to many hundreds of people about our wares, spoke to lots of current clients who were all really pleased to see us and say thanks for helping with this and that and then lots of others who just wanted advice on how to go about sorting out policies for numerous trips they all had planned.

It’s probably at this point that I have to apologies to my wing man, MJ. I have to admit there were a few times during the day that I had to have a sit down – jet lag had kicked in big time and I could hardly keep my eyes open and also for the time I spent talking the very very very beautiful Fleur, who I’d not seen for over 3 years [she ran the previous TNT 3 day show] for a very long time – she was much needed relief for my sore eyes! However, being the Über Expo King I pulled though and dug deep to keep up the well deserved World Nomads reputation as being the-most-entertaining-place-for-5-minutes-of-your-life-at-an-expo!

The expo ended at 18:00 and MJ, Mrs MJ and I took down the stand with military precision and headed up to the TNT bar for a well deserved couple of pints. Highlights of the day for me, in no particular order:

Having a bloody good laugh with MJ
Seeing Niamh and Caramello from Hostelworld.com
Having a beer with my mate Rob from TNT
Catching up with Fleur
Genuinely getting lots of pleasure from talking to all the Aussie clients who were so lovely and pleased to see us
Going to bed in the evening!

So the World Nomads expo crew is on the move and heading up the M40 to Birmingham this weekend. Please do come and say hello if you’re planning to visit the show. We’re sponsoring the Bungee Jump and we’d be delighted to give you a free jump. Graham is coming over from Oz and we reunite with Steve, one of the most senior members of our Global Expo SWAT team!

Keep Travelling Safely!

Poundy

Another year, another expo!

worldnomads-on-tour — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:48:00 GMT

Welcome to LA LA Land!!!

Hi again friends of World Nomads, it’s time again for another expo update!!

Our presence around the world continues at full steam!!!

The office was vacated this time by the always lovely Michelle and the always diligent Phil, to attend the LA Times Travel & Adventure Show in Long Beach, California, USA!!

We were joined at this expo by our very own, and world famous, World Nomads UK Business Development Manager, the one, but not only, Michael Jordan!!! (not THAT Michael Jordan…)

It was a fun expo had by all and it was great to chat to all of you potential World Nomads travelers as well as the current World Nomads travelers also. I hope we were of help to the questions that you asked!!

Next stop on the World Nomads expo trail for 2007 is the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Australia from Friday, February 23 to Sunday February 25 for the Adventure Travel & Backpackers Expo.

Hope to see you there!!!

The Expo Team

Gallery: 3 Stands and a handfull on larrakins...

worldnomads-on-tour — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:17:00 GMT

Sydney Backpacker Show

Onwards and Upwards

worldnomads-on-tour — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:12:00 GMT

We've got a little bigger from our humble beginnings. At the recent Adventure Travel Expo at the Sydney Town Hall, we had 3 stands proudly displaying our goods, wears and services!

We were on full song and had an impressive team sheet, including: Nick, Graham, Chris, Michelle and debutants Simon and Erin. Unfortunately Phil was overseas as we were also 'expo-ing' at the Manchester Gap Year Show in the UK.

We had lots to say, new t-shirts, new luggage tags, a shiny new Ambassador, a new website and some fortune cookies

We also softly kicked off the Ambassador project. A van that we've coloured in and is going to travel around Austrlia for two years with lots of lucky people. Its a competition so make sure you enter. Check out a clip on YouTube here: World Nomads Ambassador

Enjoy the pitures and we look forward to seeing you again very soon!
The Expo Team

Gallery: Do Believe The Hype - Melbourne Expo

worldnomads-on-tour — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:08:00 GMT

Sanchez on tour again....

4 Men & a Truck Load of T-Shirts!

worldnomads-on-tour — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 10:04:00 GMT

Wow - what a great weekend! Thanks very much to all of you who came to our stand at the Backpacker expo this weekend. Nick, Graham, Phil and Matt all came down from our Sydney office and lost our voices talking to so many of you! We had a great time speaking to you all about World Nomads, sharing a bit of fun with you, showing you a few magic tricks - but best of all giving away some free uber cool t-shirts - Sanchez [our little orange man] is getting out there!

Enjoy your travels, blog them for us and remember, Keep Travelling Safely.....

Cheers
The Expo Team

Gallery: "I wanna be a part of it - New York, New York..."

worldnomads-on-tour — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 04:42:00 GMT

Start spreading the news...

worldnomads-on-tour — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 17:48:00 GMT

Well kiddies, I'm back home in Portland OR now and missing NYC already. What a fantastic city! We can see why Frankie baby called it "the city that never sleeps"...

So as usual, we had a grand old time at the expo talking to people about what we do, and hopefully we've converted a few Americans into World Nomads too! It was great to hear about some of the trips that people have planned, and of course that they choose us to help them keep traveling safely.

Photos will be posted shortly, so until then we hope everyone is well and enjoying their overseas adventures!

Cheers y'all!

Michelle

...another winner!

worldnomads-on-tour — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:23:00 GMT

Who's a lucky girl then - well, Trudi from Sydney is. Arriving at World Nomads HQ this afternoon, Trudi collected her new iPod Nano just in time for her trip up through China and India. Just like Scott, Trudi was one of 3 lucky winners from the Sydney expo.

Well done Trudi, hope you have a good trip and we look forward to reading your blog!

Cheers
World Nomads

3 iPod Winners!

worldnomads-on-tour — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 16:47:00 GMT

Lucky Scott from Sydney arrived at World Nomads HQ today to collect his brand new, shiny black iPod Nano. Scott entered the competition at the Backpacker expo and was one of 3 winners of an Apple iPod. It's perfect timing too, as Scott told us that he's about to drive from Sydney to Perth without a CD player in the car!!

Well done Scott, hope you have a good trip and keep us posted whilst you're on the road.

Cheers
World Nomads

Gallery: Expo season has begun...

worldnomads-on-tour — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:31:00 GMT

Expo season has begun...

worldnomads-on-tour — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:16:00 GMT

Phew! What a weekend. Although we’ve been at the travel expos many times before, it was the first time for Phil and Matt and I. And what an experience it was…

Friday morning we were a little shy and reserved to start, but Nick – patron saint of all thing expo – quickly got us in the mood. Gulliver, ahem, Graham joined us on Saturday and Sunday and had a grand old time too. It was great to be able to talk to so many of you and tell you about all the great stuff we’re doing (like these awesome journals) and hear about all the wonderful trips you’re planning – some of them sounded spectacular! We hope your adventures bring you many amazing and rewarding experiences, and that maybe we’ve managed to convert you into Nomads too. We even got to meet a few of our Nomads already on the road, which was pretty cool!

Thanks to everyone that came over to chat to us, and a big shout out to all our fellow exhibitors – we’ll see you again real soon! Our next public appearance (ha ha) will be at the New York Adventures in Travel Expo at the Jacob K. Kavits Convention Center between January 13-15 2006, so if you’re in the area come down and visit – we’d love to see you there!

I’m off to finish my recovery for now (and hoping that I can actually get this blog done right this time – this is my third attempt!) In the meantime take it easy and remember kiddies – if you can’t be good, be good at it =)

Michelle

P.S. Cheers to all our new drinking buddies:

Tourism Wollongong

Port Stephens Visitor Information Centre

VodkaTrain

Backpacking South Africa

Nomads World

Newcastle Backpackers

Hunter Valley YHA / Tourism NSW

Bondi Adventure Desk / Festival of the Sun / Sundowner Holidays

Kumuka Worldwide

Eastern Trekker