EP126: Founder of the safari holiday and luxury travel pioneer Geoffrey Kent believes cashflow and discipline really are king
“My whole life has been one safari and I am still living it now. Even as I sit here in Monaco, I cannot wait to get up and have another adventure.”
My guest today, Geoffrey Kent, is the founder of luxury international travel company, Abercrombie & Kent, and the pioneer behind safari being a “hunt with a camera, and not with a gun.”
After being expelled from school, riding a motorbike off into the Kenyan sunset, and later training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Geoffrey brought all his experiences together to forge a business that would not only change the face of travel, but also people’s lives, forever. “Nobody had ever decided to camp on safari and guide people to take photographs.”
We discuss Geoffrey’s journey from starting with nothing but an old Land Rover and visionary ideas to how, 55 years after the founding of Abercrombie & Kent, he is enjoying life’s safari with adventures spanning 150 countries - from the Galapagos to the South Pole. We also reflect on the meaning of prosperity and important lessons about money:
“The most important thing about money I actually taught myself. You need to balance instinct with listening to other people. I am very instinctive and sometimes have had my fingers burned as a result. There will be moments where you make a lot of money and then think, ‘Wow, that was easy.’ That is a big mistake, because making money is not easy. If you do not realise this the first time, then you are lucky. The second time around and you will come to understand how difficult it can be.”
We also talk about:
The origins of the word ‘safari’.
Military training and its relationship with the new safari.
The rationale behind Geoffrey’s drive to succeed.
The importance of keeping active through adventures.
The passion of polo and tangible liquid investments.
Nicole Bremner is an investor and podcaster. After a successful decade building a multi-million property portfolio in London, Nicole was forced by a number of external obstacles to stop, take stock and figure out what really matters in life.
