DEPARTURE LOUNGE // SPRING 2019
Meet our
Members
LIZA FULTON AND HER HUSBAND, ANDY,
LIVE, BREATHE AND SWEAT TRAVEL –
ADVENTURE TRAVEL, TO BE EXACT.
Liza and Andy at the Berg & Bush cycle race. Keagan and Andy, en route during the joBerg2c – the equivalent of doing nine Arguses in a row.
As owner of Heidelberg’s Sure Travel Set
for more than two decades, Liza has made
it her mission to experience as many of
the destinations she promotes as she can,
particularly when they are not the average
leisure tour or honeymoon offering.
“We try wherever possible to actually
do the adventures, so we can give our
clients first-hand advice – everything from
the logistics to details about the event,
whether it’s a Fish River Canyon hike
or the nine-day joBurg2c mountain bike
stage race,” Liza explains. “We know the
training; where to fly into, where to fly out
of; the accommodation. We’ve affiliated
ourselves with a lot of companies, events
and experts, like Enduro World and ASG
Events. These partnerships allow us to do
what we do well, and they do what they
do well. We’ve booked accommodation
for participants all over the country.”
When it comes to adventure travel,
seemingly insignificant details can make
or break the whole trip. Booking online
without adequate research is not always
a wise bet, Liza cautions: “It’s always nice
to know that when they get there, the
accommodation we’ve booked for a client
is at the start of the event and it’s suitable
for their motorbike, bicycle or other
equipment. Places where the staff know
that cyclists will need breakfast at 4 a.m. and those kinds of logistics. We make sure
all those little things fall into place.”
And when it comes to adventure
travel, the Fultons practice what they
preach. The duo and their 21-year-old
son, Keagan, have taken on some of the
most challenging training and athletic
events, witnessing breathtaking corners
of the globe and incredible feats of
human perseverance – all in the name of
18 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
“We try wherever possible
to actually do the
adventures, so we
can give our clients
first-hand advice –
everything from the logistics
to details about the event”
expanding their comfort zones and doing
first-hand research.
This year, Andy and Keagan took on
the gruelling joBerg2c from Heidelberg
to Scottburgh, the world’s largest fully-
serviced mountain biking stage race event.
“It’s the equivalent of doing nine
Arguses in a row,” says Andy. “Nine days
and 900kms through 136 privately owned
farms, four provinces, eight different
geological zones and four climate regions.”
As an avid motorbiker, cyclist, sailor,
snow skier and kite surfer, Andy is no
stranger to doing the hard yards, but he
says the joBerg2c is in a league of its own,
with 4:30 a.m. wake ups, a strict diet and
long hours in the saddle.
Training three months prior to the
event and clocking an average of 300 km
per week, Liza says her family felt as much
fulfilment in preparing for the stage race
as actually doing it.
“It really was about the journey – all
those sunrise and sunset cycles you do
en route to reaching the goal,” says Liza.
“It’s a humbling experience and it puts
everything into perspective. I got back
to the office and wanted to share all of
it with our clients. To empower other
people to achieve their passions.”
It is this expert knowledge they want
to share with every traveller in the hope
that they will feel comfortable enough to
plan their own adventures, however big
or challenging.
“When people see us doing things,
they realise they can do it too,” says Liza.
“They think to themselves, ‘If that’s my
travel agent who’s usually behind the desk,
and she’s done it, it must be attainable!’”