Hi! We’re Heather and Pete, a British couple in our 40s who have a bit of an obsession for luxury adventure travel. We live in the gorgeous Eden Valley in northern England, so spend a lot of our weekends adventuring in nearby Scotland, Cumbria and Northumberland. The rest of the time you’ll find us on safari in southern Africa, exploring ancient kasbahs in Morocco, and searching for sloths deep in the rainforests of Peru.
Crumbling castles, windswept mountain walks and snorkelling are our things. We also love sleeping in Scottish castles, Amazonian tree houses and Moroccan palaces, as well as exploring destinations that all the other travel bloggers haven’t yet instagrammed to death!
Sound interesting? Then I think we’ll get on just fine.
Conversant Traveller was born during a Saharan camel trek in 2013, an experience that Heather still raves about and Peter tries to forget. Initially intended as a hobby, the blog has grown beyond what we ever imagined, and is now a trusted traveller resource, particularly for Morocco and unusual places to stay around the world.
Heather writes the words, and Peter takes the pictures.
We could tell you that we’re passionate real-time storytellers who combine personal experience, quality photography and observational humour to offer persuasive inspiration to travellers seeking to discover new and exciting worldwide destinations for themselves.
But that all sounds a bit pompous. So we’ll just say that travel is our life, and we love sharing our experiences to help you travel too!
Meet Heather
I’m actually a rocket scientist and part-time trapeze artist, but since my nearest and dearest all think I’m a copywriter we’ll maybe stick with that for now!
I began working in the travel industry in 2003, where I ran tours to Iceland, arranged hiking holidays in Switzerland and co-ordinated group trips to Mexico. More recently I’ve been the content manager for a luxury tour operator focusing on Africa and the Indian Ocean, and now enjoy freelance life which means I can work from the beach if I want to. Shame I’m not a fan of sand.
My background is as a geographer, and I’m a proud Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. I’m also a bit of a history nerd with a particular interest in 17th century British goings-on, and once spent three years living in a castle!
I could tell you how many countries I’ve visited and list all the bizarre foods I’ve eaten, but that’s kinda boring. I figure admitting that I once fell off a chair lift whilst skiing in Italy, and that I love a good thunderstorm may be marginally more interesting. I also play the double bass!
Meet Pete
Peter prefers the anonymity that comes from standing behind the camera, and is happy for me to steal the limelight where the blog is concerned. He works full time in a job he loves, which is why we have no intention of joining the hordes of ‘digital nomads’ swarming all over Bali and Mexico.
An international man of mystery, Hubbie (as he shall henceforth be known) is never more content than when he’s photographing wildlife and nature, and will happily spend hours setting up that perfect shot whilst I wait impatiently at his side. He’ll think nothing of getting up before dawn to search for otters, or standing waist-deep in waterfalls just for a better angle.
Hubbie got his taste for travel during an expedition to the Himalayas in India, and shortly after took his first solo trip to South Africa. His love for the outdoors comes from spending time as an adventure activity instructor here in the Lake District, and in fact our first ever date was spent bivying out in the fells on one of his days off!
He once got his head stuck through the railings outside Buckingham Palace, does not do raw fish, and has vowed never to ride a camel again.
A Word of Warning
If you think the word ‘wellness’ belongs in the dictionary, feel that erasing history is the best way to learn from it, or can’t travel anywhere without a selfie stick, then we probably won’t be your cup of tea.
Yet if you love sticking two fingers up at social trends, appreciate a bit of dry British humour, and don’t feel the need to travel everywhere with a fedora, then climb aboard the good ship Conversant Traveller and see where the wind takes you!
Content Disclaimer
Whilst much of our travel is self-funded, we do sometimes accept sponsorship and payment in kind in return for a review. On these occasions we include a disclaimer and as always, opinions remain entirely our own. We’d never accept a hosted stay that we wouldn’t have been prepared to pay for ourselves, and are careful to ensure all accommodation, tours and products align with our blog ethos of luxury adventure travel.