Being monday and with the weekly mountain of emails almost dealt with in one 2 hour power session I thought I would post a quick note about life back here in the UK.

Both Trip 1 and Trip 2 are now up in Durban. Trip 1 are relaxing after two challenging weeks of Surf Instructor and Surf Lifesaving courses, whilst trip 2 have it all to do. After speaking to all our TTRide trip leaders, it seems everyone out in South Africa is getting exactly what they want out of Ticket to Ride. For some it is an introduction not only to surfing but also to travelling as well. For others Ticket to Ride is about getting the best surf training on some of the world most exciting surfing locations and for others it is about the active lifestyle and the chance to get involved in community projects that combines what we offer with each persons own travelling aspirations.

All our trip[ leaders have a huge amount of valued experience in all the different areas of Ticket to Ride and what is great is that each of them has added a new dimension to the trips they lead.

It has never been clearer that the success that we have built over the last 3 years is fundamentally down to the people involved. This starts most importantly with the people we welcome onto our courses, all of whome come on Ticket to Ride in search of something unique.

Next the focus is on our operational staff, they are the guys giving each trip a different edge (making me for one addicted to logging on and checking for the latest updates).

Finally it is up to us in the TTRide London HQ to make sure that what we stay true to the reasons we set up Ticket to Ride in the first place, and that was to make a living out of something we genuinely believe in which in turn motivates us to continue develop what we offer.

Why am I writing this? Because it still makes a grey old monday morning in the loneley TTRide HQ (whilst the rest of the TTRide team enjoy their tropical paradice) one of the best jobs in the world.

Looking forward to meeting those of you wanting to come and talk through your future travel plans over the Easter Break. (click on meeting request on our home page).

Thanks also to those who have continued to send in emails telling us how much they are enjoying the Trip Diaries.

Have a good week.

W

Alex and i have been in Mozambique for about 5days now and so far it has been absolulty incredible! Getting to Tofo was a bit of a mission going on a number of small, slow, smelly and overcrowded shuttle buses. However the journey was forgoten within seconds of arrival as we realised we were going to be living in real tropical paradise for 2 weeks! We arrived at Turtle cove (the backpacker) to be greeted by Nick (the owner) and shown around where were staying, which is in a cool thatch hut amoung a forest of palm trees! once our bags were in the rooms we prepared our brand new Clayton boards and the next thing we new we were surfing in crystal clear blue water which is almost too warm enjoying the 4-5ft barrelling left handers. We could not have wished for a better introduction into mozambique surf. To be honest before arriving at Tofo we were not expecting the surf to be anything special. Having been here for a few days now we have come to realise mozambique is amazing for surf! We have been lucky enough to catch a cyclone swell which has been producing wave upon wave! Yesterday however we did not enter the water, instead we watched Nick (the owner of turtle cove) do tow ins onto 12-15ft waves at tofinhio, which is a right hand point break with similar characteristics to Super tubes J-bay. It was incredible to watch, unfortunately we did not have guts to even venture near the water, we were very happy to take a back seat and watch from the cliffs. However the day before Alex, myself and one other guy had this right hand point break to ourselves at a solid 4 ft with all three of us getting 100+ metre rides and all leaving the water with huges smiles on our faces and with very sun burnt noses!

In the evening Tofo is also very lively. Deanos Bar is a great place to spend the evening wacting the surfers infront of the bar literally a stones throw from the balcony. Then after deanos just 50 metres down the road is Fatimas which seem to attract a crowd, often travellers, here everyone has a few drinks and chat around the fire until the early hours of the morning. Being quite a small town is great as it means that you meet everyone and within a few days your saying Hello to everyone you walk past! So far the food has been pretty perfect, with lots of fresh fish at reasonable prices!

To conclude, so far i would say Turtle cove is a great place to stay with a fun bar, cool rooms and a great surfer vibe (especially with Nicks Enthusiasm for surfing!!!). The surf has been world class everyday since arrival. And finally i could not be happier in tropical paradise with fun beachfront bars!!!

So until next time Good bye

Guy and Alex

(sorry we have no photos i have broken my camera and alex left his in ballito)

Just thought I would say a quick hello from the TTRide Office that has a strange monday morning feel to it. It is now 2 weeks since I landed in back from sunny South Africa and I am now back in the UK routine... (different).

At the beginning of each year we start off with each TTRide team member's travel plans, who's going where, who running each trip (not the worst meeting to attend), one of the more boring priorities that always puts a dampener on the meeting is the question of who will be manning the the TTRide HQ in sometimes sunny London.

Having single handedly taken care of things in London for the past month Linley has just jetted off to SA to join trip one for their final 3 destinations. These locations make up the business end of the trip as they are focused on Rider working on final training and research towards their Surf Instructor and Surf Lifesaving qualifications.

Anyway, that's South Africa talk, and like you my updates come from the trip diary blogs which I check on a daily basis with fingers crossed that our trip leaders have had time to upload the latest news. March is my month to take care of everything back here and without wanting to sound too dramatic things are already piling up.

Next weekend we are Sponsoring the British University Student Surf Nationals on Fistral Beach. Having enjoyed competing in the event throughout my 3 years at Newcastle Uni I am so pleased to be going back down. The Student Nationals is Europe's largest surfing event and we are extremely proud to be a sponsor.

The rest of March is all about travelling the length of Britain on a regular basis attending promotional events in the TTRide Truck. For me it is not just about showcasing what we offer to those looking to join us on one of our adventures, it is also about meeting all the representatives from all kinds of different travel organisations. What is so nice is that whilst it is competitive there is still a good vibe amongst all the companies because almost without exception, everyone truely believes in what they offer and from a potential traveller's point of view there is an incredible choice when it comes to deciding what to do with precious time out.

2008 is already shaping up to be an excting year for us with all our trips reaching max capacity, and our current SA adventures going better than we could have ever hope for mainly due to fantastic leaders and most importantly a fantastic group.

From a development point of view we are continuing to grow in a way that concentrates itself about the recruitment of exceptional TTRide staff to manage key areas of Ticket to Ride and recruit the right the kind of people to join us on the kind of adventures that make a monday all alone in TTRide HQ a little easier to manage.

W

In order to help me pass the time as I wait patiently in a drastically over priced cafe in Istanbull International Aiport where I shall remain for the next 5 hours whilst Turkish airlines build a plane, fill it with turkey fat, put me on it and eventually reunite me with my tireless journey back from South Africa. I thought I might take advantage of the wireless internet and say a fond farewell to writing this blog in exotic locations across the world for the time being as it is time for me to be back in the hot seat in the TTRide HQ.

I would als like to apologise in advance for this blog's grammar and general direction at this early stage. I have been awake for what feels like forever and I am on the verge of a bad mood due to some pretty unfriendly turkish behaviour.

I currently have 4 heavily moustached waiters sitting opposite me waiting for me to order something beyond a coffee in order to justify sitting on their sofa. They can keep on staring because their national airline has let me down and someone has to pay. Actually I am keen to get the manager to call down to the Turkish Airways office and get them to pay for my coffee to go someway to compensate me on what has been a journey filled with unnecessary calamities all of which have been produced without apology, so I think I can be bothered to try my luck in their office and see if I cant at least get a free coffee off team moustache here. If anything it will pass the time!!

For me the last 6 weeks in South Africa could not have gone better. Being able to oversee trips rather than run them has opened up plenty of exciting opportunities not only for this year's 2008 South African adventures but also for years to come. I have had plenty of time to really work closely on TTRide Development with our SA providers making sure that we can all grow together. These guys have got such passion and experience in what they do and it is great to have their enthusiastic input into Ticket to Ride South Africa.

As I have kept on saying, our team of trip leaders continue to be a phenomenal boost to the trips we lay out for them to take our Riders on. Their energy and motivation to lead our trips has gone well beyond our wildest expectation. The Crossover party was a great opportunity for all the ttride SA staff to be in the same place at the same time, lots of advice and ideas flying round between the 4 of them as I sat back and watched locations get analysed, evaluated and developed by each trip leader.

Every time I ask them how they are getting on, they are all so quick to say that it is all about the Riders on their respective trips who are reported to be without exception, a pleasure to travel and surf with. From an overseer's perspective this year's crop of Riders and TTRide staff have built a really positive rapour between eah other which is something you can only hope for rather than plan when setting up these adventures.

From my point of view, I could not be happier with the 36 Riders we currently have making their way around the coast of South Africa. Getting to know each one of them on an individual basis and see them making the most of everything that comes their way is great to see and fundamentally what we set Ticket to Ride up to achieve.

So as trip 1 now enjoys a short stay with Andre Malherbe in East London (stop 4), Trip 2 have an incredible 2 week itinerary ahead of them in J-bay.

Back in the UK for me now (nearly) sees a month that is all about Gap Fairs which are a great way to get out to all corners of the UK and showcase what we are so proud to offer.

Now their is a fifth moustache looking at me!!! Maybe I should grow one....

Valentines day on Thursday. Gap Show at Winchester College for me, see if I can sell that one to Lottie... -we went out for supper ast year- maybe I will give her a red ttride hoody to wear at the show? Could get firey...

Looking forward to be back at the controls.

1 hour to go here, 4 hours on flying turkey...

TTRide HQ 8.30 tomorrow morning.

Thanks for sticking with me if you made it this far.

Over and Out

W

Having spent one of the best weeks in memory at the glorious Jeffrey's Bay with group 1, I have returned back down the coast to catch up with group 2 who arrived in Plett last Sunday.

As we keep on saying, each stop on the Zero to TTRide Hero itinerary is completely different. Cape Town is all about orientation into the TTRide Lifestyle and is best described as the stop where we see and do everything. Plett is a 7 day chill out where everyone can relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, however it is not all peace and tranquility, each Rider is offered the chance to leap off the world's highest bungy as part of their ttride adventure, and at 216m where the second bounce is famed to be higher than the next highest bungee (somewhere in NZ I think) it really is a terrifying prospect.

Skydiving is also another popular activity during the Plett leg. In my estimation there is not another feeling on earth that can match it. Free falling at terminal velocity over one of the most beautiful drop zones in the world has the perfect combination of fear, adrenaline and complete euphoria. It is easy to see how people can become addicted to it. Here I am referring to the instructors to which you trustingly lend your life. My instructor had done over 5 thousand skydives, imagine that.. What must go through his head every time he jumps, must be completely different to what went through mine...? I reckon that I should prescribe myself 1 sky dive a year as a way of keeping everything in perspective and blowing away any cobwebs collected during the year.

Surfwise in Plett, Jon and Donna provide 3 epic days of surf coaching, they are so energetic and give everyone such a boost. Jon was talking about an early morning get up this morning, firing up his jet ski and setting off with some of his buddies out to some monster open ocean waves, they are fantastic people.

Next on the agenda for me is to head back to Jbay tomorrow (one of my favorite stops on zero to ttride hero itinerary) J-bay is a 14 day stop off and is best summarised as surf hard party hard. My plan is to set up the TTRide Crossover where for one day, Trip 1 and Trip 2 will be in the same place at the same time.

Plan for the day is to promote some healthy rivalry between the two groups with a surf comp (will be very close), run swim run races (my money is on trip 2), beach volleyball (trip 1 surely) and then head over to the ttride beach bar where it is all friends again at the... Dress to Impress TTRide Beach Ball... Should be a classic!!!!.

Then for me it’s back to London. The long way. Incase you care this is my route home.

Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. - Cape Town to Jo-burg (where I remain on the plane for anything up to 2 hours whilst other passengers join my merry journey) - Next I land in Istanbul and wait there for 4 hours before connecting to hallowed Heathrow. And that ignores the more than likely trouble of trying to persuade my 7ft board bag with quite a few surfboards in it past the easily irritable check in lady and onto the plane. Serves me right for scanning the internet in search of the cheapest flight.

Having said all this, Lottie has promised to pick me up from the airport so it will all be worth it when I eventually get through the arrivals door.

What's the weather like?????


W