We went in search of a real traveller to be a Places We Go guest TV travel reporter and certainly found one! Glenn Pickett has an envious travel resume and is about to add a Chilean adventure to his experiences. Before he jets off to film his episode of Places We Go, find out a little more about our winner…
Sydney born and bred, Glenn has been travelling since a family trip to Disneyland at the age of 12. Though he admits he was probably more interested in Mickey Mouse than travel at that age!
“I got my first real taste for travel when I went to Bali. Like most young Aussies I had fun in Kuta but what I most enjoyed was getting out into the country, visiting the mountains, a volcano, waterfalls and trying to communicate with people who didn’t understand a word I said. It was a world away from Australia; I loved it.
My partner Vanessa and I lived in Europe for many years and travelled there quite extensively. Over the years we racked up months and months of backpacking, did loads of road trips and took quick weekends away when we could. Some of my favourite places there are Turkey, Spain, Norway and Bosnia. Our most recent trip, which ended a few months ago, was by far the most amazing thing we have ever done. We decided to travel the world 2-up on a motorcycle. It took us almost 3 years and 90,000km to get back to where we started.
We’ve travelled through some of the world’s busiest cities and been to some of the most remote corners of the globe. We’ve had our fair share of dodgy stomachs, almost uninhabitable hotels and rocky camping grounds. If I could spend the rest of my life travelling I would. We live in such an amazing world and it’s all right there now just waiting to be discovered.”
Glenn only found out about the dream job competition because his partner Vanessa saw Jen on morning television
“Vanessa was watching The Studio on Network Ten and heard Jen talking about the “dream job”. We’d only just returned to Australia after almost 3 years of travel around the world on our motorbike. She hit rewind and watched the whole segment. I only heard this story as Vanessa gave me a half completed application – she actually wrote why she thought I would be the best person for the job! She wrote such nice things, which brought back all our memories of life on the road. That’s when I knew I wanted to complete the application.”
He’s had a little bit of experience in front of an audience
“We were in India and returning from an overnight boat cruise in Kerala. I received a call from the owner of the houseboat company asking if I would be interested in doing an interview for the paper. I barely had time to consider it, he called just as we were docking and a crew were waiting for us as we disembarked. Suddenly I was shooting a news story about our motorbike trip throughout India with a live, impromptu audience of around 100 locals. We knew when the video went live because we received over 10,000 visitors to our blog in 24 hours!”
But never dreamed he’d be a TV travel reporter!
“Vanessa and I have been out of Australia working and travelling in various countries since 2002. When we first left I was a little reserved, so being on TV was not something I’d really ever considered. Travelling has definitely brought me out of my shell in that respect. Every day presented unfamiliar situations, dealing with people from different cultures, border crossings and officials and motorbike repairs. I can relate to people a lot easier and I always found when people didn’t speak the same language, a handshake and a big smile would go a million miles.
Whilst on the road we met some truly inspiring people and of course have been to some amazing places. I’ve had moments where I thought that it would be great to share those experiences with others through a documentary of some sort but to produce something like that was simply out of reach. One of my favourite things to do is to share stories with other travellers. It’s a natural high getting excited talking about places you’ve visited and people that you’ve met. So being on TV as a guest travel reporter is kind of just an extension of that and I can’t wait to be back on the road again.”
Glenn admits to a few natural nerves about being on national TV…
“I don’t think it will really sink in until I get on the plane – it’s hard to imagine that I’m going to be in Chile and that people in Australia will see my experience on TV. To be honest – I’m a little nervous. But I guess that comes more from not knowing anything about the industry and how shows like Places We Go are filmed. Of course I’ll need to be shown the ropes but once we’re there I think I’ll settle into it and have a lot of fun.”
He’s never been to Chile before
“I find myself drawn to the outdoors so I’m sure Chile won’t disappoint in that respect. I’m really looking forward to heading to Patagonia and the Atacama Desert. Of course I want to check out Santiago. A little bit of curiosity is usually enough to get me to a place and once I’m there I love to start to discovering things.”
And of course, he’s taking Vanessa along for the adventure!
“We travel as much as we can and always together. When we were living in London we would often do weekend trips. We set off on our latest travels at the start of 2011 and only returned to Australia in November last year. Vanessa is a great travel companion – she’s fun to be around, adventurous, an unbelievable organiser and good dealing with people. We really are a great team and after 17 years together we’re getting pretty good at it!”
Glenn and PWG are travelling to Chile thanks to our friends at Chimu Adventures, Turismo Chile and LAN Airlines.
Have you been to Chile? Got any local tips for Glenn and the PWG crew? Tell us below.
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