THE Most Amazing Traveller Ever

“Oh Max,” I moaned to my 11-year-old son, “I want to write a post about someone amazing I met when I was travelling but I don’t know who to write about. Can you think of anyone?”

“I know Mum,” Max chirped back instantly, “why don’t you write about Dad?”

Clever Max’s idea made sense because, while I’ve met many amazing people during my travels, ranging from the most giving person ever to the nuttiest, I have only met one person who was so amazing that I’m still traveling with him 21 years later.

That person is Max’s dad, my husband and the man commonly refered to here as the Mucho Man. You can find out what’s with the nickname and how and where we met here, but today let’s just talk about what makes Mr. Rich Candy Esquire so amazing.

Rich and I escaping from the kids for a date night at the movies – always a cause for celebration – we need to do that more often – much more often

1. Laid-back

Rich is so laid-back he’s practically horizontal which of course drives me nuts a lot of the time but is definitely a big attraction the rest of the time. He’s cool, calm and contained, no matter what’s going on around him so you can rely on him to diffuse the most difficult situations.

2. Clever

While being laid back is a great attribute for a travelling companion it might not be so great when choosing your life companion. But Rich is annoyingly smart as well as laid back.

When we met in Egypt he was a brilliant computer whizz who earned mucho dollares whizzing round the world setting up and fixing financial accounting systems for big companies. It was a big responsibility, a lot of work and a job which he was so good at he was in high demand. In fact we traveled a lot and in great style on the back of his computer whizz capabilities living in Atlanta, Bangkok and Paris.

3. Self-aware

While many stick to the safe path, especially when they’re high earners because it’s hard to turn your back on the security and lifestyle that offers, Rich had the confidence and self-awareness to follow his own path. When I was pregnant with our first child 14 years ago he decided to follow his heart.

Fed up of working for boring corporations and being obliged to dress up in a “monkey suit” every day then commute to an office he threw it all away to start our own business.

I still miss seeing him in a suit and tie and while our bank balance isn’t as bouncy as it once was we’re both happier living a barefoot and fluid lifestyle.

Those three characteristics that attracted me to Rich all those decades ago still amaze me. Each quality by itself is special, but when you combine all three, they become amazing.

Of course Rich has other qualities that I love too like boyish good looks, supreme confidence without being cocky and he even makes me laugh sometimes too but being laid-back, clever and self-aware are big three.

Those are the things that make him the most amazing person I’ve ever met during my 44 years of travels.

Rich, Kiara and Me on holiday in New Zealand 2005

More Stories About Amazing People Met When Traveling by Some Super Hot Travel Bloggers

Today I’m trying something new – a little link up with some other hot travel bloggers. We all agreed to write about someone amazing we met on our travels then share the links to send each other some of our amazing readers – that’s right, that means you.

So I’d love if you check out these posts by:

Vago Damitio from Vagabond – The Most Amazing Person I’ve Met in My Travels

Kobi Klaf from Nomadic Family Travel – The Most Amazing Person I Met in My Travels

I know they’d love to see you there too.

How about you? Who’s the most amazing person you’ve ever met on your travels?