Globetrotters Writer Spotlight — Warren Thurlow
This is me…wannabe adventurer
Hi Globetrotters.
My name is Warren Thurlow. The Aussies call me Wazza; my wife calls me Waz; my boys call me Daddy and; as a boy, my parents called me Warren John whenever I was up to mischief.
I love to travel because, well why not? The world is out there and I just want to see it. It’s about that simple. I’m a naturally inquisitive person and I like to explore what’s beyond my neighbourhood.
My number one travel activity is getting into nature. The vast majority of my travel revolves around getting into the outdoors. To see wildlife, to hike, to dive, to see the mountains or just to breathe in the fresh air.
Don’t get me wrong I do love to visit amazing cities. Especially if there is good culture, good food and good coffee but I just prefer the bush.
I also love to read when I travel. I find it’s a time when I can get through more books than in my day-to-day life.
I come from Zimbabwe and was blessed with an amazing childhood in the wilds of Southern Africa. I have also been privileged to call Australia and New Zealand home.
I work as a Civil Engineer in Australia and enjoy my day job. However, I wouldn’t say it’s my passion. My passion is wildlife and adventure.
The best place I’ve been is, well this is hard to say. I’ve travelled to so many amazing places. Outside of Africa, if I had to choose one, it would have to be Patagonia. The photograph at the start of this story is from a trek in Patagonia. I absolutely loved the remoteness and unspoiled beauty.
In my spare time, I like to spend time with my family and go on adventures with my boys. I also enjoy the odd round of golf from time to time.
My top travel tip is to read as much as you can about your travel destinations before you get there. I find I am able to enjoy my experiences far more if I have a base of knowledge about the destination, its people and its wildlife. Maybe it’s just my engineer’s brain wanting to be prepared as always…
If I could live somewhere else, I’d live in British Colombia, Canada. I absolutely love Canada and the breathtaking Canadian Rockies. I’d love a cabin in the mountains to live in for part of each year. There is just something about big mountains that draws me to them.
My favourite way to travel is as light as possible! Small Backpack with only the bare minimum. The bare minimum must include two non negotiables though. A camera and a journal.
Three lessons I’ve learned from traveling are
(1) Always go prepared, like carry a first aid kit. You never know when it will come in handy. Like patching up your motorcycle in the middle of the African bush…
(2) Take your time to breathe in the moments. Remember that travelling, like life, is not just about the destination. The journey is where the real memories are made.
I learned this when I was a young traveller backpacking around Africa with an Aussie mate. We were so fixated on getting to our next destination that we at times forgot to take in the journey. When we were forced to improvise to get from Tanzania to Lake Malawi because of train derailment we had no choice but to embrace the journey. This is when we bought a cheap motorcycle each and rode our way across Africa. This was not part of our original plan but it turned out to be the most amazing adventure!
(3) Try and learn the languages. If nothing else it will exercise your brain or maybe endear you to some locals as they laugh hysterically at your efforts to string a sentence together.
Some of my fondest travel memories are having broken conversations with cab drivers in South America. Hilarity often ensued with me trying to converse in broken Spanish and them in broken English.
I am relatively new to sharing my writing with the world. I embarked on my writing journey here on Medium only a few months ago. I have loved the experience so far.
Publishing some of my writing on Globetrotters has been a rewarding experience beyond my expectations.
I’d like to thank the wonderful editors for their hard work putting out this fantastic publication.
If you enjoy my writing be sure to join my email list to stay up to date with my writing and more.