I went on a package holiday... once... never again. An 18-30's holiday in the '80's.

Nightmare.

The hotel we were staying in was miles from anywhere and cost £10 a night yet the backpackers who walked in were told £2 and they said it was too expensive. My friends and I were treated like sheep and I would have preferred to have been at work. There are travelers... and there are tourists. I'm a traveler and I know there are many travelers like Penny and me that are in their day jobs and can't just take off and go traveling.

We know you’d love to go traveling again and get that buzz, but you now only have a few weeks holiday and everyone else just wants to rent a villa ... again. You really don’t want to go to Malaga, but the thought of turning up in the middle of nowhere with your old copy of Lonely Planets to Egypt and everyone looking at you in horror also ... does not appeal. You've thought of booking an adventure holiday with one of the reputable tour companies that cover the world ... but again, the thought of moving on to a different place every day with people you do not know in your group also does not appeal.

We were backpackers for years and when we fell into our careers we always found it difficult to find somewhere different when we wanted to go away on holiday with a group of friends or as a family. We have always looked to book accommodation somewhere that would give us the same cultural experiences and spirit of adventure on our holidays that we became used to when backpacking around the world. But we could never find it.

We had a bit of a session one night around five years ago and came up with an idea…

The villa's neighbors around the old Shali.

We jacked the day jobs in on August 1st 2004 and went off traveling with our three young children in search of Somewhere Different.

We spent 5 months looking and we chose three destinations ... funnily enough with not a villa in site. We got caught in the Tsunami in Sri Lanka but decided to not to give up on our quest and are determined to make our little travel company work. We where stuck in the rate race and we know what it's like ... we now want to share what we have created with you so you can experience that buzz of traveling again but with out all the hassles.

It has taken a lot of effort and hard work on our part over the last five years, but we've enjoyed it and we're not in that day job anymore! All you have to do is book the holiday and come to Somewhere Different!

See you there;)