Hello I am Tim and travel was in was my blood from the day I was born.  My Father was a Diplomat/Military Attaché who traveled frequently and I had visited most of North America by the time I was 12.  Growing up predominately in the Washington DC area, a cross roads for the world, fired my imagination.  These fires were fueled by frequent visits to the Smithsonian Institution and even as a young boy wandering Embassy Row.  I would talk with Embassy staff as they went about their business and learned first hand of life in other countries.  I developed a particular interest in Europe.

Mr. Rockefellar, my 5th grade teacher, during a field trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield said something that has stuck with me these many years ... "You are not reading about history, you are not studying history, you are standing on history and it is all about you."  And so while I read and studied history I had made a point to go stand on history and see things for myself.

Happenstance also contributed, as I was present at various times of my life to witness historical events.  I helped my Father build a bomb shelter in our basement during the Cuban Missile Crisis; listened to Martin Luther King's "I have a dream..." speech from the Mall, watched the Kennedy Funeral from Constitution Avenue, sat on the beach and watched the lift off of Apollo 11, I was in Washington at the height of the Watergate Scandal even on the day Nixon resigned and later helped launch STS-1 the first Space Shuttle Mission.

By the time I finished High School I had criss-crossed America a dozen times from Alaska to Florida.  The only state I had not been to is Hawaii.  When my parents retired I was in grade 12 and I made a deal with them; I would fix up their retirement home and instead of paying a contractor they would buy me a motorcycle.  It was a low time in their life when the job was finished.  It was an excellent piece of work that took me more than 5 months to complete.  They weren't upset over that; they did not want me riding a motorcycle!  I used that bike to travel all over the State of Florida!

When I finished High School I decided to join the military as it offered a good way to travel.  My first assignment was 6 years in England.  I ventured out every weekend to explore that wonderful Island Nation.  Many days I walked the Streets of London for hours at a time retracing Dickens, Shakespeare or just soaking up the majesty of that great city.  Weekend trips to Wales, the Lake District and beyond were part of my normal regimen.  When I took my leave it wasn't to go home, it was to go the continent!  Paris, Zurich, Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid, Morocco, Den Haag, Berlin, Rheims, Copenhagen, the Alps, Florence, and just about everywhere in between.  My great fortune continued when I attended university and took a course on the History of Art.  Part One was from the Prehistoric to the Renaisannce and Part Two was from the Renaisannce to the Present Day. My professor was one of the Queen's Curators!  When we studied Art it was rarely from books, it was from standing in front of the work itself!  Our field trips were vacations in themselves – the Queen's Gallery in London, The Louvre in Paris and The Uffizi in Florence.  Vacations, except I had to write papers!

When I left the military I became Director of a National Standards Writing Program and was named to many national and international committees.  I attended meetings all over the world to discuss trade and product testing issues.  On each of these visits I added a few personal days to the beginning or end of the trip.  Later using this business experience and my own acumen for problem solving I started my own consulting firm and have clients from Singapore across North America and throughout Europe as far as Israel.  I spend as many as 150 nights on the road each year and am at the highest frequent flier reward level on two different airlines.

My world was rocked when my Father died very young and from that moment I have consistently eaten dessert first.  I am not a millionaire but I have managed to live life large and experience many things.  I have visited 64 countries and walked in the footsteps of Emperors, Explorers, Inventors, Saints, Sport Stars, Movie Stars, Astronomers, Artists, Monsters and Heretics and each have their own story to tell.  I have chased down myths and mysteries around the world from Area 51 to the Loch Ness Monster.  The more I did, the more I learned how easy it is to experience great and wonderful things without having to spend a fortune.  This is why I started ACOUPLEONTHEGO - because the world is waiting for you and it just doesn't cost as much as you think.