The Team

Leaving a legal career behind, Tim discovered his love for travel when back-packing around Thailand & Hong Kong in the early 90s. On that trip he became enthralled with the wonderful combination of culture, food, scenery, people and beaches that the region has to offer and shortly afterwards joined one of the UK’s leading long haul tour operators. Since then Tim has devoted much of his professional and leisure time to travelling in the Far East and has developed a great passion for, and expertise in, the region. In 2006 Tim seized the opportunity to set up Bamboo Travel, a niche tour operator specializing in private cultural holidays to the Far East, and hasn’t looked back since. Tim’s recent travels include an extended tour of Myanmar, skiing in Japan, exploring China & Taiwan, catching up with contacts in Vietnam, Cambodia & Indonesia and discovering new destinations for the company such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India and Papua New Guinea.

I have always enjoyed travelling in Asia. The sheer variety of people, scenery, food and culture is intoxicating and there are always new friends to be made, and new adventures to be had, around every corner.

An adventurer at heart, Robin has dedicated much of his personal and working life exploring far flung corners of the world. After studying Cultural Geography at University he embarked on his travels, taking in much of South America, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. On returning home in the late 90’s Robin decided to make a career out of his passion, and spent the next decade working for two of the UK’s leading tour operators. In 2008 Robin joined forces with Bamboo Travel’s founder Tim, and has continued travelling far and wide throughout Asia ever since.  Some of his memorable travel experiences include a luxurious journey on the Eastern & Oriental Express, trekking the Great Wall of China, climbing Mount Rinjani, staying at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, a Pandaw River Cruise on the Mekong and travelling by motorbike from Hanoi to Sapa. In his spare time Robin enjoys many sports especially cricket, fishing and mountain biking.

There is nothing quite like travel for enlightening the soul and recalibrating your mind's compass, so I feel very lucky to have travelled continuously throughout my life. From my personal observations, if there is one continent on this planet with the most eclectic array of cultures, eye-pleasing landscapes and overall exoticism it has to be Asia.

A family holiday to Thailand at the age of 5 was the beginning of Ewen's fascination with Asia. Having backpacked around Southeast Asia and Japan, his passion for the region developed further during an International Politics degree, which included an in-depth study of Myanmar, a country very close to his heart. After time teaching in Russia, Ewen returned to the UK and worked for 4 years as a Far East specialist for a well-known luxury tour operator before joining the team at Bamboo Travel in 2010. Since the early 2000s, Ewen has been lucky to have enjoyed regular trips all over Asia and his recent experiences include walking on the Nakasendo Way in Japan, visiting remote minority villages in Northern Cambodia, cycling the old city wall in Xian, staying in luxury palace hotels in Rajasthan, trekking in central Laos, bird-watching in Myanmar’s Chin State, climbing Mt Kinabalu and picking tea in Sri Lanka. When not on the road or in the office, Ewen juggles looking after his 3 children with his other great passion, playing cricket!

Trying to put a finger on one thing that makes Asia quite such an addictive continent to travel around is hard. It has breath-taking landscapes everywhere you look, the best beaches in the world, the most exhilarating cities and the freshest, tastiest and most diverse cuisine, but above all, it is the wonderful people that makes me want to return again and again."

A school trip to Beijing at the age of 15 led Emily to a lifelong fascination with the Far East. After completing her degree in Mandarin Chinese and French, she returned to China where she spent several years as an English teacher in Beijing and Guangxi province. During this time she took every opportunity to travel around much of China and Southeast Asia. Some of her most memorable experiences have been singing (very badly) on stage for several hundred Chinese university students, spending time getting to know the people and culture of Tibet at a horse-riding festival in Western China, travelling overland by local bus through Burma, and camping overnight on the Great Wall. After completing her teaching contract in southern China, Emily returned to the UK and found her way to London and Bamboo Travel, where she continues to be able to discover new destinations and revisit old favourites alike.

I love travelling anywhere and everywhere, but there is no other place in the world which has me coming back again and again like Asia. Every visit has something new to uncover, whether it be an undiscovered destination or simply a new favourite food!"

Jana Danisova has been an avid traveller all her life. Her early adventures started in Eastern Europe and culminated in the long journey to London, which she now calls home. Since leaving university with a Travel & Tourism degree various jobs have come and gone but Jana considers her professional life really took off when she joined the young team at Bamboo Travel thereby fulfilling a lifelong ambition to devote her time to creating fabulous holidays in the Far East. Her own travels in the Far East have seen Jana undertake volunteer work with Pandas in China, explore the temples of Angkor and bargain hard in the markets of Hoi An. Most recently she has returned from Laos where she found the spiritual side of Luang Prabang both absorbing and inspiring.

A life in travel is what I always wanted and I am lucky enough now to travel the world with my job, visiting far flung destinations like desert cities along the Silk Road, the mountain regions of Vietnam or the islands of Thailand.

Richard’s interest in the Far East began with a module on Japanese, Chinese and Korean history during his undergraduate studies at university. After graduating, he took the plunge and decided to move to South Korea and teach English. During his eight years in Korea, he was able to embark on multiple trips all over Asia. Some of his personal highlights have been horse trekking in northern Sichuan, hiking the Annapurnas in Nepal, ger hopping in Mongolia and spotting tigers in India. Richard returned to the UK to begin a career in travel and joined the expanding team at Bamboo Travel to share his passion for Asia, and help others explore more of this fascinating continent.

From the ancient Khmer temples of Cambodia to the Mughal palaces of India, Asia is an incredibly diverse continent rich in history and renowned for its hospitality. Asia has points of interest for all tastes and is definitely a continent ripe for exploration.

Travelling with parents and living abroad from a young age sparked Tamsin’s lifelong desire to explore and discover all corners of the globe. Following a year working and travelling in the Middle East and Europe she returned to England to study Environmental Biology. After a short-lived career in the utilities industry, Tamsin was drawn to the bright lights of London and worked for a well-known tour operator for a number of years, where she met her husband Robin! Travelling with children has brought new challenges, but a recent family holiday to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia surpassed all expectations.

Tamsin looks after Agency Sales at Bamboo Travel and is the key contact for our travel agent partners. She is also passionate about sustainable tourism and developing tours and experiences that give clients the opportunity to make a positive impact when travelling to their chosen destination.

There is nothing more exhilarating than arriving in a foreign land for the first time, with the promise of adventure and new experiences ahead. Seeing our boys embrace different cultures on our recent trip was fantastic, whether it was trying new food, watching them enjoy a game of petanque with locals in Luang Prabang, feeding a baby elephant bananas at MandaLao Elephant sanctuary, or seeing them knee deep in mud planting rice in a paddy field, these are memories which will last a lifetime.

With over 15 years in the travel industry, Yadanar brings a wealth of experience to our team. Born in Myanmar, she has travelled extensively in her home country and across Southeast Asia and relishes any opportunity to explore new lands and gain new experiences. A graduate from the Yangon Institute of Economics, Yadanar trained in IT before seeing the light and swapping to a career in tourism which has led her to work in Yangon and Singapore before arriving in London to join the Bamboo team. Having landed her ideal job with Bamboo, Yadanar is in charge of our Social Media output and loves getting involved in the artistic side of the business, whilst making time to help out in the Operations Department.

"There’s so much variety in Asia, it is a wonderful part of the world to be involved in, both personally and professionally, and I love to introduce new people to its myriad delights."

Felicity's fascination with Asia began during her childhood years spent in Hong Kong. Her passion for the region deepened after a backpacking trip across Southeast Asia in 2005. Highlights of the trip include, a Himalayan adventure trekking the Annapurna circuit and travelling by train through India, this cemented her love of Asia. More recently Felicity travelled extensively though Southeast Asia with her own family, chronicling these experiences through her blog. Afterwards Felicity went on to live in Hoi An, Vietnam, for two enriching years. Professionally, Felicity also spent eight years in a freelance marketing role, focusing on blogging about hotels and destinations. She's thrilled to contribute her wealth of knowledge to assist clients in exploring the wonders of Asia.