Travel Talk is a new Sosauce blog series in which we chat with our favorite travel experts about celebrating the saucy side of travel. With such successful experiences in travel media, we want to highlight their journeys from turning a passion for wanderlust into a profession, their travel plans for 2010, and how they recreate and share their own travel memories. This week we are putting the spotlight on Andy Hayes, aka the “Travel Guy” and founder of Sharing Travel Experiences and Travel Online Partners. Andy’s ventures are helping small travel businesses fulfill their philosophy of “travel more,” while also expanding their online presence and money-making tactics.

Read our previous traveler spotlight interviews here.

Andy Hayes – the Travel Guy

So what does being “The Travel Guy” entail? How did you earn that title?
As the saying goes: it’s a big job, but somebody has to do it. My first adventures in the world of travel and tourism, beyond just traveling of course, was launching a personal travel blog and moving into the world of travel writing. I really had no idea what I was doing at the time, but I knew right away the entrepreneur lifestyle was for me. I quickly learned the rules of the road and was successful in having a number of pieces published, which gave me a portfolio to branch out into bigger publications and magazines.

Last year, I relaunched my travel site into more of an online magazine format with several products and services, such as our unique travel concierge. My travel site is my passion, and travel is a great industry to be in with tremendous community spirit, regardless of the market segment. I’m really pleased to be working in a market that I’m passionate about. So yeah, “the travel guy”… is busy!

Interested in becoming a travel writer? Email us to get involved with editorial content on Sosauce!

How busy are your travel plans for 2010?
Are you kidding? Here’s the list:

• Los Angeles, to visit an old friend
• Austin, to try a flaming Dr Pepper and to see the behemoth of SXSWi (Travel Geek alert!)
• Seattle and Vancouver, places I’ve always thought about living
• New York City, and old favourite and venue for Travel Bloggers Exchange ‘10
• Upstate New York and Niagara Falls, to see a friend and just see what’s going on there
• Ottawa, to visit a friend
• Nova Scotia, to meet Doug (@AuthenticCoast), one of the best travel tweeters!
• Lithuania, to just explore and relax
• Georgia (the country), to go off-beat
• Brisbane, to visit a friend who just moved there

At least that’s what is scheduled so far. ☺ Gotta love being location independent.

What inspired you to start your Travel Online Partners venture?
Some people would say I get bored easily. The fact is, I wasn’t satisfied with the level of knowledge, information and resources available to businesses in the tourism industry related to the changing world of new media – and judging by our early successes, it seems that people are hungry for that kind of information. It seems there are a lot of people selling snake oil for ridiculous prices, whereas I wanted to provide some reasonably priced resources that small businesses could tap into. The fact is, social media and social networks have really changed the marketing landscape. The “big brands” who have lousy products and services are being exposed by the transparency of social networks, and the little brands — who have passion and offer products that are made with love – now have the communication tools to successfully find their ideal consumers.

Your motto, “Travel More” is very similar to ours at Sosauce. How do you encourage others to share their travel experiences?
Well, as you probably have also noticed, when you give people the opportunity, they’re more than eager. We also show by example: many of the articles on our site aren’t written by professional writers and the weekly interview with a traveler is often just a normal couple or family or solo traveler who has an interesting story to tell.

I also ensure our website and social profiles are places where technology timid travelers are welcome. Not everybody is a blogger, so our site is laid out in a very user friendly experience. We also don’t have advertisements plastered everywhere; instead, we try to offer products and services that attract to the experience. (It’s no coincidence that all of the things we have launched at Sharing Travel Experiences started from a community member idea.)

Based on your adventures, you’re a Sosauce-approved Travel Geek. What qualities do you think makes one a Travel Geek?
Whoohoo – do I get a badge or something?

How about some swag instead, or a nifty PWR user account!

To me, a Travel Geek is:
• social
• fascinated with technology
• always ready for a new [travel] adventure

Travel geeks don’t necessarily have to be well traveled, but they do have to have broad horizons.

How many footprints do you have now?
According to Wikipedia, 40. But the more important number is the number of amazing travel experiences: Countless.

Though you currently are residing in Edinburgh, have you lived anywhere else? Are there any other places you can see yourself living?
I’ve roamed a lot in life – perhaps partially as a restless nomad, but also a job I had previously meant I was on the road a lot – about 150k frequent flyer miles a year.

I spent my youth in the States, but a place that is very near and dear to my heart is Amsterdam. Many consider it a den of sin or a party paradise, but my Amsterdam is so different. Quirky hidden cafes, wonderful boutique shops, and amazing food. A lot of my most special memories in life relate to there, and while I don’t know if I’ll live there again, it will be the city that I compare all others against.

Vancouver is a place a lot of people have said I would like, so I look forward to checking it out in March. I also love Melbourne and would enjoy the chance to spend some more time there. It’s got great food, nice people, and an amazing beach: what’s not to like?

What have been some of your sauciest travel memories?
If I had to choose a couple of top occasions:

Getting up at 5AM and cycling several miles in the cold morning air, to walk another mile or two around a lake in the dark to watch the sunrise over the mountains at Mirror Lake in Fox Village, New Zealand. A sunrise so breathtaking it brought tears to my eyes.

Relaxing with a cold beverage on the 8PM junk boat departure in Hong Kong harbor. As the light show behinds, you look to the left and right and wonder, from this perspective, if the lights and skyline of Hong Kong stretches around the entire globe.

Some prefer to write, others prefer taking photos to relive their travel experiences. What is your favorite way to document your travel experiences?
I’m a man of words, so I always prefer to write them. And given that with a travel blog/online magazine/whatever you call it, you have the opportunity to really paint the picture with words and photo – that’s where I’ll be.

As a travel expert, what advice would you give other travelers who are looking to turn their passion into a profession?
A few sage words of wisdom:

• No matter how much you want to believe it, doing what you love because you love it and doing what you love as a business are different. Don’t expect every day to be bliss.
• What makes you better or different that what’s already on the market?
• Get feedback. Get it early, get it often. I suggest joining a mastermind group for this. Can’t find one? Make your own.



Thanks to Andy for chatting with Sosauce this week. If you are interested in connecting with Andy about travel and business, shoot him a message on Twitter.

We want to put the spotlight on more expert travelers! So if you have great advice and amazing tales to share, email us for a chance to be interviewed here on the Sosauce blog.

Read more posts by Alisha

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 4:03 PM and is filed under Spotlight, Traveler. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.