Excited to bring you the next chapter in this exclusive interview series on Life Went That Way.
I sat down for a chat with adventure travel expert and professional guide, Ian Lumb, from OnTrack Expeditions.
We talk about everything from what makes a good adventure, tips for those new to the outdoors, preparation tips for your next journey and some funny stories from the road.
OnTrack Expeditions is fast becoming one of Australia’s leading travel companies and with people like Ian leading the way, they might just make your next dream trip come true.
Hope you enjoy the read.
Ian, great to chat! For the readers, tell me a bit about yourself.
Great to chat mate.
I’m Ian, but everyone calls me Lummy. Ian is one of those names you sort of mature into.
When I’m in a retirement home and kicking back with a pina colada one day maybe I’ll be Ian then (laughs).
“Born and bred in Melbourne, Australia, I’ve done a bit over the years.”
A bit of bar work where you and I met years ago. I was in and out of the outdoor industry where I got to travel before transitioning into the travel business world full-time with OnTrack Expeditions and OnTrack Meals where I’m at right now.
I’ve got my wife and two little girls who keep me happy and take away all my sleep at the same time! Thank goodness you can’t see me because of the bags under my eyes right now (laughs).
I live a simple life here in Melbourne, I just want to live and travel.
Speaking of living, you have lived a life of adventure. Tell me how it all started.
I’ve got to credit my parents for this.
Before I was around, my Mum was only in her twenties when she packed up and went overseas – all before international travel was popular.
This was in the 1960’s, she did the hippie trail, did a kibbutz in Israel even worked at Harrod’s in London for a time. It was in the UK where she met my Dad.
Mum has been an awesome inspiration. She has always believed in not having so many material things in her life at the expense of experiences, I was brought into that life.
“When I was six years old, we travelled as a family overseas for four months, to the UK, Asia and America where I saw the world for the first time.”
Back home, we wouldn’t have your resort holidays of today. Usually, we would just load up the car and go on long road trips camping somewhere. Some were awesome, others were bloody terrible.
There was always an adventure element to it though. My parents planted the seed of adventure in me from a young age.
Where have your outdoor adventures taken you around the world?
I have always been motivated by adventure travel, but I’ve been to a lot of places.
The Europe trail was great. Visited big cities like Rome and Barcelona, over to the States, been to New York and all that.
“My favourite part of travel is visiting regions and areas that a lot of people don’t.”
I’m not saying these places are off the beaten track or where there are no roads, just places where you get challenged mentally and physically.
I mean places where a toasted cheese sandwich to make you feel better, isn’t always available. You might have to eat something random which you have no idea what it is.
Places like Mount Kilimanjaro, the Himalayas and the Kokoda trail in Papua New Guinea are just a few of these destinations. Places where you have what I call ‘Oh Shit’ moments.
In these ‘Oh Shit’ moments, you need to rely on yourself to get out of situations. We need those challenges as humans – it builds resilience.
Something we all need.
Describe to me one of your most memorable experiences adventuring around the globe.
One comes to mind right away and it happened right after COVID.
Our company OnTrack Expeditions’ main product is the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, a challenging multi-day trek through the jungle.
On the back of COVID, me and a mate called Travis, who works for another company, headed over to check out the lay of the land for bringing clients back again, run some risk assessments and reconnect with our local crews.
“We were the first white people on the trail in over two years and went to villages that hadn’t seen visitors since the start of the pandemic.”
As a guide, we always have clients with us – but this was different. It was just me and Travis going for a walk. There was no wifi coverage and we were isolated from the outside world for those 7 or 8 days – it was incredible.
Our company got hammered with COVID for a couple of years, so being back on the trail, by ourselves, getting back into it helped me mentally recalibrate and recover from a rough couple of years.
Can you tell us about a particularly unique or unexpected experience you had while adventuring?
Here’s a good one (laughs). I’m leading a tour group in Papua New Guinea again.
A group of extremely wealthy and influential businessmen from Sydney. Their collective net worth would be eye-watering. Anyway, they turn up with all their fancy gear to do the trail.
Like many developing countries, you can pick up the odd bug along the way, like Bali belly. One of our clients, let’s say, is a very loud gentleman with a big presence. You know, the big boss type in our group – well, he started feeling a bit worse for wear.
Now it was a father/son trip, so we had their boys along for the trail, mainly about 15 or 16 years old. Kokoda is great for that, its challenges bring people together.
“We get into camp one night and it starts pissing down with rain, like really hard. It’s a massive storm and all I hear is someone shouting outside.”
With sideways rain outside the tent, I pop my head out to find this gentleman with his ass sticking out of his tent, shouting to his son to bring him wet wipes because he was so sick.
The reason I bring that up was because it levelled him.
He was just another person in the jungle, battling his way along the trail The group dynamics changed after that and I started to get a bit more respect from the group. I’m just a little battler from Melbourne, I was now seen as more knowledgeable and more experienced among a group of super successful people.
We laugh about it now, but it takes me back to what I said before.
Travel is a great leveller and really sorts you out and teaches you so much.
How do you handle the times when things don’t go to plan?
It’s all about mindset.
One of the first things my work colleague Andrew said to me when I started was you need to prepare for when things go wrong.
Not wait until they do.
In our business, things go wrong all the time. It could be something as simple as a missed flight or hotel booking. At the other end of the scale, it could be an evacuation.
“It is about working with what you can control – because so much isn’t.”
There is no point in getting annoyed, you just have to get on with it and do your best to manage every situation and try and have a contingency plan for it.
Working with what you control is probably my biggest mental asset when it comes to our expeditions and leading groups.
What advice do you have for people interested in getting into the outdoors more?
Firstly, do not be scared of the outdoors.
I’ll start with an analogy around risk. Let me explain. ‘
Perceived Risk – ‘Travel is dangerous’ vs Actual Risk – ‘Travel is only dangerous if you put yourself into a dangerous situation’
I come from Australia. We have snakes and spiders that kill you. But they don’t hunt you. You would happily drive a car 100kmph down a motorway which is infinitely more dangerous.
The outdoors isn’t a scary place.
Secondly, start simple and basic. Join meetup groups with other interested people who like to go out on trips. Go for day walks with these groups or people.
You never know who you might meet, some may have done multi-day treks or gone to Everest Base Camp.
“Doing walks and having conversations with other like-minded people will give you the confidence and reassurance to head out further into the outdoors.”
Finally, I’m obliged to say this, but in all seriousness, consider joining up with a professional outdoor company that facilitates these trips.
Here in Australia, one of our biggest treks is a six-day trail in Tasmania called the Overland Track. This trek is a great introduction to the world of multi-day trekking. Next, it could be Macchu Picchu or Everest Base Camp.
You will enjoy it more if you start at a basic level and build on that as your confidence in the outdoors grows.
That is what makes my job so great, I get to introduce new people, safely, into this world of adventure all the time.
Tell me about OnTrack Expeditions, how did that come about?
OnTrack Expeditions was started in 2012 by two brothers, Andrew and Richard James for guiding trips over the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea.
Their Dad is a dedicated Australian War historian and the Kokoda Trail is such a part of Australian Military History in World War 2 – guiding clients across this trail was as much a history-learning exercise as anything else.
I joined OnTrack Expeditions in 2015, guiding a few trips here and there, but I was a school teacher at the time.
I helped them with a different set of skills, such as risk assessments and business analysis which they needed to develop as the company grew. This developed into a full-time opportunity as the company ended up needing someone to develop all areas of the business and drive it forward.
“When I joined, we only ran about ten to twelve trips a year, but the company kept growing so we started to develop a more global approach which is how our trips to Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp came about.”
We have kept our operations quite simple. COVID brought that back and we realised that more isn’t always better.
OnTrack could always move more people on our trips, but that brings more problems. In a world where it’s always more, more, more, we are quite happy just to chill in our space in the travel marketplace.
Despite that, OnTrack is now a very strong brand in the adventure travel world. We have a 90% client referral rate, which is amazing.
What does OnTrack Expeditions offer?
We offer premium group experiences in Australia, Nepal, Africa and the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea. We can custom your own as well to suit.
Our packages are at the higher end, but we take care of everything for you. From your flights to insurance – everything is covered. All these little things, so you don’t have to worry about it at all.
You pay one price to cover everything.
Our trips are all individually tailored to suit our groups. We’ve taken sports teams, gym groups, and even a 70th birthday for someone who wanted to take all her family to the Kokoda Trail which is awesome.
You can find cheaper trips, but it is all about the little things we include that cheaper groups don’t.
Our client base is typically aged from 30+ and are working professionals who just want the experience without the hassle of organising it all.
What about OnTrack Meals? How did that come about?
OnTrack Meals was born in 2018 as a way of feeding our clients on our trips.
We felt the dehydrated camp meals on the market at the time, weren’t up to scratch. So, we decided to develop our own.
The food is great – it’s all locally grown and made here in Australia too. We have sixteen meals in our range now.
We are proud of what it has turned into. We ship out our products overseas on our trips and it is now stocked in close to 150 stores in Australia. We are always increasing our range with things like snack bars – even tea bags.
OnTrack meals have become so popular that other tour companies are now buying our products to feed their tour groups!
Our meals even got to the top of Mount Everest last year with an Australian climber who enjoyed a chicken curry at Camp 4 on her summit expedition.
It came along at the right time as well, with COVID affecting our tours for a couple of years. OnTrack Meals has an exciting future.
How can people get in touch with you to discuss their next adventure?
Easy, just jump on the website at www.ontrackexpeditions.net and get in touch!
We are on the socials too – we are easy to find!
Instagram – @ontrackexpeditions
Facebook – OnTrackExpeditions
YouTube – On Track Expeditions
First Hike Project os a volunteer run organization taking young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds hiking and camping in the great Aussie Bush. We like to think that ‘Welcome is this Simple’
Last December we took a group of young people from 4 states, but originally 7 different countries on The Overland Track with On Track Expeditions. Led by an amazing guide Ross it was a life changing adventure for these young people. Friendships made. Camping in the bush. Splitting up and walking alone for reflection. Eating the best hike food ever including steak from On Track Food. We could not have wished for a more successful and breathtaking adventure. Thank you On Track Expeditions