The Rickshaw Travel Team
Rickshaw Travel is an organisation made by travellers for travellers. We sell the kind of travel experiences that we enjoy the best – authentic adventures that allow you to discover a new country independently and get to know its own way of life.
Every country has a specialised website with a wide range of bite-sized tours, offering a big range of options and activities.
Behind every website are our travel specialists who are well-travelled and passionate about each destination they sell. Each of our travel specialists will be on hand during every stage of your planning process to help you build your perfect trip.
We operate from our offices based in Brighton. Meet the team…
Arida Adamou
Senior Country Specialist
In the late ‘80’s I spent 6 weeks back packing around Turkey with a friend. It felt like my first real adventure and lead to us planning a bigger escape. In 1994 I set off on a Round the World Ticket that included India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. I have re-visited India on a number of occasions as it’s somewhere that holds a particular fascination to me. It is vast and there is always something amazing that you have missed!!
I re-traced my steps in Thailand, Malaysia and visited Vietnam in 1996. For the millennium, I spent 6 weeks in Sri Lanka. My next big trip was overland through Mexico and Central America to South America, which was amazing but I did miss all that lovely Asian food!
For my 40th birthday present (to myself!) I did another Round the World Ticket which took me back to India and Thailand, on to Cambodia and Laos, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
I really hope to go back to Nepal in the not too distant future. I think I’ll always travel where possible and there is always plenty of temptation and inspiration when you work for a travel company!
Jeremy Bull
Senior Country Specialist
My first experience of independent travel was back in 2003. I started my world trip in India, and oh my, what an introduction to Asia that was! No guide book or any idea of the craziness that was waiting for me. After 2 months travelling around India, I felt I was prepared for anything the rest of the world could throw at me and I couldn’t wait to see it all! I continued my trip onto South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and New York.
Before that year away, I had always assumed that when I returned I would settle down and start a career, but as soon as I arrived home I was eagerly planning my next trip. After 2 years of dreaming, planning and saving, I set off again, this time with a one way ticket to China. After a month in China, I travelled to all the places in South East Asia I’d missed the first time, – Laos, Borneo, Indonesia and some of my favourite places in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. Then, after a year working in New Zealand, I had 6 months in South America where I visited Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. For me, travelling is my life; from talking about travelling with friends to planning my next adventure – and after 3 years of travelling I have only scratched the surface!
Laura Clark
Country Specialist
My passion for independent travel began with a Round The World trip in 2006, backpacking solo round South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia, ending with the Trans-Siberian train journey across Mongolia to Russia. After that I returned to an office job but it wasn’t long before my itchy feet took hold again and I left to spend 6 months in Africa, volunteering with the desert elephants of Namibia and travelling to around Eastern Africa, finally fulfilling a lifetime ambition by seeing the mountain gorillas in Uganda.
Since working for Rickshaw I have returned to Kenya and spent a month travelling through the country, taking some amazing game drives and being stunned by just how beautiful and diverse the country is. Walking through the Loita plains with the Masai and watching large herds of elephants in Amboseli are definite highlights.
Erica Clee
Country Specialist
My first real experience of the east and independent travel was going to Thailand just before I started my degree. I managed to drag myself back to the UK to begin my degree a month late and infected with the travel bug! My time travelling and the opportunity to experience different cultures and ways of life changed my life and my perspective. I have, since then, travelled independently across America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and the almighty India.
I had always been compelled to see India, a vast and fascinating sub-continent of contradictions. Armed with little more than a Lonely Planet and a tummy full of butterflies, I ‘Dirtied up’ my back pack and invested in a Swiss army knife, I realise now, a somewhat feeble attempt to prepare myself for my incredible journey! Many have struggled to find the words to convincingly capture India, I have read endless articles that use words like ‘diverse, spiritual, multidimensional, intoxicating’- and all I can tell you is, it’s truly all of those things. And more… way more. I can’t wait to head off on my next adventure. Trying to decide where to go next is the biggest challenge, the list just keeps getting longer!
Sophia Fadil
Country Specialist
My passion for travel began when I was young as my parents used to take me on lots of exotic holidays, including Morocco where my dad comes from. When I turned 16 I booked my first independent trip to India and haven’t looked back since. I returned to India 6 times before eventually heading to Thailand where I was an English teacher for 18 months. During that time I got to see a lot of South East Asia including Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia – where I ended up living in Bali for a while.
When I got back to the UK I started working for Rickshaw travel and that hasn’t stopped me from travelling! I have only recently got back from another trip to Thailand and I am heading to China for three weeks in August. Before that I am going to visit as much of Europe as possible and have several trips booked already!
Hazel Hart
Country specialist
My passion for travel probably started when I was about 2 months old, when my parents used to go biking across Europe with me on their backs! It must have stayed with me as I knew that I had to do a round the world trip as soon as my A-Levels were out the way. I booked a round the world ticket with Travel Nation, visiting Thailand, Bali, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the US and it was the most amazing experience of my life. I changed so much, but the travel bug has never left me! I am always planning my next holiday and I love the style of travel that Rickshaw offers, because the time-consuming bits of the trips are booked for you, but it’s still completely your own adventure.
I booked a trip to India with Rickshaw Travel in 2008 and was completely amazed at how unique the accommodation was (teak cottages, guest houses, sleeper trains and houseboats!) and also how few tourists there were. I am also going back to Thailand in a couple of weeks to travel around more extensively (staying in floating raft houses, mountain huts and beach cottages). The thing I love most about travelling, is the little surprises. I chose to get married in Lapland last year, in a little wooden chapel in snow covered woods, which I’d only ever seen on the internet but the surprise was so worth it! I should probably settle down properly at some point, but there are still so many places I need to see!
Bryony Holland
Supervisor
A few years ago, I booked a trip through South East Asia with Travel Nation. It was just brilliant. Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia are fantastic countries – so relaxed, so easy to navigate, so beautiful and welcoming. After that, I started a PhD in Shakespeare (thinking that I would settle down and be responsible), but my feet got itchy and I couldn’t last the course. I then spent 3 months travelling around South Africa, and when I returned to the UK I began working in travel professionally, organising safaris in South Africa and Namibia. Then I got the travel bug again and spent 3 months backpacking around India on my own and I have since travelled through Nepal, Central America and Namibia.
I am now hooked on the freedom and empowerment that I feel when I travel. There really is nothing like it. Travelling keeps you open-minded, laid back, curious and ready to party. The food around the globe is amazing and the skies are mostly blue. I feel like I’ve only just started and I can’t wait to grab my backpack, bikini, walking boots and head-torch again.
Ceri Jones
Country Specialist
I began globetrotting in 2002 when I went off around the world for a year and circumnavigated Australia in a camper van called Rusty- happy days. Life was never to be the same again… I saved up and hit South America. Being in the right place at the right time I ended up working as a Tour Leader in Central America which fast became my real passion with Cuba and Nicaragua topping the bill.
I learnt Spanish on the road, then formalised this by living and studying in Spain for a year. In between tour leading contracts I backpacked around South East Asia, did safari through Southern Africa and last year I spent 6 months in India and Nepal which I really enjoyed.
I just love feeling anonymous and meeting local people amongst stunning landscapes and sampling local culture and cuisine whilst every day is different. Since settling back to reality and working at Rickshaw I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for adventure travel and have just returned from the Philippines. I’ve far too many favourites to choose from and next on the list are Malaysia and Tibet.
Suzanne McDonogh
Country Specialist
A month’s expedition to Brazil at the age of 16 was my first time outside of Europe and an experience that really awakened my adventurous side, making me realise that there was more to life than drinking English tea and watching Blue Planet. My interest in world culture led me to do a degree in Spanish and Latin America Studies and after living in Madrid for a year, I decided to head off to South America for about four months. I participated in two volunteer projects, one in the Galapagos Islands doing conservation work and the other working in a school in Bolivia. I then continued the trip by backpacking around Peru, Ecuador and Chile, which was by far the most extraordinary and eye-opening time of my life! I’ve recently returned from my honeymoon in Cuba and I’ve never met such genuinely happy people!
Before starting at Rickshaw I was a Tour Leader in Egypt in Jordan, leading small family groups to all the main sights and sounds of both countries. It was hard to get bored of the adventure of camping in the desert, walking up Mount Sinai and snorkelling in the Red Sea!
Fiona McLaren
Country Specialist
Travel has been a big part of my life – visiting Africa since I was 18 months old and I just don’t seem to have stopped. Originally from East Yorkshire, I moved to what was at that time the homeland of Bophuthatswana but today has been integrated into South Africa and is now called the North West Province. I lived there for 21 years and in that time have travelled extensively in the southern African region.
In that time I’ve visited Egypt, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, but most extensively in South Africa itself. For a while now I’ve had a fascination with all things Moroccan, so that is the destination at the top of my list, as is the Far East.
Sarah Pooley
Country Specialist
My passion for travel began at an early age, but it wasn’t until 2008 that I finally got the chance to go off travelling and explore some of the countries that I had been reading and dreaming about.
My first big adventure was a six month trip around New Zealand, Australia and South-East Asia taking in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong. During my travels I discovered that each country I visited was unique, offering a variety of different cultures and traditions, and with such friendly locals it was hard to leave these amazing places to get on the plane back home!
During my travels I completed my Advanced Diving certificate, and as anyone who has experienced diving in South-East Asia knows, the waters there are amazing! Since returning I have been on short trips to various countries around Europe and on an Egypt Nile cruise, however I cannot wait for my next trip back to Asia this year.
Caroline King
Country Specialist
I first got my taste of travelling when I spent a month in Italy during my time at university. After graduating in Media and Cultural Studies I decided to plan a Round the World trip in January 2011. Thailand was my first stop. Arriving in bustling Bangkok from cold England was amazing. The heat, the sounds, the smells-it was a massive culture shock and one of the best things I have ever experienced. The first time I walked down Khao San Road, I was entranced by the mix of people and cultures coming together and that first Pad Thai I had from a street vendor can never be matched! I then spent a month island-hopping in the south; clear blue waters, white sandy beaches and fresh fruit shakes made my time in this idyllic country one to remember!
After finishing my trip, Thailand still holds a special place in my heart. The people are so welcoming and friendly, the food is delicious and aromatic and the landscape is some of the most beautiful I have seen.
Jess Chandler
Country Specialist
My time living in Thailand was very special; it gave me a rare insight into the Thai way of life. I saw Thailand from a local’s point of view. Thailand is a beautiful country full of kind, caring people, breathtaking landscape, interesting culture and great diving. No wonder I fell in love with the country and stayed for so long.
I have been a scuba diver for nearly ten years and have travelled to many amazing places searching for the best dive spots. Such as shark diving in South Africa, reef diving in Egypt, photographing the manta rays and whale sharks off the coast Mozambique, and cenote cave diving in Mexico, to name a few.
Putting my passion for travel and diving together, I became a Scuba Diving instructor in Koh Chang in 2008, I lived and worked on the Island for a year and a half. Its white sand beaches, turquoise water, yummy food, and friendly people made it very hard to leave!
Haydn Wrath
Managing Director of Rickshaw Travel
I left the University of East Anglia in 1984 and escaped what seemed a very grim England by spending the rest of the 1980s travelling and working around the world. During this time, I put in some usual stints as an English teacher in Tokyo, a landscape gardener in Sydney and a tarmac layer’s assistant in Alaska. In 1990, I joined Bridge the World Travel Centre in London as manager of the Worldwide department, where I was able to put my degree in Politics and Philosophy to good use.
I fulfilled my ambition to set up a specialist travel company in 2001 when I founded Travel Nation, and later in 2008 Rickshaw Travel.
I have continued to travel to many countries over the last couple of decades and am always utterly charmed by the people and the atmosphere I experience. Independent travel has so much going for it that it really can be all things to all people. Also of course, in common with so many other visitors, when travelling, I am in food paradise…especially that beef salad they do in Thailand…
Rickshaw Travel
Our range of travel destinations is continuously growing and our travel specialists are here to help you arrange your perfect holiday. At the moment we offer pre-arranged independent travel options in the following destinations:
Becoming curious about Rickshaw? Feel free to contact us by either e-mail or telephone, see the contact us page for more details.
We hope you get as much out of your travels as we do !
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