Bertus Van Zyl

In August 2004 I picked up a poster from a rubbish pile next to my workplace in Poole, England (I also scored a skateboard, guitar and amplifier from the same spot.) At that point I had been away from home for a month and a half, my mission: working to save pounds and travel a part of the world. That afternoon I went back to the scummy room I shared with a friend, stuck the poster on my wall and started believing what it said.
It’s a poster of a long tail boat on a perfect Thai ocean with islands in the background. A black border held the words in white at the bottom: “The choices we make, not the chances we take, determines our destiny.”  I’ve been blessed along my journey but choose to do what I do
I was born and grew up in Pretoria, South Africa. I did my twelve grades in school and during the last two I started fantasizing about other places and different people who express their deep rooted and diverse cultural opinions in various languages. I cherished this dream while I finished my degree in Communication Management, unknowingly acquiring more skills to enhance my traveling experiences.
I’ve been on the move for two and a half years and some days. I miss drumming and managing soil 7t7- my ex-band in South Africa. It quickly fades when I knack another bottle of Chang Beer and feast on green Thai curry with prawns.  My days in the PR office as junior accounts manager evaporate even faster when I go for a swim in the warm and clear Andaman sea or Scuba dive with clown fish and more. Organizing conferences in rainy old England doesn’t exist when I share Thai whiskey with students I can barely understand, traveling the length of a land in a 3rd class train coach.
Degree in hand I joined a funk rock band as drummer and played to crowds around 5000 people sometimes. Still not satisfied, my minds eye crept staring at the beauty of far away lands, my hands craving handshakes with newly made friends from other continents.
The road from where I picked up that poster to where I am now is an interesting one. Some days I drove on uphill mountain passes, very close to the edge of unbearable sadness and being alone, other days cruising down smooth coastal paths of meeting more best friends and sharing a green curry with them – growing understanding of different people and myself. All and all it is a gorgeous road that lead me to 2008, my second year with Free and Easy in an awesome role as tour leader in both Thailand and the Philippines. In 2007, my first year with F&E, I saw people change. From airport back to airport, in 40 days Thailand gives people that look in their eyes- that look when they know something others don’t. A look that only experience can give you.  Once again I also saw myself change more too and I keep thanking travel for that.
Whether I will meet you in the Land of Smiles or strengthen our friendship on the Filipinos string of pearls, I can’t wait to feel the changes in us that our adventures will bring.