Who is the Travel Tortoise?
James, the human behind TTT, has been on holiday to Benidorm, Magaluf AND Tenerife. Aside from that, he has also lived & worked for extended periods in Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, the U.K and Austria. He speaks four languages and has most recently founded a moderately successful outdoor activities & tour company in Vienna. He founded the Travel Tortoise as penance for all the air miles he accrued in a previous life. He chose a tortoise as his mascot because they share numerous characteristics, including lethargy, and extended bouts of foraging and eating. As a keen and interested member of the animal kingdom, he enjoys learning about higher species, mostly primates, but he is not of fan of turtles, as in his words “they steal all the limelight.”
What do I know about slow travel?
Some of the most exciting, rewarding and happy moments of my life were on the road, as it is then that I felt most connected to the world. I do not accept the idea that people who travel are somehow trying to escape from reality, although if they are, then all power to them. In my experience, travelling makes me stronger, wiser and more enthusiastic about life in general. Travel is exciting and travelers are generally more upbeat and happy, so the idea of establishing my own outdoor activities and tour company, Venture Vienna, came from a determination to enjoy my work and the people I choose to surround myself with, and to stay plugged into nature. When I’m not writing as the Travel Tortoise, I’ve made it my aim to create only sustainable tours and genuinely off-the-beaten-path itineraries, because those are the places I want to be.
And what about wine?
It was in Austria that I developed an appreciation for vino, and here where I developed several wine tours & experiences that aim to connect visitors to a region through outdoor activities. In Austria, much of modern-day wine production is organic, or pretty close to it, so one could argue it’s the spiritual home of slow wine. I understand what it means to get the ‘terroir‘ of a region, and we bring people right into the heart of it to create lasting positive associations between a wine and its origin. We do slow travel. At the heart of it, I understand most people’s need to connect with somewhere new, and that’s what I try to help them do with both Venture Vienna and The Travel Tortoise. And I may also be a bit of a clandestine hippy.
I’m proud that my company, Venture Vienna, was voted Austria’s Eco-Friendly tour company of the year in 2024, and that we are also the top ranked outdoor activities provider on Trip Advisor. I take those high standards into all that I do, and I hope that the articles I research and write for the Travel Tortoise are authoritative and helpful to all who read them.