About Spaghetti Traveller

When I launched this blog, I never expected it to still be here 12 years later. Over a decade of blogging has been fun, stressful, adventurous, challenging and, most of all, eye-opening.

I setup the blog as a way to push myself to learn new things, take on new challenges and to see the world, however I never could have imagined how much it would become part of my life. So anyway, down to the details…

Who Am I

My name is Tom Bourlet, a keen traveller, who realised while having a road-trip across America that the one thing I missed the most from my home country was a nice tin of spaghetti hoops on some cheese on toast. I then decided to combine both my passions, through eating spaghetti hoops in every country in the world!

Well that didn’t quite happen after my first trip, when I realised they don’t sell them many places outside the UK, first learning curve achieved.

I’ve always loved trying new things and embracing new cultures, learning different ways of life and bringing little elements of this back home with me.

I have so far been to 38 countries and counting, while my aim is to reach 60 before the age of 50, with some unbelievable memories. I have also written my list of 100 things to do before I die which is a personal challenge to myself.

The Early Days

I was brought up in London and then moved down to Brighton to study at Brighton University, which helped me to meet a whole set of friends that love travelling just as much as I do.

I studied Business Management while at Brighton University, while I later focused on marketing, eventually finding a job in the digital marketing industry.

I started off in PPC (paid search), while I moved into Social Media and from there I got a job in SEO, so I really did cover off each area. SEO became a strong interest of mine, as I tried to attend as many conferences and events as possible. Since then, I’ve become the Head of Marketing for an events business.

I have often tried to combine travelling with working, however in recent times (being post-30) I have been limited in the amount of travel I can do, therefore I have focused on a different form of travelling in the past year, such as festivals, city breaks and short trips. This isn’t the end for me though, it is just an opportunity to explore something I hadn’t really tried before.

My Adventure

After making my bucket list, I have been ticking boxes and doing my best to complete the list. I learned the saxophone, I took salsa dancing and kick boxing classes, I used to love weight training 4 days a week, booking life experience activities and of course, building this blog.

I have taken a road trip across the USA, explored South America from Peru to Argentina, relaxed in the Maldives and taken a safari in Kenya, however the list of things to see feels never ending, while unfortunately my bank balance isn’t quite the same.

A Couple’s Blog

In April 2017 I began dating Raquel Mitchell, a girl I fell completely in love with and she has now joined me on this blogging adventure. While we are booking up trips all over the world for next year, I spend my weekends training her on everything that is the world of travel blogging, from photo optimisation, content writing, social sharing and working with resorts, PR’s, marketers and journalists.

Raquel Mitchell

My name is Raquel Mitchell and I live in Brighton with Tom.
My love for travel started when I was 10 years old and my mum moved us to Spain to be with her family.
It was scary at the time but a truly amazing experience.

When I left school I wanted to be an airhostess and took on a year long course. I had a friend who was an airhostess, however she didn’t enjoy the job and helped me to move away from this career path down another avenue. I worked in retail for a bit, I did bar work and then eventually I found myself a job in finance.

My passion has always been travelling and since meeting Tom and learning about travel blogging I have found what I want to do and I’m excited for the future.

I always end up going on at least 3 holidays a year. From Dublin for St Patrick’s day to Dubai with the girls, you can’t keep me off a plane.

I found out at the age of 23 I had type one diabetes. I still remember the first time the doctor told me and how it made me feel. My first thought was ‘I’m never eating chocolate again’, however move on 12 years and it’s just a part of my life.