HavePension-WillTravel – what about the name ?

Remember ‘Have Gun Will Travel, a TV western from the late 1950s?
If you do you must be a pensioner, senior, wrinkly – call us what you like, we’re a growing band of people.
And since you’re here, you must be a traveller, wannabee traveller or armchair traveller. Or all three.
Now, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of travel blogs out there but lmost of them seem to be by young, good looking go-getters who’ve sold everything to backpack around the world full time.
They go to fabulous places to do adventurous things and it makes great reading but it’s not the life for everyone.
Us for example. We’re quite prepared to rough it on occasion but we’d rather fly business class (especially on long haul flights – lie-flat beds and gourmet meals turn ten hours of torture into a wonderfully relaxing start to an exciting new journey of discovery).
We feel the same way about staying in a luxury hotel, an Intercontinental where possible, and always a club room if one is available. The pleasure of club room breakfasts, evening cocktails and canapes (and in some places truly decadent afternoon teas) cannot be overstated.
And we always book and pay online for a taxi from airport to hotel. It’s very nice to be greeted by a driver with your name on a card and you don’t have to rush to an ATM as soon as you arrive.
Sometimes we remain in the city but more often we’ll take a boat, train, coach, car whatever to explore further.
Backpacking is a great way to travel. We both did our share before we met but these days we need a suitcase to take all the electronic gear: laptop, tablets, phones, Kindles and cameras plus assorted batteries, chargers and cables: and a power strip.

Who are we?

We are Phil and Wendy Evans.
We were both born in England and went to Liverpool University (but we didn’t meet there).
Wendy spent a year teaching in Nigeria before being evacuated at the start of the Biafra war, then a couple of years in Australia teaching in between travelling around the outside and down the middle in a VW, followed by ten years in New Zealand.
Phil travelled overland from England through the middle east back in pre-terrorist days; Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand where we met while teaching.
We took a year off to travel back to England through South East Asia and Russia, then saw a bit of Europe. From New Zealand we visited parts of the South Pacific.
We have now lived in the Cook Islands for over thirty years, first teaching, then running a newspaper and finally retiring, kicking back and enjoying life.