When he was studying in medical school, Dr Siew Tuck Wah would, come mealtime, ostensibly say he had a prior appointment and steal away from his peers. Embarrassed that he could not afford the meals at the restaurants, he would make a beeline for a hawker centre to get his sustenance at cheaper prices.

One look at the 38-year-old — with his white-collar ensemble of blazer and shirt as well as his stellar résumé which includes receiving an education at Raffles Junior College; and running his own medical aesthetics practice in the bustling Suntec City — it is easy to assume his success was inherited. Dr Siew’s upbringing was anything but privileged. “Both my parents were from Selangor, Malaysia. My father came to Singapore in hopes of pursuing a better life. He enlisted in the army just so he could put food on the table. My mother used to work multiple jobs: From going door to door selling cosmetics to sweeping floors, waitressing at a nightclub to winding cassettes, she did it all, often enduring eighteen-hour workdays.”

When his parents came to Singapore, they had no more than fifty dollars on them. Dr Siew, along with his parents and brother, used to cram into a two-room flat. All through his teenage years, Dr Siew was a latchkey kid who rarely saw his father, who after his military service entered the construction industry and worked as a foreman. The scorching sun was his father’s enemy. His mother would go to work at 7pm and only return home in the wee hours.

Dr Siew eventually earned his merits and qualified to study in Singapore’s elite schools. Surrounded by peers who hailed from well-to-do families, he began to feel the heft of societal pressures. Rancour at times festered, and the young Dr Siew lamented his milieu like any teenager is wont to do. “If I wanted something, I had to pay for it myself as my parents couldn’t afford it. Back then, I didn’t understand why I had to be poor,” he quips.

In retrospect, seeing how his father managed to raise his family despite the circumstances was a life lesson nearest to the doctor’s heart. “My parents drilled the importance of studying hard into me. It became a very conscious effort to want to earn enough money so I could support my family. I knew I had to get good grades in school.”

Raindrops are pounding on skin like bullets on armour. The vagaries of Franz Josef’s weather are at work again, and the onset of rain sours hopeful glacier hikers yearning to see the town’s blue ice up close. Nestled at the base of the Southern Alps, Franz Josef gets five metres of precipitation every year. The inclement weather means twenty-three-year-old glacier guide Nathan Russell has to trade his ice axe for a spiffy quad bike. Before long he is zipping through a rainforest teeming with kamahi and southern rātā trees, his clients trailing him and also operating the all-terrain vehicle.

Through zigzagging and very bumpy paths the drivers ride. The vehicles plunge suddenly into deep pools of rainwater married with mud, sending adrenaline pumping as a breakneck rollercoaster slide would. When the drivers emerge from the rainforest, the glorious Waiho River, whose stream is fed by the meltwater of the Franz Josef Glacier, comes into view. The riverbed is filled with trentepohlia-mottled rocks. The algae stipple the grey rocks with a red-brown colour, and breathe life into an otherwise drab-hued place. In a short span of a thousand years, a rainforest will, by nature’s meddling, grow here. But for now, it is Nathan’s playground to roam freely.

The magic of nature

When the sun is out, Franz Josef Glacier, renowned for its many kilometres of sheer beauty, beckons. “It is a place where dreams come true and legends are born,” says Nathan of the landscape. “The creation of a glacier begins with a process called orographic lifting. Warm air masses absorb moisture from the Tasman Sea, and when they collide into a mountain, they rise. At high altitudes, such as the two-thousand-five-hundred-metre elevation where Franz Josef Glacier starts, the moisture falls as snow and accumulates in the nevè. The snow melts, refreezes and compresses, engendering the formation of hard glacial ice.”

Over time and buckling under the immense pressure of its weight, the Franz Josef Glacier moves downwards and flows outwards towards the Waiho River, Nathan adds. “The meltwater eventually returns to the Tasman Sea. Just imagine: That same water molecule will be absorbed by a warm air mass — and so the circle of life starts again!”

Not a cushy job

Such nuggets of glacial knowledge — acquired during his five-week training — Nathan gladly regales his clients with. Beyond theoretical knowledge, he also had to pick up practical skills, such as using ropes and pulleys to rescue and extricate fallen hikers. “I really enjoyed learning about step cutting, where you use a huge axe to carve steps and fill crevasses. This technique has been in use since 1903, when the Graham brothers — two West Coast mountaineering legends who paved the way for us — first began glacier guiding.”

Wielding and swinging ice axes sure make Nathan look the part of a Marvel superhero, but injuries such as tendonitis and lower back pain are the price he pays for being a glacier guide. He also discovered the rigours of the job the hard way when he was still a trainee. He recalls a painful incident involving the V-thread anchor, which requires drilling two holes in the ice and threading a rope through. “My instructor asked if I thought my anchor was strong enough. To test my creation — and protect my pride — I pulled and pulled so hard until I felt a strange sensation in my derriere. Later that night, I found out that I had burst a blood vessel and developed haemorrhoids! But hey, my anchor withstood the pressure and did its job (laughs)!”

After becoming a glacier guide, I no longer look at the world the same way as I did before. The sheer size of the Franz Josef Glacier humbles me, especially the main icefall that boasts seracs rising to ten storeys high. The glacier is where I get to escape from the real world, and all of its problems and troubling news stories.

Born to do this

That Nathan should become a glacier guide is perhaps written in the stars; his adventurous moxie innate and apparent even at a young age. “I used to love climbing trees, and I was like a little monkey with a huge smile etched on my face.” Growing up, the Coromandel Peninsula was home for the New Zealander. The nearby Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach were his meccas, and between the ages of six to ten Nathan was already practising surf lifesaving, pretending he was a lifeguard in training. “It’s such a great feeling to dive into the ocean, feeling so small, carried only by the power of the water.”

Before he got his start as a glacier guide, Nathan worked as a barista and chef. While he learnt the art of cooking and met cool personalities during his stint, the idea of being cooped up was unappealing. “Most of the time, the customers were grumpy and they had a lot of complaints. Whereas up there on the glacier, my guests are too busy having their minds blown.” Nathan himself is mesmerised by the gift of Mother Nature. The Franz Josef Glacier can move up to an incredible seven metres a day: Different parts fracture at different speeds, thus creating crevasses. The always-changing terrains are new surprises for Nathan to explore, which is why two years into his job he still experiences it with the same innocence of a wide-eyed toddler discovering the world.

When hiking with guests, Nathan has his work cut out for him. The onus of ensuring his guests’ safety falls squarely on his shoulders, and the glacier while beautiful can be terrifying. Holes abound. A hundred tonne of ice can calve off the icefall without warning. He is also a cheerleader, urging on nervous first-timers and unfit hikers — his favourite group of guests to coach and lead — to challenge themselves and go further. “They are so stoked and happy when they make it to a blue ice cave.” The glacier can have quite a spellbinding effect on people, he quips. “I have had guests who felt the need to undress, get butt naked, and be one with nature. Oh, the amount of flesh the glacier has seen!”

What gives meaning to Nathan’s job is the chance to raise awareness about global warming. The topic of climate change has been discussed ad nauseum, to the point where people tune out. But seeing the ice melt in real life, Nathan says, evokes a sense of urgency. “The Franz Josef Glacier used to span twelve kilometres long; today it has dwindled to measure only ten. In about eighty years from now, it may recede to just three kilometres long. When my guests hike the glacier, they experience first-hand the effects of climate change. They feel the importance of taking action.”

Enjoyed this story? Be inspired by Sumithra Debi, a female tattooist who is blazing trails in a male-dominated industry.

The sun’s golden shafts pierce the mackerel clouds. New Zealand is one of the first countries to welcome a new morning. An eclectic posse of guests throngs the cosy lounge area of Haka Lodge, Christchurch, some still jetlagged, their eyes droopy. Tour guide Karlee Davies — known affectionately as “Willow” by her peers — is identified by the Haka Tour logo emblazoned on her black jacket. She is ready to hit the road for 16 days with her new friends.

Before she was a tour guide, Willow worked a desk job, putting together travel packages for destinations such as Australia and the South Pacific. “You sit in front of a desk, and you answer your emails, phone calls and whatnot. There isn’t much social interaction.” For the self-professed beach person, the routine was humdrum. Willow’s affinity for the ocean developed at a young age, and she was raised swimming with the sharks and jellyfishes. “Amongst my hobbies are swimming, paddling, fishing and surfing. I’m in harmony with the ocean.”

It took a gap-year trip travelling across Canada to forever alter her life perspective. Together with her cousin, and throwing caution to the wind, she began working odd jobs. From summer-wedding preparations to cherry picking and farming organic apples, they did it all. Volunteer works also exposed her to the raw side of Canada. “I became intrigued by the unconventional ways people live. I saw how houses run on zero power; how people manage to carve out a self-sufficient life.”

When she returned home circa 2012, she had to figure out a new career path. The internet was her starting place. Yearning to turn her snowboarding passion into a job, she typed “snow” into the search engine. A long list of job vacancies returned. Before long she was working at a ski lodge, cooking breakfasts and dinners for guests. For the rest of the day, the snow-clad mountain was her playground. “I didn’t draw a huge salary, but it was a lifestyle choice that I made. I got to tear down the mountain at breakneck speed.”

Of course, leading a carefree lifestyle is not always pragmatic. When summer nears and the snow melts away, ski lodges are a ghost town bereft of activity. Willow had to seek a part-time job for the summer months. It was then she decided to become a tour guide. To get her feet wet, she undertook an eleven-day voluntary guiding stint.

Brainstorm and jot down your interests. Back then, my interests varied from travel writing to lodge management and teaching — I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Network with industry people, and spend time walking in their shoes. 

 Tour guides are ambassadors of their countries

“It would take me an entire day to spell out my duties,” quips Willow. “The basic ones range from driving to stocking up the breakfast box and bus maintenance. I answer a myriad of questions a day. For the most part, it’s about showing my guests a good time, so that when they leave New Zealand they do so with fond memories.”

While her guests experience New Zealand for two weeks, Willow gets to imbibe her beauty all year round and in different seasons. The routes she takes are fixed, but she tweaks the itinerary every now and then. In December 2016, she visited the Nelson Market — replete with artisanal handicrafts — with her tour group for the very first time. “I throw in new things, partly for my own sanity. It also keeps the vibe more spontaneous.”

“Everyone who comes on tour has a story,” says Willow. “I had guests who had just lost loved ones, such as their children. They are trying to press the reset button and move on. I take care of their needs so they can get a breather; a two-week pause so they can reflect on their lives and begin the healing process.”

The impact tour guides can evoke is not at first obvious, but it is far reaching, like a hummingbird spreading a flower’s pollen and helping shape the world’s beauty. “I spend a lot of time pushing my guests’ boundaries and getting them out of their comfort zones. I’m tricky: I give them an honest account of what an activity, be it hiking Tongariro Alpine Crossing or bungy jumping, was like for me. But I never tell them how they’re going to feel after; different people will experience different emotions. I give them the booster they need to say ‘Yes! I can jump off that rock.’.”

Some travellers who come on tour are at a crossroad. As tour guides, we are integral to helping them forge a new pathway. We change people’s lives.

Not always a bed of roses

A tour guide’s seemingly-bohemian lifestyle begets envy: posing arms akimbo, backdropped by stunning waterfalls. Dinners by the lake under a swift sunset. But things are not always so peachy. Willow’s day starts at 6am, and does not end until 10pm, sometimes even stretching to mid-nights. She also has to spend weeks away from her family and friends. Add to that difficult, niggling guests. Willow recalls having one of these personae non gratae on her bus. “This particular guest had her own emotional baggage of a divorce, which was fine, but she was hell-bent on making everyone else miserable: she would hog the front seat and subject others to her songs.”

The final straw came during a group dinner, when said guest was unhappy with her burger: She had expected it to come with shelled mussels instead of a minced patty. The lady blamed Willow for the disappointing order — some travellers are wont to blame all hiccups on their guides. “She shoved the food in my face, and started swearing at me, saying I was ‘useless’; that I wasn’t working hard enough. I decided I wasn’t going to own that problem, and I walked away. What else could I have done? A tour guide cannot be confrontational.”

The incident reduced Willow to tears, but thankfully she had the backing of her other guests, who offered to handle the situation. “It’s not easy, when people try to exploit you and expect more than what you’re already giving, which is 200% of yourself.”

You have to be slightly crazy to be a tour guide. You need to be okay with things going wrong. You give so much of yourself, and you don’t always get it back.

In times like these, massages and hiking mountains are Willow’s panaceas. She also falls back on her goals to keep going. Her goals remind her why she plays hard, and works harder. “Buying a house is my dream, and I want to be close to my family. Eventually, I hope to settle down and raise my own family. And maybe do a bit of travel writing.” For now, the guide is contented with her lifestyle of skydiving, kayaking, canyoning and meeting people from all around the world.

Enjoyed this story? Read Icelandic tour guide Haukur Thorsteinsson’s exciting life on the (off) road.

He was from Cape Town, she was from Kansas City. He was the tour guide, she was the traveller. Hendrik Human and Chrissy Wolfersberger-Human met while they were on tour, and against the backdrop of Cape Town’s spellbinding romance, they fell in love. Together they run Earthstompers, a travel agency that operates in Cape Town, South Africa.

Wine glasses clinking. Silhouettes against a dramatic sunset.  A 73-year-old guest celebrating her first canoeing adventure. First-time sky divers about to take their first leaps.  Earthstompers’s Instagram account is an enviable diary of blissful travel and bed-of-roses moments. We chat with the two founders to learn about their very own love story as well as the business of making memories.

Hendrik, Chrissy’s dad was with her on that very fateful tour. Were you nervous about asking her out with him around?

Hendrik (H): He was the least of my worries: he is by nature relaxed and calm. I could tell he really liked me. Plus, I brought him some red wine and biltong, so he was happy. I was, however, nervous about picking Chrissy up for our first date at The Blues in Camps Bay!

Chrissy (C): (laughs) He broke the tour guide’s “code of ethics” of not dating your guests!

Chrissy, what did you see in Hendrik?

C: It’s such a cliché to fall in love with your tour guide, isn’t it? I liked his confidence, his organisational skills, and the vast knowledge he had of all the places we visited. He knows how to take charge and sort problems out. I will say to this day these are still some of his traits that I like.

To others who have never been to the country, they may have pre-conceived notions about South Africa: that she’s unsafe or underdeveloped. What would you say to that?

C: My take on the crimes and political situation is that all countries have their pros and cons. The United States (US) certainly has her own issues as well. South Africa promises a great lifestyle: I love the way locals get together. There’s a braai for every occasion, from graduations to funerals. It’s intimate. In the US, we don’t entertain quite as much — no one takes a whole afternoon to enjoy a barbecue. Natural beauty abounds here as well. You can climb Table Mountain, Signal Hill or Lion’s Head any day. And that’s why I chose to stay in this country. It’s not perfect, but nowhere is.

Giving it all up for love… Was it difficult making the move from the US to Cape Town?

C: The cards just fell into place. I was previously working for an environmental protection agency and prior to the move I emailed a few similar agencies in Cape Town. But I saw that Hendrik needed help with administrative matters, and began assisting with the business’s financial management. I guess the fact that he had a business made it easy — if I had to struggle financially for months on end I would have been unhappy.

Tell us about the wedding.

H: We got married at Myoli Beach, Sedgefield. The place has special significance as it is one of our favourite stops on the Earthstompers’s route. We love the wildness of the pristine beach, stunning sunsets and splendid views from the sand dune. It was also where we had our first kiss! For our wedding, we wanted something different: casual and romantic. Our party of 90 enjoyed bubbly and oysters from Mossel Bay on the sand dune while watching the sun set over the Indian ocean. That evening, we had a fish braai, music, fire dancers and drank till well past midnight!

Marriage is tough as it is, now add running a business to an already intricate equation. How do you two function as a husband-and-wife duo?

C: We complement each other. He’s an extrovert and I an introvert. He likes being around people; I like the nitty gritty. Take for example drafting a reply to decline a request: He’s got the big-picture idea, but I’ve the nuance to write it in a way that doesn’t offend the recipient. Hendrik is really ace at handling situations, so I usually provide a listening ear and brainstorm the best way to handle a problem.

What problems would arise?

H: The shower at a hostel may not be working. A vehicle may break down. Once, I had a female guest who had to stay at a different hostel due to ongoing construction works at the premises. She felt lonely. I immediately phoned the owner of the hostel, found her another room, bought her a bottle of wine, and resolved the issue. I wasn’t thinking about how it would cost me 1,900 Rand for the room. Problems will arise, but you have to go above and beyond to fix them.

Also, problems sometimes arise due to heightened expectations — a result of third-party agents overselling our tour packages. The Earthstompers tour is not about luxurious resorts or five-star hotels, the likes of which dot the landscapes of Dubai or Bali. We opt for hostels and backpacker’s inns, as we want our guests to meet the locals and savour a slice of the South African life.

Describe to us the Earthstompers experience.

H: A great mix of adventure, nature, culture and wildlife, our tours take you to one of South Africa’s most beautiful parts: Garden Route. The tours start on Mondays at 8am. The itinerary is one I have had for 11 years, with some tweaks made over the years. I love animals, and so I added Addo Elephant Park as a sightseeing must-do. Mossel Bay was where I grew up. I was a lifeguard, and my friends and I spent a good part of our lives on the beach. The Cango Caves, which mystifies with its 150 000 years of history, is also a pit stop.

To aspiring entrepreneurs, don’t worry if you’re starting small. Go slow, go the extra mile for your customers, collect your word-of-mouth recommendations, and eventually you will catch up with the big guns.

These are places I’d imagine you love dearly. How did Earthstompers begin?

H: When I was 21, I worked as a manager in a tour agency. I occasionally moonlighted as a guide. After two years on the job, I grew envious of the tour guides. I realised that I was a picky person: there were accommodation options my then boss chose that I did not like. And so I decided to start my own business circa January 2006. I began approaching travel agencies, armed with a self-designed brochure and thick South Afrikaan accent, to offer my services. My first-ever tour was a private one, with three Swiss girls in tow.

You’ve recently welcomed a new addition to the Earthstompers family: boss baby William. How have things changed?

C: I’m very lucky that we have a nanny who watches William in the mornings, and then I’m with him in the afternoons.  This is a great balance for me — I think it’s very difficult to be either a full-time office worker or a full-time stay-at-home mom.

H: It is my hope that William be involved in the family business. By then, maybe we would add three or four vehicles to our arsenal, and grow the team to no more than 10 guides. I want to keep things small.

As a service provider, what is your biggest fear?

H: Getting our first negative review on TripAdvisor. We once received two three-star reviews written by a couple. We were devastated, and we read the reviews over and over again. We were like straight-A students who had just got their first B’s.

It’s a blemish on a 300-and-counting five-star track record. What was the feedback about?

H: They weren’t necessarily negative reviews, but we took them hard. The couple commented there was too much driving. That, however, is to be expected for an overland tour that takes you from Stellenbosch to the far end of Mossel Bay, and back. I think there was a language barrier, and the couple did not understand the nature of the Earthstompers tour: raw, fun and authentic. I worried if the two reviews would affect our guests’ perceptions of us. Chrissy assuaged my fears by reasoning that other travellers can read between the lines. Thankfully, our reviews have been glowing thus far.

From father to son, I’d say ‘Be patient’. Both in business and life. Enjoy what you do, and never be in too much of a hurry.

Were there any nadirs in your career?  

H: In my earlier days, I kept my nose to the grindstone. I wanted to handle all the tours myself, and I just could not bring myself to trust another person. But I hit my limit when I did seven or eight tours in a row without a break. I had a group with me, and we stopped for a refuel at a gas station. I was just tired and tears were flowing — but I wasn’t crying. I dried my face and called Nicole, a fellow tour guide, and asked if she could take my next tour. Trusting someone else was a huge step for me.

What is the role of a tour guide?

H: Most guests are on tour to have fun. Some are going through a life-changing or emotional experience. You have to be a counsellor and a very good listener.  Above all, you must possess a sparkling personality and boundless energy.

We read a lot about the impact of travelling — how it transforms a person. What are your thoughts on that?

H: I’ve seen so many people get out of their shells. We have travellers, who are super shy at the start of the tour, dancing on tables on the last night. I think when we travel, we open our eyes to the world and a different life.

C: The lesson that I enjoy over and over again is that travelling allows you to see your life from the outside in.

Which destinations make your travel bucket list?

H: I’d love to rent a camper and explore New Zealand without any travel plans. See the mountains, be one with the forests.

C: My travels have always taken me to Europe and Australia. I’m looking forward to exploring more countries when William is old enough to enjoy the experiences.

For more information on Earthstompers, please visit http://www.earthstompers.com/index.php

Cruising past Cape Town’s landmarks like Vredehoek and Three Anchor Bay always brings to 53-year-old Eric McLaren’s mind fond childhood memories of playing “Cowboys & Indians”, “Hide & Seek” and even “Spin the Bottle” along the streets. “We used to pick fruits from the trees as well as collect tadpoles and silkworms. Exploring the underground street tunnels was a favourite pastime as well. My primary school used to organise a yearly outing to SOS – School in the Wilds, Villiersdorp, where we learnt about the local flora and fauna. We would seek out and eradicate plants not indigenous to our hometown.”

Eric’s proclivity for the outdoors is innate, and Cape Town lavished with picturesque landscapes provides the tapestry of life he so desires. Devil’s Peak, which is connected to Table Mountain, was his second home, and as a kid he explored the lower regions and spent innumerable hours on its slopes. The dark yawning entrance of Vredehoek Quarry beckoned, luring curious kids to it with spooky stories and sightings of witches. “In those days, there were still fishes in the water, and the environment was safe enough for us to run around and play freely. Quite often I would get disciplined for coming home late, but well, kids will be kids.”

Today, Eric is a hiking guide, and Table Mountain is one of his meccas. A gruelling clamber it takes to reach the mountaintop, as twisting paths like India Venster have hikers on all fours scrambling and pulling their own weight up with chains and staples. “But when you reach Tranquillity Cracks, one of my favourite peaks, you’ll get to imbibe the magnificence of it all.  Once you’ve squeezed through the initial crack in the rocks, you’ll encounter a labyrinth of corridors filled with indigenous yellowwood trees. The area is absolutely pristine, and here you can enjoy a peaceful, well-deserved respite.”

I want my guests to feel that sense of accomplishment, having hiked the iconic Table Mountain and facing challenges they thought were insurmountable.