Hi, I'm Expat Matt and welcome to WhittenWisdom World-Wise Adventures.
Why don't you join me for a little bit of wit, a little bit of wisdom and a whole lot of adventure!
"How long have you been working as a tour guide?"
I have worked as a guide for 15 years in Australia, leading tours to Central Australia, South Australia, the East Coast, Kakadu, the Kimberley and Tasmania. Most recently, I started taking tours in the UK but that was short-lived due to the recent events we've been living through.
"What got you into guiding in the first place?"
Travel has always been my main passion so I was looking at ways of being able to do it for a living. Originally, I thought about becoming a travel agent but then I realised they just send other people off to exotic destinations. Being a tour guide is a great way to travel and get paid for doing it.
"In all the places you have guided, do you have a favourite destination?"
Not really - each destination is unique and, as a guide, you find there are certain aspects to any place you visit that you enjoy more than others and these can be influenced by different factors such as the weather and the group you are with. For me it is easier to remember favourite tours than destinations.
"Okay, so the group plays an important role in the outcome of the tour?"
One hundred percent! When booking a tour, you have a responsibility to do at least the minimum amount of research on the destination, the type of tour and its suitability to your requirements and capabilities. I have had clients arrive in Tasmania from tropical north Queensland to go walking in the mountains of western Tasmania in freezing temperatures and snow. The clients have not been prepared and did not bring any warm clothes, wet weather gear or walking shoes. Some people, rather than admit that they haven't planned properly, like to believe it is someone else's fault (usually mine!) and it doesn't take a lot of negativity to bring down the overall mood of the group and the perception of the tour in general. Plan ahead, guys!
"Do you have any new destinations in mind you would like to take people to?"
Definitely. I have travelled a lot in India. In fact, I have spent a year and a half travelling there and have visited every state west of Bangladesh. Taking a group there would involve a great deal of planning but it's on the list for the future. So is Pakistan. I travelled the Karakoram Highway up to the border of China and the scenery is some of the most spectacular I have seen anywhere in the world.
I haven't yet been to Bangladesh but I'm planning on a trip sometime soon so that I can work on an itinerary that takes in all of these destinations in one tour.
"Do you need any specific training or qualifications to be a tour guide?"
Not necessarily. It depends on where you work and for whom you work. I started guiding back in 2002 and at the time I worked for a company that ran a very comprehensive training programme over 4 weeks. If you lacked the confidence when you started you were ten foot tall and bulletproof by the end of it! I obtained a Cert IV in Tour Guiding prior to starting but I found out I was one of the very few who had a qualification. These days, though, you are required to have certifications for working in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Parks. These are for the purpose of cultural awareness and allow the quality of information given by the guide to be culturally appropriate for these destinations. I also attained Eco Accreditation as I feel it helps provide a reassurance of environmental responsibility to the tours that I run.
Finally, I have a BSc in Environmental Science and a BSc (Hons) in Geology so I hope that helps to bring the 'wisdom' element into the tours.
"Can you talk about an example where a tour didn't go exactly to plan and how you handled it?"
Sure - although I should start by saying that most tours don't go exactly to plan as there are so many variables that can impact the tour. A good guide should always be able to come up with a solution and the ability to do this improves with experience. I did a tour in the Red Centre - it was a four wheel driving, bushcamping experience - and we had bedded down in our swags for the night out in the bush.
I woke up, not too long after going to sleep, to see a red glow in the sky from a bushfire and the wind was blowing strongly from that direction. The area we were camping was well vegetated with Mulga and spinifex grass and was probably not the best place to be in a bushfire. Within about 5 minutes I had everyone awake and in the truck and driving down the only track out of there, which was in the direction of the bushfire! We managed to escape as the track veered off just before the fire front. Our timing was perfect. I could tell the passengers were all pretty freaked out. I remained as calm as I could be and reassured them I'd get them out. I had a back up plan and a back up to the back up plan! I'm glad we didn't need them. I have a whole bunch of stories like this but the point is - it's important in situations like this to remain calm, confident and in control. Decisive action and clear instructions are critical.
"Wow, it sounds like quite the adventure experience! You gave advice there on handling situations. Do you have any other advice for people who are looking to get into guiding?"
Absolutely. I was privileged to have trained many new guides and I always give them a list of attributes and ask them to place them into order from most to least importance. This is the list and this is my order of priority:
Safety, time management, people skills, cooking skills and knowledge
It is interesting to see how many people prioritise knowledge.
You can be the most knowledgeable person in the world and talk about rocks and trees till the cows come home but if you don't drive safely or check that people have enough water, or you miss an Uluru sunset, or you are just not very friendly with your guests, you won't be remembered as 'the guide with the great knowledge', I guarantee you! I have had many tours with passengers who speak very, very little English. The knowledge is of little importance to them. I've simply told them where the toilets are and they thought I was the most knowledgeable bloke to have ever lived.
If you get all of these attributes to a very high standard, you are likely to be a great guide. Just remember though - it's always safety first.
"Final question... Why do they call you Expat Matt?"
Most of the guides I worked with had nicknames and some of them were really strange. There was 'TK', which was short for 'Tree Killer' because he used to work as a tree surgeon. There was Bear, Spud, Beavis, Bubbles, Pebbles, Stumbles - the list goes on. I am originally from the UK and I refused to let them call me Pommie Matt so someone came up with Expat and it just stuck. I don't actually mind it and, to be honest, many of my former colleagues only know me as Expat and don't have a clue my real name's Matt.
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