There’s travel companies (you know, the weird ones that stick you on a senior citizen tour bus and force you to sit next to a dude who smells like garlic and moth balls), and then there’s Black Tomato, a travel company that’s all about high-octane adventures tailored to your personal style.
Co-founded by Tom Marchant, Black Tomato is all about taking your holiday to the next level. Whether it be bonding with bushmen or eating deadly puffer fish (seriously, you can do that too if you’re looking to create your own Tarantino-esque experience), Marchant and his company are ready to assist you in creating the ultimate travel experience.
Color us intrigued. Given Marchant is a busy bee who splits his time between his East London and New York offices (not to mention a busy schedule chocked full of writing assignments and speaking engagements about trends and travel), we tracked the guy down to get his take on what’s hot in 2012 and where we should be plotting our next adventure. (Hit the slideshow above for his personal faves and top picks!)
Name: Tom Marchant
Age: 33
Job: Co-founder of Black Tomato
Describe yourself in three words: Curious, restless and optimistic.
Have any hidden talents we should know about? A near fluency in Russian gleaned from a year living in Moscow. [I'm pretty] rusty day to day, but put me in any Russian bar and the native language comes flooding back. (Actually perhaps less a talent and more a worry.)
What’s your newest obsession? Pinch Magazine (www.pinch-magazine.com).
What’s your holiday style? Off the beaten path and living with the locals.
Who would be your dream interview? Henry Morton Stanley. The Rock Star Explorer (and misunderstood in his time).
Favorite book? To Have and Have Not – Hemingway.
Film? Lives of Others.
Record? Closing Time, Tom Waits.
Designer? Oliver Spencer.
Place? Moscow.
Memory? Chased by a crocodile in the Pantanal, Brazil. A fond one now, a nightmare at the time.
Best idea ever? To turn my life’s passion into a career.
Latest venture? Our new beach fashion websiteThe Beach Tomato Shack and travel and lifestyle magazine,PINCH Magazine.
Where you’re heading in 2012? There’s a real buzz about Papua New Guinea right now. It’s a place you can truly say is one of the last few unexplored frontiers on the planet and somewhere I’d love to get to this year. It’s got that otherworldly allure of the exotic that’s so attractive — especially at this time of the year when the sky is almost exclusively grey. A little closer to home, there’s nothing quite like an American road trip and miles of remote landscape to blow away the cobwebs. This year, I’m planning to head to Utah. I love the sheer diversity of the landscape and the remoteness.
Quick fire round…
Sand or snow? Sand.
Style or substance? Can’t I have both?
Summit or sea? Sea.
Detox or retox? Retox.
Kindle or book? Book.
