September 9, 2024 • 42 mins
Lee Thompson, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Flash Pack, is renowned for his adventurous spirit, gaining global fame after scaling the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro to capture iconic images. His passion for exploration, storytelling, and connecting people through travel is at the heart of his work. Alongside his wife Radha, Co-Founder and CEO, they built Flash Pack, an award-winning travel company dedicated to combating loneliness by curating group adventures for solo travelers in their 30s and 40s. Lee shares the rise, fall, and remarkable revival of Flash Pack, a multi-million dollar company known for offering high-end, immersive experiences that bring together like-minded travelers in unforgettable destinations.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You're listening to the Globetrotters podcast. Today we have an
exciting episode for you. I'm your host John O'to.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And I'm Maxim Noganzalez and.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Today we'll be speaking with Lee Thompson, co founder and
chief marketing officer of Flashback, and award winning travel company
that brings solo travelers in their thirties and forties together.
Partnering with his wife Rada, they've spent the last decade
creating a brand that doesn't conform to the cliches of
group travel. But prior to Flashback, Lee spent fourteen years
(00:43):
working as a photo journalist for national newspapers, covering stories
from the Libyan Civil War to the fallout of the
Japanese tsunami. He's a diehard adventuress who has been to
more than one hundred countries. One hundred, Lee, it's a
pleasure to have you.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
On the show. Thanks so howving me Lee.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We can spend the entire time talking about Flashpack or
your fourteen year career as a photo journalist, but first
let's take it way back. I'm curious what did the younger,
maybe even child like Lee Thompson want to be when
he grew up.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
He didn't know, That's the honest answer. I struggled to
find my way when I was younger, struggled academically, failed
everything at school. But I was inspired by my dad,
who ran a business and always used to go into
his office with admiration and be inspired by what he
(01:33):
was creating. So I felt this kind of in a
drive to be successful and a passion for photography led
me loved me on a career path. But honestly, back then,
all the way up until the age of twenty, I
hadn't traveled anywhere and was struggling to find my way.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I didn't know that. So when you started traveling, that's
around the same time that I started to as well,
at least Internashley.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, I've been to Spain a couple of times on
family holidays, but never never be on that I would.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Have gotten a impression with one hundred countries that it
would have been an earlier start. But it's very refreshing
to hear that that we're all on the same page
there and anything's possible. Apparently absolutely. Yeah. So when did
your photo photojournalism journey beget So.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
I started to get into photography as a hobby because
my dad was really into it. And I remember the
day very well. It was the last day of school.
I was about to leave age sixteen, and I had
this big idea that I was going to be a
photographer and that I was going to travel the world
doing really cool stuff. And it was this kind of
drive to be successful at that And it started out
(02:47):
on a local newspaper in my home city of Chester
in the UK, doing very very local things, which was
just still exciting because I got to build up a
really good network, but it very quickly led onto national
and international stories and I found myself traveling the world,
(03:09):
like clocked up one hundred countries in ten years, and
my life was full of exciting projects working for national
international media.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
How often were you traveling we at that point in
time are we talking about you know, you're going in
between countries like two three countries in a week.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, I mean pretty much every week I was on
a plane to somewhere. Sometimes all the trips came in
one go. Sometimes there's a bit of gaps between them.
I can remember one example where I mean. The thing
about it is I became a yes person. I was
a freelance photojournalist. But whenever something happened and there was
a breaking news story and it was on the news,
(03:51):
I either called up and said, get me on the plane.
I'm up for it, or they would call me. And
I remember one circumstance where I was in India. I
came back from India, touchdown at Gatwick and I was
asked to go to Kenya, and on the way back
from Kenya like a midway stop off point, I can't
remember I was, they asked me to go to Austria.
Like this, This is what my life was like. I
(04:12):
lived out of a suitcase and I lived from story
to story and that was my life. That's what I
became really addicted to.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Actually, And you know, we've heard a lot on this
podcast about the yes mentality, and I'm off for it.
And obviously in your career as a photo journalist you
had some very interesting assignments we already mentioned. You know,
you covered the Libyan Civil War. Still being a journalist
in a war zone. I've never done it, but I
can imagine that it's rough and tough. You're sharing the
(04:42):
stories of people that have been devastated with the loss
that we can't even imagine. Or comprehend what emotional impact
does that have on you.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
At the time, I was a twenty something and I
just saw this as exciting. I was given so much
opportunity to you know, just back in twenty eleven, I
covered the Egyptian Revolution, Japanese tsunami, it was an earthquake
in Turkey, and went to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, just from
(05:14):
dangerous place to dangerous place, and I just saw it
as the most exciting thing ever and was just felt
like I was blessed with this opportunity. I would say
that at the time I didn't suffer from the things
that I saw or did, but looking back, I probably
did struggle with what I saw and what I photographed
(05:38):
and witnessed, and in some degree still suffered from the
consequences of what I experienced.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Now you know, I'm a photographer too, and I just
I couldn't imagine going through that.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
I was just going to say, like, it's I think
that reflecting back, the biggest thing that I struggled with,
bizarrely was and a kind of an addiction. It felt
like a it felt like a sort of like it
felt like a hit, like you know, it was almost
impossible to adjust the everyday life when I came home. Therefore,
(06:10):
I just spent my whole life watching TV, waiting for
the next breaking new story to go. And that was
that's all I ever got used to, So any normal
life holding down relationships friendships was almost impossible. That just
became the only thing I was interested in for years.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, just gonna say, and I see a lot of
parallels between what you're saying and you know what military
personnel experience when they go to war. You get this,
You get used to that lifestyle, that adrenaline rush from
you know, being in combat and you being in the
conflict zone, or just you know, constantly moving from place
to place. Is that something that you know that has
(06:45):
rescinded it as you've gotten older, or do you still
feel like you cannot You only get this adrenaline rush
when you're traveling.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
That's a good question. I've I missed the adrenaline. I
haven't really had anything like it since quitting photojournalism back
in two thoy fifteen. It's a drug like no other.
Going to all these moments, seeing things in the way
that I did, and being fortunate to be in some
of the most remarkable circumstances and countries. Funnily enough, I
(07:18):
think running a business, which we can talk about in
a bit, has similar parallels. It's like a roller coaster,
it's up and down. It can give me the same
buzz and adrenaline rush, but it's been hard to replicate
that feeling actually, to be honest, and sometimes I get
it from Yeah, if I haven't been on a good
adventure for a long time, because I have a child now,
so it's a little bit different. But I can easily
(07:41):
replicate the feeling if I'm doing something adventurous, that's for sure,
but it has to be kind of next level exciting
for me to get that same feeling.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, I can relate. You know, in the aftermath of disasters,
there's kind of this time of resilience and recovery that
the affected community experiences. So I want to really hone
in on this. Can you highlight a story or image
that reflects the strength and hope you witness, you know
among those affected in Japan, Libya, Egypt, or anywhere else
(08:12):
that you were on assignment that has remained with you
after all these years.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yes, there's two moments that stand out. The first one
was the Japanese tsunami, and if you can imagine, this
particular town was completely obliterated by the waves and there's
just nothing left. There's like ships in people's backyards. There's
just rubble everywhere, and there's very few people around. It's
(08:38):
very eerie. There's like fish all over the ground. It's
a strange feeling. And there was a lady who quite
literally lost every single thing that she ever owned and
several members of her family. And I got a picture
of her sitting on this seat where her house would
have been, and she was one of the nicest people
(08:59):
I've ever met. It's forever stayed with me because in
some ways represents a lot of how Japanese people are
very kind of, very warm, very humble, very nice, can
easily sort of forgive and forget, and she seemed to
just be incredibly jolly and happy given these horrendous circumstances
(09:21):
around her. That person stayed in me for a very
long time. She spoke really good English and the other thing.
And it's also led to a kind of curiosity about Japan,
and I've been lucky to visit there a couple of
times since that, and I have a very good affiliation
with Japanese people and the culture. I love everything about it.
The other story that stands out was in Libya. I
(09:42):
was fortunate to be there the day that Colonel Godaffi
was killed. In fact, I went on to be the
first journalist to find Colonel Gadaffi's body, which was in
a fridge. Yeah, and it was like one gigantic party.
It was weird because we were there and we were
surrounded by bodies everywhere you look, but everyone was celebrating
(10:06):
and shooting in the air, and I was the only
journalist there to witness that, and it was like this
huge party surrounded by dead bodies. But I got to
celebrate history in the making and that that change, the
revolution and the end of Colonel Goodaffy. That was quite
an experience. I honestly can't say that I'd be rushing
back to Libya anytime soon. Things haven't improved there politically,
(10:31):
but I felt a privilege being in there in that
moment with those people. That was awesome And.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Just very quickly, I want to say, I remember the
day that he was found, and I can still picture
myself where I was when I was watching the YouTube
video of his body being dragged around, and to think
that you were in that space is.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
It's mind blowing hours later, just hours later, Yeah, like
everything was still smoking. The convoy of cars where he
was in was still was still on fire. Like it
was just there, their bodyguards everywhere. I mean, the whole
scene was just pretty much as you saw it. But
everybody was celebrating, and because I was the only a journalist,
they were just desperate to show me how happy they
were and get their pictures taken. But I that was
(11:19):
one hell of a party to be honest, which sounds
a bit gruesome, but it was. Everyone was very happy.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, LeAnn, are you surrounded by other colleagues or do
you have escorts like or is.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
It just you by yourself? In that scenario, it was
me and a journalist. It was typically two of us.
I we didn't have any kind of escort or bodyguard
or anything like that. We were just freestyling it. I
learned a lot by that experience in Libya. I learned
a lot about myself. I learned a lot about adventure,
(11:53):
taking risks, putting your trust in strangers, judging characters. There's
some great people that helped me get those images and
there's some people that I've stayed in touch with in
Libya ever since.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Yeah, when you were out there without escorts or bodyguards,
did you have like the press vest or anything of
that sort, or were you just trying to blend in
as much as possible and hopefully no one robs.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
You of your gear as much as you could, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
It was a balance. If you wore a press bullet
proof vest, you became a target. So there was often
snipers that that would look for you. So the only
time I put it on was when they were shooting
bullets in the air. That happened a lot. There was
just bullets coming down, so you just had to wear
a helmet because they would hit you on the top
of the head. So it's the only time I wore one.
(12:43):
But I was laughing because the jacket that I had
wouldn't have really sustained a bullet shot. It might have
done a light bullet, but I'm pretty sure one would
have got through it. It was quite light. But I yeah,
I did. I did have some protective equipment with me. Yeah,
I didn't know. I was a young twenty something. I
didn't have any experience, no training, and I was in
(13:04):
the middle of multiple war zones, just kind of winging it.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
To be honest, In some ways, I feel like being
that age, you're this combination of there's a little bit
of naivety with you, know, you're you're just braver. You
don't know any better, you don't have anything tying you down,
like like, for example, you having a daughter now that
I'm sure that that's crossing your mind if you were
in that same situation. Again, but I didn't know any
(13:28):
of this incredible, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I wouldn't do it now. It was a young a
great young person's job to do. And as I said,
I got to drum up one hundred countries, all expenses paid,
syd in some great hotels, all expenses met great people,
got some great images, learned a lot fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I am never going to complain about being stressed about
shooting a wedding or a corporate event ever. Again, Oh
my god, that's wild. Okay, So clearly we don't want
to make it all doom and gloom. You've been, as
you mentioned a couple of times, you've been to more
than one hundred countries. What regions of the world stand
out and for what reasons? Whether it be food, culture, landscape, climate,
(14:12):
or something else.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
This is a great question, and I've thought about it,
and I'm going to tell you one country out of
the one hundred lots. I had lots of great experiences
in lots of different countries, but there is one country
that grabbed me like no other and left a long
lasting effect, and that is India. I went to India
(14:37):
as a photojournalist after the film slum Dog Millionaire and
went to track down the kids that were in that
film and document how they live. And what's really funny
about that is that I met a lot of locals
when I was in India who said, oh, you can't
go in the slumps because it's very dangerous in there,
and they won't take too well to you going in there.
(14:57):
And of course I did really early morning. And I've
never met such a fantastic, warm, welcoming group of people
in my life, Don't get me wrong. I mean I
spent the best part of a week hanging out with
these people and saw some pretty horrible things, like they've
got a hard life if you're living in those slums,
you know, stacked up on top of each other, no money,
(15:19):
boiling hot temperatures. Life is really hard, rat infested, no toilets,
like it's pretty grim. But people were very very nice
to me, really really nice. They were so grateful that
I was there, and I then felt this close affiliation
to India. I knew I wanted to marry someone Indian.
(15:42):
I had an obsession with the music, like, really loved
the music straight at work straight away. Loved the food.
I loved it anyway, but really fell in love with
the food, and it sparks like a spirituality in me
that I didn't know existed. I got quite into interesting
reading about spirituality, meditation, and it's stayed with me for
(16:03):
ever since. I am now married to Rada, who is Indian,
and I still have a passion for all the music,
still love the food, and I've been by them multiple
times since. So it's got to be India, India, India
all the way.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
And this is maybe the third or fourth time that
someone has highlighted India as their favorite place. And the
words of Jave Laborde, who was a previous guest and
then travel psychologist, said it was your senses were just heightened.
All of your senses were heightened being in India and
for the better and so interesting. I got to put
(16:34):
it on my list.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Max.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
We've never been, but we got to maybe make an
effort to go and spend some time out there.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Now, Yeah, we'll do a culture trip absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah. Okay, that's really interesting. As John said, we've heard
it a few times, so maybe it is something that
we really need to put at the top of our list.
Because you've been to so many countries and clearly you
do love India, You've been to a wide range regarding
their cultural differences. How do you narrow it down to
which destination you're going to go to next? For personal reasons,
(17:06):
things have changed for me a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
I'm a dad, however, so from a from being a
parent perspective, there's destinations that we've been too recently which
are great, adventurous but family destinations. They include Costa Rica
Sri Lanka as two of the top top trips for
any parents out there. From a personal perspective, the one
country that I want to go with, the one continent
(17:29):
that I want to go the most is Antarctica. I
can't actually think of one place that I would prefer
to go to. I'd have to go by myself. I
would not go there with my daughter just yet. She's
only five, but I can't think of that might give
me the same adrenaline rush that I got used to
just being on that boat going over there. Yeah, I
(17:49):
really want to go there and that would that would
be top of my list right now.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
And I have to ask because I'm assuming that it's
part of the allure is that it's the last front here.
But what about entire excites you outside of being the
seventh continent that you would finally reach.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I don't know anyone that's been so Yeah, but I
like it on that. From that perspective, I I think
probably that I just want to go to a place
that not everybody's talking about and can tell me all
about it. I want to feel I want to feel
quite small and not have too many people around me.
(18:29):
And I'm also like I think, you know, having run
a successful business, a fast growth business that can be
quite stressful, I like the idea of being in a
place where I can just be silent and have some
alone time. Yeah. So Antartica jumps out, slow it down
a bit, Slow it down.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And just as a quick anecdotal story, I recently met
a photographer who did some did a shoot for Natgy,
or at least they used some of his footage while
he was down there. Interestingly enough, he went kayaking while
he was there, and you'll never imagine who his kayaking
partner was. I'm not sure if Blues Clues is a
thing in the UK, but okay, well, Steve from Blues Clues,
(19:14):
he's He's a pretty famous celebrity for almost any American
because you grow up with Steve watching this TV show,
and so it's just funny. Out of all the places
he could have ended up in, it was kayaking with
Steve from Blues Clues in Antarctica.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
But that sounds great. That sounds great.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, for ourn American listeners, that's just incredible. It's still spontaneous,
so wild, and I loved watching Steve as a kid,
so that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
But you know, now, we've talked about Rada a few
times and the company that you two have built together.
I think the origins of Flashback is something truly out
of a Netflix special or at the very least a
Hallmark movie. On your first date with Rata, you too
essentially developed the idea of creating a track company. At
least that's my understanding. Can you walk us through that
(20:03):
first date?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Sure? So, Unlike a lot of entrepreneurs, I can't sit
here and say that I've you know, always wanted to
set up a business, and you know, then I found
my big thing. I will sit here and say that
I probably got a little bit lucky, to be honest,
I went on a date on match dot Com. Met
Rada in a bar near my house. She lived a
(20:27):
couple of streets away from me, and we got on
really well straight away. We talked about our love of travel,
our love of wine, a love of adventure, shared lots
of really great stories, got on really well, and then
Rada tells me I've got this great business idea, but
I can't tell you what it is. So I was like,
come on, you've got a tarment, You've got a tarm me.
(20:48):
So she did after a couple of glasses of wine,
and absolutely it was a life changing conversation. She tells me,
you know, as a first something single, I really don't
have anyone to travel with. My friends are all busy
getting married, they're having children. I feel a little bit isolated,
(21:09):
and I went online tried to look for some kind
of group experience that might be with people my age,
but can't find anything. And in fact, she went on
a trip, a group tour with quite a big company,
and everyone was in their twenties, though much younger. I
didn't have much in common with them. They were more
about hostels rather than nice hotels. Rather, I had a
(21:30):
little bit more money, wanted to do it a bit
more style, and couldn't find a brand that really appealed
to her. So she tars with this story. I resonate
with it immediately. I'm in exactly the same position as
a bloke. My friends are getting busy, getting married, having
kids and what have you, and being a photojournalist, I
just saw this huge opportunity to storytell, which I think
(21:50):
was my superpower back in my photojournalism days, and build
a really cool, aspirational brand that would appeal to this audience.
And we spent the next seven nights, no kidding, hanging
out with each other, going on dates, and starting to
research the travel market and scoping out all our first
ideas for this business, which a decade later exists and
(22:14):
is a fast growing, successful startup.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
I mean safe to say this isn't your typical boy
meets girl going on a date. This, like I said,
something out of a Hallmark movie, and you fast forward
a few years and Rod ends up becoming your wife,
which at the time she's just someone you're going on
dates with. But as someone who has recently been married,
my wife and I can go back and forth on
(22:39):
some really simple things like where to eat, when to
go eat, how long should we leave our dog at
home before we need to get back with him or
get back to him. So I can't imagine making these
complex business and creative decisions with my spouse, at least
for the moment. Has that been difficult to navigate through
or is that a simple case of happy wife, happy life.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
You've got to ride the rollercoaster. It can be up
and down, and the beauty of it is we get
to celebrate the unbelievable highs of running a business together,
and I wouldn't want to celebrate it and go experience
with that with anybody else because there's been some amazing
moments in building our business together, and we go through
(23:23):
the harbits together as well, like a team. And there's
not much difference whether you're married with someone where you're
in the business with someone. You may all do them
both because you go through the same stuff and we're
becoming really good at it and we work well as
a team. I would say that in order to be
in business with your partner, you have to have very
clearly defined roles, just like you would at home probably
(23:43):
as well. And it's important to have a very strong network,
a good friendship network outside of your marriage, because you know,
there's some kind of lonely times in running a business
and sometimes you want to have good friendship around you
outside of your marriage as well. But we make it
work exceptionally well, and you know, I would highly recommend it.
(24:07):
If you've got a rock steady relationship and you work
exceptionally well as a team, then you should also set
up a business with your spouse.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yes, good insight.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, I feel like you're one of the few people
I've ever heard say that. So that's a breath of
fresh area there. One of the key terms that you
brought up was loneliness, and Flashpack brands itself on friendship
as the Friendship Company and aims to combat the loneliness epidemic.
Can you tell our listeners a bit more about what
the loneliness epidemic is and how Flashpack is fighting back
(24:41):
against it.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Fifty seven percent of New Yorkers in a recent health
survey said that they feel alone. And this is very
similar in every busy urban city pretty much in the world.
And it's very true that since COVID, people are feeling
more isolated than ever before. And everybody now is talking
(25:04):
about the importance of friendship on your mental wellbeing, and
we are more open with each other about our struggles
around loneliness. And there's been some recent things I've seen
where feeling lonely can be similar to the effects of smoking,
say fifteen cigarettes a day. Like we're talking about this
right now. I've got friends for the first time ever
(25:25):
who are opening up with me, having really vulnerable conversations.
Like people are just feeling like they can open up
around mental health right now. What's really interesting is there's
no brand really that's championing this space helping people form friendships.
And you guys will know from speaking to lot of
people who travel around the world that travel is like
(25:47):
no other way of building friendships. I mean, you know,
I can feel so many good friends that have been
formed from traveling, and you get to share experiences together,
create memories, and that's why flash focuses on friendship and
we're trying to solve the loneliness problem.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, and just to kind of add to that, and
I say this all the time when I'm talking to
people when they ask me what do you love about travel?
When you meet interesting people from all over the world,
different backgrounds, different ways of thinking, you also form these
lifelong bonds that you would think you've known this person
since you were you know, maids in pre k or kindergarten,
(26:26):
but in reality you've probably only known them for three
or four days. But that adventure, that experience just bonds
you for life. So I yeah, I agree. And so
you know, you wrote a blog titled Beyond Banter What
Women have taught Me about creating deep friendships? And so
I'm genuinely curious here what lessons did you personally take
(26:49):
away that prompted you to write this piece.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
I think that women are more open to friendship Generally,
women are able to have better conversations than a lot
of men, able to open up with their friends, listen, well,
be vulnerable, and from my experience personally, like I have,
(27:19):
you know, had experience with feeling lonely. For sure, I
cut off a lot of my friendship circles because around
a fast growth business and neglected friendship. I believe men
can learn a lot from women about having good conversations
and building strong friendship networks around them. So my main
(27:43):
learnings are, be vulnerable with your mates, share things that
you want to get off your chest, and be a
great listener. And yeah, just stop keeping everything to yourself
because it's a big problem. I think there's you know,
I know this is a travel cast, but I think
there's a problem with male suicide. I think there's a
(28:04):
problem with men's mental health. We're not talking enough and
we're not being open with all friends. We're not We've
got friends, but we go to the pub with them,
we talk about sport, but we don't open up. So
I think there's lots of lessons to learn beyond Banta.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah, and you know, to echo what you said. And
I don't want to sound like a parrot over here.
But there was this interesting study that I remember looking
at back in college and like a sociology class, and
they looked at the prevalence of male and women death
rates after a son or daughter have passed away in
Latino culture. Uh, maybe you're you're aware of the term machismo.
(28:41):
So you know, you internalize everything, you keep it to yourself.
You gotta be strong, and so you don't. You don't
talk about your distress or your pain when something horrific
like that happens. And what it showed or that study
showed women in Latino culture have a much longer life
expectancy after a child dies compared to the male And
(29:03):
it attributes some of this to that where it's just
like your mental health suffers because you're not sharing or
being vulnerable with people about what you're actually feeling. You're
just internalizing all this pain, and you know it contributes
to in earlier death absolutely.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
I mean, there was a great program on Netflix recently
called The Blue Zone, and it showed that the key
to longevity was strong relationships. I've actually found that Welsh
traveling quite a lot, there are certain cultures, especially in
Arabic countries, people are a little bit more like Turkey,
for example, people are much closer to family, share a
(29:42):
lot more friendships, like everything to them, it's more around
friends and family and work. Second, and I think I've
learned a lot from traveling like that as well, and
how different cultures, you know, appreciate friends and family.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Flashback has some very unique selling propositions. Well, one that
stands out is that you cater to solo travelers in
their thirties and forties. We spoke about the loneliness epidemic.
Are there other reasons why there's this specific age demographic
that you're targeting towards.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, so it was this thirties and forties year old
demographic that was totally ignored by the travel industry before
we came along back in twenty fifteen. It's this demographic
because it's the fastest growing segment of singles mostly that's
most of Flashbacks audience. It's not all about singles, but
it's a large majority. And this is because things like
(30:34):
divorce rates sky high. People are doing really well in
their careers at this point. But there was not a
travel company that existed for this demographic. So this is
why we went for the thirties and forties segment. And
I think it's helped having a really strong niche like
this and you know, fine tuning all of our marketing
and the way we're communicating to that audience. But it's
(30:57):
the most exciting audience as well. I mean, ninety percent
of our customers travel by themselves and we're eighty percent
of them keep in touch and make friends. So we
really focus on this demographic. I think that's been incredibly important.
And the beauty is because our customers can pay at
a bit more money, they want quality, especially the Americans,
or all about the good quality adventures because you get
very limited and youual leave. It means that you can
(31:19):
do epic stuff that would be very difficult to do
by yourself, like staying on your own island in Finland
so you've got like uninterrupted views of the Northern Lights.
Or there's a great experience in Tanzania where you stay
in these converted range rovers glamping kind of domes on
top and get to wake up in the morning surrounded
by wildebeest waiting for the kill. So you get to
(31:41):
do this like hard to do by yourself stuff and
meet a great group of people. Yeah. So it's all
about the quality of adventures and making those moments and
memorable experiences.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Yeah, and that's what I saw from looking at the
side and from what I know right it emphasizes boutique
accommodations and local experiences. Outside of those two experiences have
I'm curious if it has you, as you know, the
co founder, if you've gone on one of these trips
and if you can share maybe a memorable travel experience
or destination that kind of perfectly encapsulates the essence of
(32:14):
flashbacks approach to adventure travel.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Yeah, I think I've been on around fifteen flash pack
adventures with an offensive being the bus right. Yeah, not
so many more of these days, sadly, but certainly in
the early days I was traveling a lot. Some of
the greatest experiences was in Peru. This jumps out. I
really liked Peru actually, and we used to climb Rainbow Mountain.
(32:41):
It's become quite an iconic mountain now because obviously the
psychedelic colors of the Rainbow. But there's an experience that
we used to do where we would camp at the
bottom of the bottom of the mountain and then hike
really early, so you'd be the first to the top
of the mountain before lots of tourists come along. And
the group of people that I was with on that occasion,
we're fantastic and we all got on really well, and
(33:04):
you know, I'm pretty fit, Like I felt like i'd
be able to do this comfortably, but the altitude really
hit me quite hard. So actually, by the time we
got to the top of the mountain, I felt like
it was a genuine achievement. I was so pleased that
I got there because I was being sick mostly as
we got to the top of the mountain, and at
the top we all hugged each other. You could see
the sun reflecting off the mountain. That was epic, Like
(33:25):
we had a great time, and then we got off
the mountain. We went to karaoke, had some beers, sang
some really funny songs. I think Barbie Girl came up
as one of the songs for whatever reason. And it
was a blast. And I've got so many experiences like that.
Everyone jumps out and the after Karma Desert, the guide
we were with, he pretended that the bus broke down.
(33:46):
Everyone was really annoyed. We got off and he's like,
only joking. I mean, he laid this table out with
like cheese and wine, and we had this sunset just
beautifully over the top of the mountains and that was special.
Like There's been some emotional moments, and I met some
really cool people that I'd never come across normally so
it's pretty epic.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yeah, what a legend of a tour leader there.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
I love that. I was pretty angry at the moment,
but it was well executed.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, I'm sure that joke does not go over well
with some groups. I'm sure there's some people that hold
that anger tight. Just to clarify, by the way, for
people listening, Rainbow Mountain is seventeen thousand feet and fifty
two hundred meters in altitude. I would feel a little
sick after that one too. In context for Flashbacks Vision,
(34:38):
how do you foresee the future of travel evolving, especially
for solo travelers in their thirties and forties, and what
trends do you anticipate shaping the industry as a whole.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Most of the people that Flashback used to cater for
were single, but now that I'm a dad, I recognize
the important of keeping to do adventures and keeping some
alone time whilst traveling. So I would say that one
(35:08):
of the trends that we're seeing at the moment at
flash Pack is that people who are in relationships are
starting to go solo a little bit more, and that
segment's growing. So, just like you would do a kind
of golfing holiday or maybe go on a spa break
is by yourself. I really recognize the need and growing
trend to go on an adventurous holiday by yourself and
(35:29):
take a bit of time out and remember who you
used to be, remember what it feels like to have
a bit of fun, a bit of betly laughter with
a group of people. And and so I think I
can see that growing. I also think the need for
connection will keep on growing, the need to make new friends,
the recognition that travels the best way to make friends.
(35:49):
I can see that just continually grow, and people putting
more effort into surrounding themselves with great people. And I mean,
the most obvious answer to this question is artificial intelll
legence and how that's going to shape people's experiences. But
I think mostly that will enable a great personalized experience
that is perfect for you based on your needs. It
(36:11):
would just help us get better at traveling to the
right places. I think, Yeah, you you.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Bring up a great point and just the integration of
AI into you know, our society as a whole. Earlier
when you mentioned creating stories using AI that are a
kid friendly for for your daughter, you know, a light
bulb went off on the back of my head, thinking like,
what that's that's something I'm going to do. I'm mean,
they take that idea from you, That's that's smart should do.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, speaking of making travel family friendly for people who are,
you know, becoming parents or in relationships alone, Like I mean,
if you consider adventure babysitters, you know, so your kids
can be there, but you don't have to actually take
care of them all the entire time I've been thinking
about that, That's my idea. If you do it, Remember
remember this guy right.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
It's a gap in the market for that right now.
Nothing exists like that.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yeah, yeah, you heard it here, folks. That was a
Maxi Milganzalees original.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
We've had an incredible time talking to you today, and
before we run out of time, we want to do
maximize favorite segment. It's a little bit of a rapid
fire process. We're going to ask you five questions in
quick succession, answer as quickly as you can.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Are you ready ready?
Speaker 1 (37:31):
This is coming straight from Max cannon nikon Sony Olympus,
Fuji or something else.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
The truth is, I don't care all that much. It's
not really about the camera. It's about the storytelling and
been in the right place at the right time. However,
I do own a fuji because it's light, it's cool,
But I've got my eyes on a likea because it's sexier. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Yeah, I had a feeling I should have included.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
It country with the best food, and you can't say
India because I think you were about to say that.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Yeah, I was about to say India. There's a country
that jumps out as great food, then as the second best,
which would be I had great food in Lebanon. That's
not the first time we've heard that, correct, great food.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
I'm genuinely interested in this next one. Where have you
experienced the most culture shock?
Speaker 3 (38:27):
Again, I was going to say India, but to give
you a different ants spent a lot of time in
some places that really suffer from a lot of poverty,
like Kenya for example, and seeing a lot of things
about the way people live that was a shock to
the system and still remains with me today. Yeah, so
(38:47):
I'm going to say Kenya jumps out.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Interesting best beverage you've had abroad, alcoholic or otherwise.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
So there's this drink call let me if I can say
it right. Jelavina and it's in Finland, and it's like
a sort of cognac drink, and when it's kind of
like minus ten minus twenty, it's the perfect drink to
sit around the fire whilst trying to look out for
the northern lights, which by the way, I've been to
the Arctic about eight times and only seen them once.
(39:21):
But it's still the greatest drink in that moment.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
I've never heard of that drink, have you.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Mex No, I don't believe so, but it sounds I mean,
you've pinted the picture. It reminds me of being, you know,
in the snow, of snowboarding and having a nice whiskey
or bourbon I used to around the campfire, but even
more relaxing and rewarding.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
So exactly, here's a funny one for you early. What
dish state you prepare is Rada's favorite.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Rada and I love going to Spain. We really love Spain.
In fact, we want to live there one day.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
I got a bad place to be.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
It's a great place to be, great all year round temperature,
great food, great people, slow cooked lamb Spanish style like
with butter beans and stuff like the peppers. It's great
it's fantastic and great wine as well. There's a Spanish
wine called Ribera del duero and it's it's beautiful red wine.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
You heard it here first, And I'm kind of cheating here,
but I want to add a sixth question. Hopefully it
doesn't throw you off too much, But what advice would
you give someone that is starting their own business as
someone who has gone through, as you said, a rollercoaster
of a ride for the last decade.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
Okay, give me a second with I would say start today.
The hardest bit is starting, and I would also say
continue your day job as long as you can to
support that business while you get it going. Far too
many companies just think I'm going to go in fundraise
(40:54):
and think of loads of reasons why they couldn't start
the business, so therefore they never do it. But even
if I was to start again all over tomorrow, I
would do exactly what we did last time.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I mean, I ran my.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
Photography business on the side for the best part of
a year and a half where we built built flash
pack up and that enabled us to hustle like crazy,
and I believe that's the best way to run a business.
So that's exactly what you should do? Great advice.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
Yeah, yeah, I love it, Lee. The conversation has been
absolutely amazing. It's been an honor having you on the
show and just so much valuable information insight, and I
just really enjoyed this conversation. So thank you so much
for being a guest on our show and providing our
listeners with a deeper insight on both you and Flashpack alike.
(41:47):
If our listeners want to learn a bit more about
you and Flashpack, where can they find you?
Speaker 3 (41:52):
Best place for be on Instagram I'm flash back, Lee,
That would be the best place to connect.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
Cool and you can find out a little bit more
about us by visiting our website at www dot gtspodcast
dot com. You can find us on Instagram or Facebook
at Globetrotter's podcast x at globetrot Pod. Make sure you
drop us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if
you enjoyed listening to this conversation.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Editing on this podcast was done by our very own
Johnathan Otero.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
Until next time,
You're listening to the Globetrotters podcast. Today we have an
exciting episode for you. I'm your host John O'to.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
And I'm Maxim Noganzalez and.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Today we'll be speaking with Lee Thompson, co founder and
chief marketing officer of Flashback, and award winning travel company
that brings solo travelers in their thirties and forties together.
Partnering with his wife Rada, they've spent the last decade
creating a brand that doesn't conform to the cliches of
group travel. But prior to Flashback, Lee spent fourteen years
(00:43):
working as a photo journalist for national newspapers, covering stories
from the Libyan Civil War to the fallout of the
Japanese tsunami. He's a diehard adventuress who has been to
more than one hundred countries. One hundred, Lee, it's a
pleasure to have you.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
On the show. Thanks so howving me Lee.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We can spend the entire time talking about Flashpack or
your fourteen year career as a photo journalist, but first
let's take it way back. I'm curious what did the younger,
maybe even child like Lee Thompson want to be when
he grew up.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
He didn't know, That's the honest answer. I struggled to
find my way when I was younger, struggled academically, failed
everything at school. But I was inspired by my dad,
who ran a business and always used to go into
his office with admiration and be inspired by what he
(01:33):
was creating. So I felt this kind of in a
drive to be successful and a passion for photography led
me loved me on a career path. But honestly, back then,
all the way up until the age of twenty, I
hadn't traveled anywhere and was struggling to find my way.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I didn't know that. So when you started traveling, that's
around the same time that I started to as well,
at least Internashley.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, I've been to Spain a couple of times on
family holidays, but never never be on that I would.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Have gotten a impression with one hundred countries that it
would have been an earlier start. But it's very refreshing
to hear that that we're all on the same page
there and anything's possible. Apparently absolutely. Yeah. So when did
your photo photojournalism journey beget So.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
I started to get into photography as a hobby because
my dad was really into it. And I remember the
day very well. It was the last day of school.
I was about to leave age sixteen, and I had
this big idea that I was going to be a
photographer and that I was going to travel the world
doing really cool stuff. And it was this kind of
drive to be successful at that And it started out
(02:47):
on a local newspaper in my home city of Chester
in the UK, doing very very local things, which was
just still exciting because I got to build up a
really good network, but it very quickly led onto national
and international stories and I found myself traveling the world,
(03:09):
like clocked up one hundred countries in ten years, and
my life was full of exciting projects working for national
international media.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
How often were you traveling we at that point in
time are we talking about you know, you're going in
between countries like two three countries in a week.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, I mean pretty much every week I was on
a plane to somewhere. Sometimes all the trips came in
one go. Sometimes there's a bit of gaps between them.
I can remember one example where I mean. The thing
about it is I became a yes person. I was
a freelance photojournalist. But whenever something happened and there was
a breaking news story and it was on the news,
(03:51):
I either called up and said, get me on the plane.
I'm up for it, or they would call me. And
I remember one circumstance where I was in India. I
came back from India, touchdown at Gatwick and I was
asked to go to Kenya, and on the way back
from Kenya like a midway stop off point, I can't
remember I was, they asked me to go to Austria.
Like this, This is what my life was like. I
(04:12):
lived out of a suitcase and I lived from story
to story and that was my life. That's what I
became really addicted to.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Actually, And you know, we've heard a lot on this
podcast about the yes mentality, and I'm off for it.
And obviously in your career as a photo journalist you
had some very interesting assignments we already mentioned. You know,
you covered the Libyan Civil War. Still being a journalist
in a war zone. I've never done it, but I
can imagine that it's rough and tough. You're sharing the
(04:42):
stories of people that have been devastated with the loss
that we can't even imagine. Or comprehend what emotional impact
does that have on you.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
At the time, I was a twenty something and I
just saw this as exciting. I was given so much
opportunity to you know, just back in twenty eleven, I
covered the Egyptian Revolution, Japanese tsunami, it was an earthquake
in Turkey, and went to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, just from
(05:14):
dangerous place to dangerous place, and I just saw it
as the most exciting thing ever and was just felt
like I was blessed with this opportunity. I would say
that at the time I didn't suffer from the things
that I saw or did, but looking back, I probably
did struggle with what I saw and what I photographed
(05:38):
and witnessed, and in some degree still suffered from the
consequences of what I experienced.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Now you know, I'm a photographer too, and I just
I couldn't imagine going through that.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
I was just going to say, like, it's I think
that reflecting back, the biggest thing that I struggled with,
bizarrely was and a kind of an addiction. It felt
like a it felt like a sort of like it
felt like a hit, like you know, it was almost
impossible to adjust the everyday life when I came home. Therefore,
(06:10):
I just spent my whole life watching TV, waiting for
the next breaking new story to go. And that was
that's all I ever got used to, So any normal
life holding down relationships friendships was almost impossible. That just
became the only thing I was interested in for years.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, just gonna say, and I see a lot of
parallels between what you're saying and you know what military
personnel experience when they go to war. You get this,
You get used to that lifestyle, that adrenaline rush from
you know, being in combat and you being in the
conflict zone, or just you know, constantly moving from place
to place. Is that something that you know that has
(06:45):
rescinded it as you've gotten older, or do you still
feel like you cannot You only get this adrenaline rush
when you're traveling.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
That's a good question. I've I missed the adrenaline. I
haven't really had anything like it since quitting photojournalism back
in two thoy fifteen. It's a drug like no other.
Going to all these moments, seeing things in the way
that I did, and being fortunate to be in some
of the most remarkable circumstances and countries. Funnily enough, I
(07:18):
think running a business, which we can talk about in
a bit, has similar parallels. It's like a roller coaster,
it's up and down. It can give me the same
buzz and adrenaline rush, but it's been hard to replicate
that feeling actually, to be honest, and sometimes I get
it from Yeah, if I haven't been on a good
adventure for a long time, because I have a child now,
so it's a little bit different. But I can easily
(07:41):
replicate the feeling if I'm doing something adventurous, that's for sure,
but it has to be kind of next level exciting
for me to get that same feeling.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Yeah, I can relate. You know, in the aftermath of disasters,
there's kind of this time of resilience and recovery that
the affected community experiences. So I want to really hone
in on this. Can you highlight a story or image
that reflects the strength and hope you witness, you know
among those affected in Japan, Libya, Egypt, or anywhere else
(08:12):
that you were on assignment that has remained with you
after all these years.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yes, there's two moments that stand out. The first one
was the Japanese tsunami, and if you can imagine, this
particular town was completely obliterated by the waves and there's
just nothing left. There's like ships in people's backyards. There's
just rubble everywhere, and there's very few people around. It's
(08:38):
very eerie. There's like fish all over the ground. It's
a strange feeling. And there was a lady who quite
literally lost every single thing that she ever owned and
several members of her family. And I got a picture
of her sitting on this seat where her house would
have been, and she was one of the nicest people
(08:59):
I've ever met. It's forever stayed with me because in
some ways represents a lot of how Japanese people are
very kind of, very warm, very humble, very nice, can
easily sort of forgive and forget, and she seemed to
just be incredibly jolly and happy given these horrendous circumstances
(09:21):
around her. That person stayed in me for a very
long time. She spoke really good English and the other thing.
And it's also led to a kind of curiosity about Japan,
and I've been lucky to visit there a couple of
times since that, and I have a very good affiliation
with Japanese people and the culture. I love everything about it.
The other story that stands out was in Libya. I
(09:42):
was fortunate to be there the day that Colonel Godaffi
was killed. In fact, I went on to be the
first journalist to find Colonel Gadaffi's body, which was in
a fridge. Yeah, and it was like one gigantic party.
It was weird because we were there and we were
surrounded by bodies everywhere you look, but everyone was celebrating
(10:06):
and shooting in the air, and I was the only
journalist there to witness that, and it was like this
huge party surrounded by dead bodies. But I got to
celebrate history in the making and that that change, the
revolution and the end of Colonel Goodaffy. That was quite
an experience. I honestly can't say that I'd be rushing
back to Libya anytime soon. Things haven't improved there politically,
(10:31):
but I felt a privilege being in there in that
moment with those people. That was awesome And.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Just very quickly, I want to say, I remember the
day that he was found, and I can still picture
myself where I was when I was watching the YouTube
video of his body being dragged around, and to think
that you were in that space is.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
It's mind blowing hours later, just hours later, Yeah, like
everything was still smoking. The convoy of cars where he
was in was still was still on fire. Like it
was just there, their bodyguards everywhere. I mean, the whole
scene was just pretty much as you saw it. But
everybody was celebrating, and because I was the only a journalist,
they were just desperate to show me how happy they
were and get their pictures taken. But I that was
(11:19):
one hell of a party to be honest, which sounds
a bit gruesome, but it was. Everyone was very happy.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, LeAnn, are you surrounded by other colleagues or do
you have escorts like or is.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
It just you by yourself? In that scenario, it was
me and a journalist. It was typically two of us.
I we didn't have any kind of escort or bodyguard
or anything like that. We were just freestyling it. I
learned a lot by that experience in Libya. I learned
a lot about myself. I learned a lot about adventure,
(11:53):
taking risks, putting your trust in strangers, judging characters. There's
some great people that helped me get those images and
there's some people that I've stayed in touch with in
Libya ever since.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Yeah, when you were out there without escorts or bodyguards,
did you have like the press vest or anything of
that sort, or were you just trying to blend in
as much as possible and hopefully no one robs.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
You of your gear as much as you could, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
It was a balance. If you wore a press bullet
proof vest, you became a target. So there was often
snipers that that would look for you. So the only
time I put it on was when they were shooting
bullets in the air. That happened a lot. There was
just bullets coming down, so you just had to wear
a helmet because they would hit you on the top
of the head. So it's the only time I wore one.
(12:43):
But I was laughing because the jacket that I had
wouldn't have really sustained a bullet shot. It might have
done a light bullet, but I'm pretty sure one would
have got through it. It was quite light. But I yeah,
I did. I did have some protective equipment with me. Yeah,
I didn't know. I was a young twenty something. I
didn't have any experience, no training, and I was in
(13:04):
the middle of multiple war zones, just kind of winging it.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
To be honest, In some ways, I feel like being
that age, you're this combination of there's a little bit
of naivety with you, know, you're you're just braver. You
don't know any better, you don't have anything tying you down,
like like, for example, you having a daughter now that
I'm sure that that's crossing your mind if you were
in that same situation. Again, but I didn't know any
(13:28):
of this incredible, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
I wouldn't do it now. It was a young a
great young person's job to do. And as I said,
I got to drum up one hundred countries, all expenses paid,
syd in some great hotels, all expenses met great people,
got some great images, learned a lot fantastic. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I am never going to complain about being stressed about
shooting a wedding or a corporate event ever. Again, Oh
my god, that's wild. Okay, So clearly we don't want
to make it all doom and gloom. You've been, as
you mentioned a couple of times, you've been to more
than one hundred countries. What regions of the world stand
out and for what reasons? Whether it be food, culture, landscape, climate,
(14:12):
or something else.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
This is a great question, and I've thought about it,
and I'm going to tell you one country out of
the one hundred lots. I had lots of great experiences
in lots of different countries, but there is one country
that grabbed me like no other and left a long
lasting effect, and that is India. I went to India
(14:37):
as a photojournalist after the film slum Dog Millionaire and
went to track down the kids that were in that
film and document how they live. And what's really funny
about that is that I met a lot of locals
when I was in India who said, oh, you can't
go in the slumps because it's very dangerous in there,
and they won't take too well to you going in there.
(14:57):
And of course I did really early morning. And I've
never met such a fantastic, warm, welcoming group of people
in my life, Don't get me wrong. I mean I
spent the best part of a week hanging out with
these people and saw some pretty horrible things, like they've
got a hard life if you're living in those slums,
you know, stacked up on top of each other, no money,
(15:19):
boiling hot temperatures. Life is really hard, rat infested, no toilets,
like it's pretty grim. But people were very very nice
to me, really really nice. They were so grateful that
I was there, and I then felt this close affiliation
to India. I knew I wanted to marry someone Indian.
(15:42):
I had an obsession with the music, like, really loved
the music straight at work straight away. Loved the food.
I loved it anyway, but really fell in love with
the food, and it sparks like a spirituality in me
that I didn't know existed. I got quite into interesting
reading about spirituality, meditation, and it's stayed with me for
(16:03):
ever since. I am now married to Rada, who is Indian,
and I still have a passion for all the music,
still love the food, and I've been by them multiple
times since. So it's got to be India, India, India
all the way.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
And this is maybe the third or fourth time that
someone has highlighted India as their favorite place. And the
words of Jave Laborde, who was a previous guest and
then travel psychologist, said it was your senses were just heightened.
All of your senses were heightened being in India and
for the better and so interesting. I got to put
(16:34):
it on my list.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Max.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
We've never been, but we got to maybe make an
effort to go and spend some time out there.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Now, Yeah, we'll do a culture trip absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah. Okay, that's really interesting. As John said, we've heard
it a few times, so maybe it is something that
we really need to put at the top of our list.
Because you've been to so many countries and clearly you
do love India, You've been to a wide range regarding
their cultural differences. How do you narrow it down to
which destination you're going to go to next? For personal reasons,
(17:06):
things have changed for me a little bit.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
I'm a dad, however, so from a from being a
parent perspective, there's destinations that we've been too recently which
are great, adventurous but family destinations. They include Costa Rica
Sri Lanka as two of the top top trips for
any parents out there. From a personal perspective, the one
country that I want to go with, the one continent
(17:29):
that I want to go the most is Antarctica. I
can't actually think of one place that I would prefer
to go to. I'd have to go by myself. I
would not go there with my daughter just yet. She's
only five, but I can't think of that might give
me the same adrenaline rush that I got used to
just being on that boat going over there. Yeah, I
(17:49):
really want to go there and that would that would
be top of my list right now.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
And I have to ask because I'm assuming that it's
part of the allure is that it's the last front here.
But what about entire excites you outside of being the
seventh continent that you would finally reach.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I don't know anyone that's been so Yeah, but I
like it on that. From that perspective, I I think
probably that I just want to go to a place
that not everybody's talking about and can tell me all
about it. I want to feel I want to feel
quite small and not have too many people around me.
(18:29):
And I'm also like I think, you know, having run
a successful business, a fast growth business that can be
quite stressful, I like the idea of being in a
place where I can just be silent and have some
alone time. Yeah. So Antartica jumps out, slow it down
a bit, Slow it down.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And just as a quick anecdotal story, I recently met
a photographer who did some did a shoot for Natgy,
or at least they used some of his footage while
he was down there. Interestingly enough, he went kayaking while
he was there, and you'll never imagine who his kayaking
partner was. I'm not sure if Blues Clues is a
thing in the UK, but okay, well, Steve from Blues Clues,
(19:14):
he's He's a pretty famous celebrity for almost any American
because you grow up with Steve watching this TV show,
and so it's just funny. Out of all the places
he could have ended up in, it was kayaking with
Steve from Blues Clues in Antarctica.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
But that sounds great. That sounds great.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Yeah, for ourn American listeners, that's just incredible. It's still spontaneous,
so wild, and I loved watching Steve as a kid,
so that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
But you know, now, we've talked about Rada a few
times and the company that you two have built together.
I think the origins of Flashback is something truly out
of a Netflix special or at the very least a
Hallmark movie. On your first date with Rata, you too
essentially developed the idea of creating a track company. At
least that's my understanding. Can you walk us through that
(20:03):
first date?
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Sure? So, Unlike a lot of entrepreneurs, I can't sit
here and say that I've you know, always wanted to
set up a business, and you know, then I found
my big thing. I will sit here and say that
I probably got a little bit lucky, to be honest,
I went on a date on match dot Com. Met
Rada in a bar near my house. She lived a
(20:27):
couple of streets away from me, and we got on
really well straight away. We talked about our love of travel,
our love of wine, a love of adventure, shared lots
of really great stories, got on really well, and then
Rada tells me I've got this great business idea, but
I can't tell you what it is. So I was like,
come on, you've got a tarment, You've got a tarm me.
(20:48):
So she did after a couple of glasses of wine,
and absolutely it was a life changing conversation. She tells me,
you know, as a first something single, I really don't
have anyone to travel with. My friends are all busy
getting married, they're having children. I feel a little bit isolated,
(21:09):
and I went online tried to look for some kind
of group experience that might be with people my age,
but can't find anything. And in fact, she went on
a trip, a group tour with quite a big company,
and everyone was in their twenties, though much younger. I
didn't have much in common with them. They were more
about hostels rather than nice hotels. Rather, I had a
(21:30):
little bit more money, wanted to do it a bit
more style, and couldn't find a brand that really appealed
to her. So she tars with this story. I resonate
with it immediately. I'm in exactly the same position as
a bloke. My friends are getting busy, getting married, having
kids and what have you, and being a photojournalist, I
just saw this huge opportunity to storytell, which I think
(21:50):
was my superpower back in my photojournalism days, and build
a really cool, aspirational brand that would appeal to this audience.
And we spent the next seven nights, no kidding, hanging
out with each other, going on dates, and starting to
research the travel market and scoping out all our first
ideas for this business, which a decade later exists and
(22:14):
is a fast growing, successful startup.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
I mean safe to say this isn't your typical boy
meets girl going on a date. This, like I said,
something out of a Hallmark movie, and you fast forward
a few years and Rod ends up becoming your wife,
which at the time she's just someone you're going on
dates with. But as someone who has recently been married,
my wife and I can go back and forth on
(22:39):
some really simple things like where to eat, when to
go eat, how long should we leave our dog at
home before we need to get back with him or
get back to him. So I can't imagine making these
complex business and creative decisions with my spouse, at least
for the moment. Has that been difficult to navigate through
or is that a simple case of happy wife, happy life.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
You've got to ride the rollercoaster. It can be up
and down, and the beauty of it is we get
to celebrate the unbelievable highs of running a business together,
and I wouldn't want to celebrate it and go experience
with that with anybody else because there's been some amazing
moments in building our business together, and we go through
(23:23):
the harbits together as well, like a team. And there's
not much difference whether you're married with someone where you're
in the business with someone. You may all do them
both because you go through the same stuff and we're
becoming really good at it and we work well as
a team. I would say that in order to be
in business with your partner, you have to have very
clearly defined roles, just like you would at home probably
(23:43):
as well. And it's important to have a very strong network,
a good friendship network outside of your marriage, because you know,
there's some kind of lonely times in running a business
and sometimes you want to have good friendship around you
outside of your marriage as well. But we make it
work exceptionally well, and you know, I would highly recommend it.
(24:07):
If you've got a rock steady relationship and you work
exceptionally well as a team, then you should also set
up a business with your spouse.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Yes, good insight.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Yeah, I feel like you're one of the few people
I've ever heard say that. So that's a breath of
fresh area there. One of the key terms that you
brought up was loneliness, and Flashpack brands itself on friendship
as the Friendship Company and aims to combat the loneliness epidemic.
Can you tell our listeners a bit more about what
the loneliness epidemic is and how Flashpack is fighting back
(24:41):
against it.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Fifty seven percent of New Yorkers in a recent health
survey said that they feel alone. And this is very
similar in every busy urban city pretty much in the world.
And it's very true that since COVID, people are feeling
more isolated than ever before. And everybody now is talking
(25:04):
about the importance of friendship on your mental wellbeing, and
we are more open with each other about our struggles
around loneliness. And there's been some recent things I've seen
where feeling lonely can be similar to the effects of smoking,
say fifteen cigarettes a day. Like we're talking about this
right now. I've got friends for the first time ever
(25:25):
who are opening up with me, having really vulnerable conversations.
Like people are just feeling like they can open up
around mental health right now. What's really interesting is there's
no brand really that's championing this space helping people form friendships.
And you guys will know from speaking to lot of
people who travel around the world that travel is like
(25:47):
no other way of building friendships. I mean, you know,
I can feel so many good friends that have been
formed from traveling, and you get to share experiences together,
create memories, and that's why flash focuses on friendship and
we're trying to solve the loneliness problem.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, and just to kind of add to that, and
I say this all the time when I'm talking to
people when they ask me what do you love about travel?
When you meet interesting people from all over the world,
different backgrounds, different ways of thinking, you also form these
lifelong bonds that you would think you've known this person
since you were you know, maids in pre k or kindergarten,
(26:26):
but in reality you've probably only known them for three
or four days. But that adventure, that experience just bonds
you for life. So I yeah, I agree. And so
you know, you wrote a blog titled Beyond Banter What
Women have taught Me about creating deep friendships? And so
I'm genuinely curious here what lessons did you personally take
(26:49):
away that prompted you to write this piece.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
I think that women are more open to friendship Generally,
women are able to have better conversations than a lot
of men, able to open up with their friends, listen, well,
be vulnerable, and from my experience personally, like I have,
(27:19):
you know, had experience with feeling lonely. For sure, I
cut off a lot of my friendship circles because around
a fast growth business and neglected friendship. I believe men
can learn a lot from women about having good conversations
and building strong friendship networks around them. So my main
(27:43):
learnings are, be vulnerable with your mates, share things that
you want to get off your chest, and be a
great listener. And yeah, just stop keeping everything to yourself
because it's a big problem. I think there's you know,
I know this is a travel cast, but I think
there's a problem with male suicide. I think there's a
(28:04):
problem with men's mental health. We're not talking enough and
we're not being open with all friends. We're not We've
got friends, but we go to the pub with them,
we talk about sport, but we don't open up. So
I think there's lots of lessons to learn beyond Banta.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Yeah, and you know, to echo what you said. And
I don't want to sound like a parrot over here.
But there was this interesting study that I remember looking
at back in college and like a sociology class, and
they looked at the prevalence of male and women death
rates after a son or daughter have passed away in
Latino culture. Uh, maybe you're you're aware of the term machismo.
(28:41):
So you know, you internalize everything, you keep it to yourself.
You gotta be strong, and so you don't. You don't
talk about your distress or your pain when something horrific
like that happens. And what it showed or that study
showed women in Latino culture have a much longer life
expectancy after a child dies compared to the male And
(29:03):
it attributes some of this to that where it's just
like your mental health suffers because you're not sharing or
being vulnerable with people about what you're actually feeling. You're
just internalizing all this pain, and you know it contributes
to in earlier death absolutely.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
I mean, there was a great program on Netflix recently
called The Blue Zone, and it showed that the key
to longevity was strong relationships. I've actually found that Welsh
traveling quite a lot, there are certain cultures, especially in
Arabic countries, people are a little bit more like Turkey,
for example, people are much closer to family, share a
(29:42):
lot more friendships, like everything to them, it's more around
friends and family and work. Second, and I think I've
learned a lot from traveling like that as well, and
how different cultures, you know, appreciate friends and family.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Flashback has some very unique selling propositions. Well, one that
stands out is that you cater to solo travelers in
their thirties and forties. We spoke about the loneliness epidemic.
Are there other reasons why there's this specific age demographic
that you're targeting towards.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Yeah, so it was this thirties and forties year old
demographic that was totally ignored by the travel industry before
we came along back in twenty fifteen. It's this demographic
because it's the fastest growing segment of singles mostly that's
most of Flashbacks audience. It's not all about singles, but
it's a large majority. And this is because things like
(30:34):
divorce rates sky high. People are doing really well in
their careers at this point. But there was not a
travel company that existed for this demographic. So this is
why we went for the thirties and forties segment. And
I think it's helped having a really strong niche like
this and you know, fine tuning all of our marketing
and the way we're communicating to that audience. But it's
(30:57):
the most exciting audience as well. I mean, ninety percent
of our customers travel by themselves and we're eighty percent
of them keep in touch and make friends. So we
really focus on this demographic. I think that's been incredibly important.
And the beauty is because our customers can pay at
a bit more money, they want quality, especially the Americans,
or all about the good quality adventures because you get
very limited and youual leave. It means that you can
(31:19):
do epic stuff that would be very difficult to do
by yourself, like staying on your own island in Finland
so you've got like uninterrupted views of the Northern Lights.
Or there's a great experience in Tanzania where you stay
in these converted range rovers glamping kind of domes on
top and get to wake up in the morning surrounded
by wildebeest waiting for the kill. So you get to
(31:41):
do this like hard to do by yourself stuff and
meet a great group of people. Yeah. So it's all
about the quality of adventures and making those moments and
memorable experiences.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Yeah, and that's what I saw from looking at the
side and from what I know right it emphasizes boutique
accommodations and local experiences. Outside of those two experiences have
I'm curious if it has you, as you know, the
co founder, if you've gone on one of these trips
and if you can share maybe a memorable travel experience
or destination that kind of perfectly encapsulates the essence of
(32:14):
flashbacks approach to adventure travel.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Yeah, I think I've been on around fifteen flash pack
adventures with an offensive being the bus right. Yeah, not
so many more of these days, sadly, but certainly in
the early days I was traveling a lot. Some of
the greatest experiences was in Peru. This jumps out. I
really liked Peru actually, and we used to climb Rainbow Mountain.
(32:41):
It's become quite an iconic mountain now because obviously the
psychedelic colors of the Rainbow. But there's an experience that
we used to do where we would camp at the
bottom of the bottom of the mountain and then hike
really early, so you'd be the first to the top
of the mountain before lots of tourists come along. And
the group of people that I was with on that occasion,
we're fantastic and we all got on really well, and
(33:04):
you know, I'm pretty fit, Like I felt like i'd
be able to do this comfortably, but the altitude really
hit me quite hard. So actually, by the time we
got to the top of the mountain, I felt like
it was a genuine achievement. I was so pleased that
I got there because I was being sick mostly as
we got to the top of the mountain, and at
the top we all hugged each other. You could see
the sun reflecting off the mountain. That was epic, Like
(33:25):
we had a great time, and then we got off
the mountain. We went to karaoke, had some beers, sang
some really funny songs. I think Barbie Girl came up
as one of the songs for whatever reason. And it
was a blast. And I've got so many experiences like that.
Everyone jumps out and the after Karma Desert, the guide
we were with, he pretended that the bus broke down.
(33:46):
Everyone was really annoyed. We got off and he's like,
only joking. I mean, he laid this table out with
like cheese and wine, and we had this sunset just
beautifully over the top of the mountains and that was special.
Like There's been some emotional moments, and I met some
really cool people that I'd never come across normally so
it's pretty epic.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yeah, what a legend of a tour leader there.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
I love that. I was pretty angry at the moment,
but it was well executed.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Yeah, I'm sure that joke does not go over well
with some groups. I'm sure there's some people that hold
that anger tight. Just to clarify, by the way, for
people listening, Rainbow Mountain is seventeen thousand feet and fifty
two hundred meters in altitude. I would feel a little
sick after that one too. In context for Flashbacks Vision,
(34:38):
how do you foresee the future of travel evolving, especially
for solo travelers in their thirties and forties, and what
trends do you anticipate shaping the industry as a whole.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Most of the people that Flashback used to cater for
were single, but now that I'm a dad, I recognize
the important of keeping to do adventures and keeping some
alone time whilst traveling. So I would say that one
(35:08):
of the trends that we're seeing at the moment at
flash Pack is that people who are in relationships are
starting to go solo a little bit more, and that
segment's growing. So, just like you would do a kind
of golfing holiday or maybe go on a spa break
is by yourself. I really recognize the need and growing
trend to go on an adventurous holiday by yourself and
(35:29):
take a bit of time out and remember who you
used to be, remember what it feels like to have
a bit of fun, a bit of betly laughter with
a group of people. And and so I think I
can see that growing. I also think the need for
connection will keep on growing, the need to make new friends,
the recognition that travels the best way to make friends.
(35:49):
I can see that just continually grow, and people putting
more effort into surrounding themselves with great people. And I mean,
the most obvious answer to this question is artificial intelll
legence and how that's going to shape people's experiences. But
I think mostly that will enable a great personalized experience
that is perfect for you based on your needs. It
(36:11):
would just help us get better at traveling to the
right places. I think, Yeah, you you.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Bring up a great point and just the integration of
AI into you know, our society as a whole. Earlier
when you mentioned creating stories using AI that are a
kid friendly for for your daughter, you know, a light
bulb went off on the back of my head, thinking like,
what that's that's something I'm going to do. I'm mean,
they take that idea from you, That's that's smart should do.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Yeah, speaking of making travel family friendly for people who are,
you know, becoming parents or in relationships alone, Like I mean,
if you consider adventure babysitters, you know, so your kids
can be there, but you don't have to actually take
care of them all the entire time I've been thinking
about that, That's my idea. If you do it, Remember
remember this guy right.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
It's a gap in the market for that right now.
Nothing exists like that.
Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yeah, yeah, you heard it here, folks. That was a
Maxi Milganzalees original.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
We've had an incredible time talking to you today, and
before we run out of time, we want to do
maximize favorite segment. It's a little bit of a rapid
fire process. We're going to ask you five questions in
quick succession, answer as quickly as you can.
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Are you ready ready?
Speaker 1 (37:31):
This is coming straight from Max cannon nikon Sony Olympus,
Fuji or something else.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
The truth is, I don't care all that much. It's
not really about the camera. It's about the storytelling and
been in the right place at the right time. However,
I do own a fuji because it's light, it's cool,
But I've got my eyes on a likea because it's sexier. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
Yeah, I had a feeling I should have included.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
It country with the best food, and you can't say
India because I think you were about to say that.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Yeah, I was about to say India. There's a country
that jumps out as great food, then as the second best,
which would be I had great food in Lebanon. That's
not the first time we've heard that, correct, great food.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
I'm genuinely interested in this next one. Where have you
experienced the most culture shock?
Speaker 3 (38:27):
Again, I was going to say India, but to give
you a different ants spent a lot of time in
some places that really suffer from a lot of poverty,
like Kenya for example, and seeing a lot of things
about the way people live that was a shock to
the system and still remains with me today. Yeah, so
(38:47):
I'm going to say Kenya jumps out.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
Interesting best beverage you've had abroad, alcoholic or otherwise.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
So there's this drink call let me if I can say
it right. Jelavina and it's in Finland, and it's like
a sort of cognac drink, and when it's kind of
like minus ten minus twenty, it's the perfect drink to
sit around the fire whilst trying to look out for
the northern lights, which by the way, I've been to
the Arctic about eight times and only seen them once.
(39:21):
But it's still the greatest drink in that moment.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
I've never heard of that drink, have you.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Mex No, I don't believe so, but it sounds I mean,
you've pinted the picture. It reminds me of being, you know,
in the snow, of snowboarding and having a nice whiskey
or bourbon I used to around the campfire, but even
more relaxing and rewarding.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
So exactly, here's a funny one for you early. What
dish state you prepare is Rada's favorite.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Rada and I love going to Spain. We really love Spain.
In fact, we want to live there one day.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
I got a bad place to be.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
It's a great place to be, great all year round temperature,
great food, great people, slow cooked lamb Spanish style like
with butter beans and stuff like the peppers. It's great
it's fantastic and great wine as well. There's a Spanish
wine called Ribera del duero and it's it's beautiful red wine.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
You heard it here first, And I'm kind of cheating here,
but I want to add a sixth question. Hopefully it
doesn't throw you off too much, But what advice would
you give someone that is starting their own business as
someone who has gone through, as you said, a rollercoaster
of a ride for the last decade.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
Okay, give me a second with I would say start today.
The hardest bit is starting, and I would also say
continue your day job as long as you can to
support that business while you get it going. Far too
many companies just think I'm going to go in fundraise
(40:54):
and think of loads of reasons why they couldn't start
the business, so therefore they never do it. But even
if I was to start again all over tomorrow, I
would do exactly what we did last time.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I mean, I ran my.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
Photography business on the side for the best part of
a year and a half where we built built flash
pack up and that enabled us to hustle like crazy,
and I believe that's the best way to run a business.
So that's exactly what you should do? Great advice.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
Yeah, yeah, I love it, Lee. The conversation has been
absolutely amazing. It's been an honor having you on the
show and just so much valuable information insight, and I
just really enjoyed this conversation. So thank you so much
for being a guest on our show and providing our
listeners with a deeper insight on both you and Flashpack alike.
(41:47):
If our listeners want to learn a bit more about
you and Flashpack, where can they find you?
Speaker 3 (41:52):
Best place for be on Instagram I'm flash back, Lee,
That would be the best place to connect.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
Cool and you can find out a little bit more
about us by visiting our website at www dot gtspodcast
dot com. You can find us on Instagram or Facebook
at Globetrotter's podcast x at globetrot Pod. Make sure you
drop us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if
you enjoyed listening to this conversation.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Editing on this podcast was done by our very own
Johnathan Otero.
Speaker 3 (42:23):
Until next time,
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