Travel on, You Crazy Diamond
~ Words by Vickie Sam Paget, Sky Blue Content ~
He has a sparkle in his eye, W Brett Wilson. The kind of sparkle that usually suggests that a person has a lot of ideas ping-ponging around in their head. And surprise, surprise, he does; it’s like the Ping Pong World Championships up there. So much, in fact, that during my short 30-minute chat with him, I’m flung from the far reaches of Bhutan to the shanty towns of South Africa, from the backseat of a 1960s VW Beetle in Saskatchewan to the mighty peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, and from comical negotiations in the heart of Marrakesh’s markets to the unutterable mystery of Turkey’s ancient monuments. It’s quite a trip—but then, so is W Brett Wilson. There’s definitely more to this guy than the fact that he’s the world’s leading deal-making Dragon on the show Dragon’s Den—especially when he starts talking travel. So read on, dear reader, and if you’re a true lover of travel—and when I say ‘travel’ I don’t mean just hanging out by the pool in some non-descript resort—you won’t fail to find that W Brett Wilson’s travelling tales sparkle like crazy diamonds…
If you could go wandering anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?
Trekking in Nepal with my son. We have been to more than 50 countries together. We enjoy each other’s company and he is an extremely fit young man and he pushes me in our adventures. We’ve climbed Kilimanjaro together and just a few weeks ago we were in New Zealand, where we did everything from white water rafting over waterfalls to mountain biking in one of the top 10 mountain biking sites in the world. Travel and adventure is a big thing for us. We’ve gone trekking in Bhutan, so now we want to go trekking in Nepal. Having been to Bhutan we understand the incredible beauty and the uniqueness of the people in that region, and we know there’s enough trekking in Nepal to keep us interested.
Your earliest travel memory?
My father, mother, myself and my two sisters took off on a road trip in our Volkswagen Beetle. I was about nine or 10. We had a rooftop rack that my dad and his buddy had welded on and they put a wooden platform in the back seat to make the back seat a little larger. You didn’t worry about seatbelts back then—we just had this back seat with a bit of foam on it and away we went! We drove from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, out to Vancouver, stopping for adventures on the Trans-Canada Highway, and then we swung down in the United States to visit some relatives in Tacoma and then we swung back through the northwest United States back into Canada. It was two weeks of driving and I remember that this little four-cylinder Volkswagen lost a cylinder somewhere along the way so we were down to three cylinders and we were being passed by pretty much everybody! What sticks in my mind is that a family of five could manage in a little car like that. There was a real intimacy of family; with three kids in the back seat of a Volkswagen, you figure out how to get along.
What is your favourite destination in Canada for the spring?
The Windemere Valley, which is three hours west of Calgary. We have a family cabin there. I bought it almost 20 years ago and it is for me one of the most beautiful retreats in the world—and it’s right in our back yard. Spring comes a little early there; it’s got its own ecosystem and the weather is great. The golf course is open in early May and there is so much to do in terms of trekking and biking. I love being there.
What’s your favourite international destination for the spring?
I don’t think about my travels in the context of spring, summer, fall or winter. I go where I want when I want. But I’ve been to Australia for the last three years in a row and I absolutely love it. Melbourne, Hamilton Island, Byron Bay, Sydney, Brisbane—I’ve seen them all. I like the accent and it’s a safe and easy place to travel. There is also in the Australian and New Zealand people an incredible sense of adventure.
Your best travel experience?
There are many! But the one that sticks in my mind is one of the more challenging ones: climbing Kilimanjaro with my daughter and my youngest son. From Kilimanjaro we swung over to the Serengeti and then from there we took a bunch of little planes and went to Uganda where we went trekking to see the great apes. That was absolutely mind-boggling. On the second day we were walking to breakfast and one of the ape groups had come over the mountain range the night before and they were right in the hotel—just sitting there. Africa is one of the most incredible destinations imaginable. I remember listening to our leader grunt are we too close to an ape—and then the ape responding that we were okay. I have some fascinating memories.
Your funniest travel experience?
In the markets of Marrakesh and Cairo. I was in Morocco with my son and Egypt with my daughter. Negotiating in those markets is just absolutely hilarious. I would always send my kids off to do my dirty work! If they were asking for $20 for a scarf, the goal was to get it for $5. It’s treated as a game by the people on the other side too.
Your most surprising travel experience?
I was surprised by how moving the historic ruins in Turkey were. It was just stunning and I was absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty of Turkey. Ephesus is amazing. I’m a civil engineer by training so I’m just fascinated by infrastructure.
Why do you love to travel?
A lot of my travel is with my kids. It’s an opportunity be with them on a 24/7 basis. I wasn’t around much when they were young and I can’t recreate that time, but it’s a game-changer to be on the road where you’re sharing hotels and meals and experiences together. We do a lot of aid work when we’re on the road, so there have been some pretty touching experiences, from visiting Haiti just after the earthquake or the shanty towns when we were in South Africa. There is a lot of engagement that occurs when you step away from the five star hotel and engage with a city and its people.
Do you have a cause that has a special place in your heart when you travel?
I’m taking 80 people to Mexico on Friday to build homes for the tenth time. I try to go every couple of years. We go in for a weekend and build homes on the outskirts of Tijuana. It’s an extraordinary experience as far as team-building goes and it’s an extraordinary experience as far as eye-opening goes. For example, some of the kids I take are from the AARC program, the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre. These are kids that are fresh out of addiction treatment; lying, cheating and stealing were part of a normal day for them. Take them down to Mexico and they get to see what hell might actually look like. It’s an extraordinary eye-opening experience for them.
What destinations do you still lust for?
Places like Mauritius, the Maldives and Bora Bora… And I’d like to spend some quality time in Italy. The other that is at the top of my to-do list is Newfoundland. It’s the only place in Canada other than Prince Edward Island that I haven’t been. I know every province from coast to coast—except little PEI, which I will fit in—but my priority now is the wonder of Newfoundland.
Image: Alena Jenkins
This interview first appeared in Canadian Traveller magazine.
