About Me
I’m Rupert
After a fulfilling 30-year career in the travel industry, the events of 2020, particularly the need to care for a poorly parent and the impact of Covid-19, led me to rethink the path I was on. For the first time in years, I found myself with time to reflect on the incredible journeys I had experienced around the world—these were memories that brought a smile to my face during what was a challenging time.
Inspired by these memories, I decided to channel my passion into something new. I taught myself how to create, design, and develop a website where I could preserve these moments and share them with others.
And so, "Just One For The Road" was born.
The First Travel Blog
I was born in Surrey, UK, but have spent most of my life in West Sussex. As a child in the 1970s, my family embraced the era of package holidays, towing our caravan to destinations across mainland Europe, from Spain to Yugoslavia. In fact, I even started travel blogging during a trip to Yugoslavia back in 1978.
Despite battling asthma, my fondest memories from school were on the sports field, where I represented Sussex county schools in both football and rugby. Those days on the pitch were some of the happiest of my life, and like many of us "veterans," I often find myself reminiscing about them.
When I wasn't playing sport, I was outdoors, captivated by wildlife. Weekends were spent playing in the local nature reserve, visiting the zoo with my Dad or simply watching storms from the safety of our porch whilst dreaming of trekking the Amazon or climbing Everest.
The Early Career
After finishing school, I had a brief stint at college before leaving in 1986 to start my first job at Air UK Ltd, a small airline offering domestic flights and international routes to key European cities. This marked the true beginning of my life in travel.
I spent seven years with Air UK, starting in the head office and later working for two years on the ticket desk at Gatwick Airport, where I mainly sold flight tickets to passengers traveling to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The '80s and '90s were carefree times, with everything I earned going towards nights out, fixing up my VW Beetle, which sparked my love for road trips, and the occasional holiday. With a tight budget, those getaways were mostly to Europe and within the UK.
Life In Corsica
In 1993, I joined Independent Air Travel, a company specializing in air charter brokerage and tour operations. I initially worked at their head office for the tour operator arm, Holiday Options, before an opportunity arose to move to Corsica as a resort manager. In 1998, I established a new company base at Figari Airport.
Upon returning to the UK, I climbed the ranks to become the Sales and Marketing Manager, leading the sales efforts for a range of specialist Mediterranean islands. Over time, I was part of a team that successfully introduced Croatia, Cape Verde, and several other niche destinations to the UK holiday market.
The late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by significant life changes—buying a house, getting married, and taking on new responsibilities. My travel adventures expanded as well, with trips to Egypt, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Bosnia, the USA, and Canada.
Tour Operating Days
From 2010, I spent five enjoyable years working in central London as the Sales & Marketing Manager for Balkan Holidays, promoting travel to destinations across Eastern and Central Europe including Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia. I had always wanted to work in London and these days did not disappoint.
From 2015 until the impact of Covid-19 disrupted the travel industry, I served as Sales Manager for Beachcomber Tours, a UK-based specialist tour operator focusing on the Indian Ocean. During these very successful days I was also able to travel visiting Mauritius, the Seychelles, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Morocco.
A Shot in The Dark
In 2019, while attending the Rugby World Cup, I found myself in a lively shot bar in downtown Hong Kong. It was there that I began writing a Facebook travel blog, capturing stories from my unforgettable adventure in the Far East destinations of Japan, Macau and Hong Kong.
To my surprise, the blog quickly gained a following as I shared my experiences, including a few schoolboy errors and some amusing observations.
Just a few months after returning home, the world was hit by Covid-19, my father became ill and like so many others, my life took an unexpected turn.
