Dear Kumuka Traveller

We’re all very excited at Kumuka with the announcement of all overland tours dropping in maximum numbers to only 20, offering a more personal experience in sensitive locations, our price promise offering travellers security in a volatile market and new tours being released opening Kumuka’s Wide World up more than ever.

Needless to say we have had a lot to talk about, and with Christmas and New Year only just around the corner, the festivities have already begun.

Happy travels
Meg Hall

Congratulations, you are engaged to be travelled!

I was chatting to a friend of mine the other day that is about to embark on a 4-month journey around Asia. She has booked up back-to-back Kumuka tours and is beside herself with anticipation. Nervous and excited about the people she will meet, curious about the cultures she will experience, wondering what it will be like living out of a backpack for a few months and longing to resign from her job and have 4 months of ‘me time’.

This is to be Alana’s first big trip and what she may not realise now is how much these next 4 months will shape the rest of her life to some degree. Throwing caution to the wind has been her first hurdle, strangely enough that can be the hardest part about travelling, committing, saying ‘I do’ to your travel agent and purchasing space on an experience, you could call it being engaged to be travelled.

To begin with it feels surreal, OK the bank account has changed but the initial result of the purchase isn’t tangible, no plasma’s to stick on a vacant wall, no gadget to play with or new mattress for the bed. But what people don’t realise, until they look back, is that the experience has already begun.

You go home that night and the first thing you do is get back on the internet, after months of research and planning, now you look through different eyes, now it’s time to really look at where you are going and what you are doing, now it’s time to picture yourself there rather than wonder where to go? You are no longer searching for “Mr/s Right”, you have found him/her.

You suddenly have something interesting to talk about at dinner parties and gatherings, you have something to dream about on your commute to the office, you have something to look forward to and something to drown out the mundane in your life. Suddenly you are walking with a quick step.

Like being engaged to be married, first there is the question, followed by the decision, followed by the announcement, followed by the planning and excitement, followed by the big day. The only difference is; this big day lasts for a lot longer than a wedding. In fact we should be calling it the big days.

The wait seems to take forever then suddenly your departure date is upon you, suddenly you are rushing, trying to get everything finalised before you depart and suddenly you wish you had more time. This is one event where it is not fashionable to be late!

The next thing you know you’re transported into a new world, the smells, the sounds, the sights are all so different to home, you’re enjoying activities you wouldn’t normally do, meeting people you will remain friends with for the rest of your life, experiencing cultures with values so different to yours. You will ponder these values and your own and find there is a lot more to learn.

Every day you will wake to a new experience, every day you will have something to look forward to every day is a big day.

Time seems like an anomaly; on one hand it seems to go so fast, too fast! On the other, you look back at all the things you have done and you feel as if you have been on the road forever.

All too soon you realise your journey home is looming, and the glooms set in, back to work, back to reality back to same old same old. Is the honeymoon over? Not at all, if there is one piece of advice I would like to impart it would be to never feel gloomy about your return to normal life, as you have just had an experience that will shape things to come. Whether it has been testing your boundaries, meeting extraordinary people, understanding new cultures, learning new languages or appreciating how lucky you are to live where you do, you will return home wiser, your experience will continue.

The next step is to plan your next adventure, unlike multiple marriages; it is fashionable to do this over and over again. That’s where we can help, with over 450 itineraries across 7 continents, you can become engaged to be travelled as many times as you like www.kumuka.com

Venture a Little Further!

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Meet Nikki Barnes, Operations Assistant

Having travelled the world and spent many years selling tours, Nikki wanted to learn about how they worked from behind the scenes, which is what drew her to work for the Operations Department with Kumuka Worldwide. Now she enjoys the variety that working for an adventure tour company brings to her every day.

In her own words:

Favourite destination? Africa

Why? The wildlife, the scenery, the people, the sunsets, basically everything. There is something very special about Africa

Favourite foreign saying? “Adios, Amigos”

If you could invite a celebrity over for dinner who would it be, why and what would you serve? I would invite Justin Timberlake, as he is gorgeous, a great entertainer and am pretty sure he would be interesting to talk to. I would cook a great Kiwi BBQ and serve with a nice cold beer or a glass of NZ wine.

If you could jump on any Kumuka trip tomorrow, which one would it be and why? I would love to do one of our tours that runs through South or Central America, as it is a part of the world that I have not yet seen, is very difficult to pick one in particular as they all look great.

Right now, what are you looking forward to most? Summer

Do you have any quirky habits? I talk to myself, though I prefer to call it “thinking out loud”.

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Size really does matter!

• Extra Comfort and Space
• A Less Herd-like Feeling
• More Personalised Service
• Less Impact On Local Cultures and the Environment

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Dear Kumuka,

Thanks for the tip on getting fit before climbing Mt Kinabalu, wow what a hike! Though it claims to be the easiest peak to conquer and compare it to Everest this would be true, it’s not an easy ‘hike’ so my advice to anyone out there looking at going up, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by all the ‘easy’ advertising around the experience. Its 8kms of stair and rock climbing, while not technical it does require some muscle, not only on the way up but also on the way down.

Oh but what a fantastic experience, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. Rising up from the hot misty jungle into the cooler alpine regions we could look down on Borneo as it stretched for miles below us, then moving further to traverse massive granite rock faces through the night and finally arrive at the summit as the sun raised over this tropical land, it felt surreal to be rugged up and shivering in an otherwise hot and steamy land, we felt like we were on top of the world. The legs ached, we were tired but it was beautiful and worth every footstep.

Thanks Kumuka, you looked after me well and I have a memory to keep. Next stop Everest Base camp.
Nigel Smythe

Nigel climbed Mt Kinabalu with Kumuka on the 3 Day Experience

Send your post card to Kumuka

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Kumuka Worldwide Travel Photography Competition - Winners 2008.

A big thankyou to everyone who entered Kumuka's Travel Photography Competition this year. The standard of entries was very high and we are happy to announce this years winners...

Click here to view the winning entries.

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Good things come in small packages

If you are going to travel with us in Europe, please take note of our luggage limits. We have noticed an influx of big suitcases over the past few years, rendering our tour guides and drivers jobs very difficult when trying to allocate space for these cases on the coach.

We must limit each passenger to ONE main suitcase or backpack the size should be no more than 75cm x 45cm x 25cm and one day bag. Your main bag must not weigh more than 20kgs.

Though big shiny and red, please refrain from purchases such as this one!

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