Here's a brief account written by himself explaining his experience of visiting Pakistan.
When I first travelled to Pakistan in 2006 both the world of travel and Pakistan itself were very different places. People travelled with physical guidebooks, simple point-and-shoot cameras and chunky white iPods were in vogue and the idea of a travel blogger was only beginning to emerge. Pakistan was at the tail end of a minor tourism boom - the flow of foreigners who visited during the 1990s had slowed to a trickle after 2001, and almost ended completely after 2007.
I visited a country that inspired the intrepid traveller in me - despite having my journey cut short by illness (after a dodgy chicken dish in Multan), I knew that I would have to return - Pakistan was one country that definitely deserved closer inspection.
I continued to visit through 2007 and 2010, before finally deciding to return for a longer stay in 2013. Since then I've informally adopted the country as my home, spending roughly half of each year there, learning Urdu (with mixed success) and building an incredible group of friends.
I've visited 48 countries but Pakistan is the one that I choose to call home. Of course, not many outsiders understand why, and so it's natural that I wanted to share my passion, love and happiness from Pakistan with the world!
In 2013 while travelling in the Potohar Plateau south of Islamabad I began to make detailed notes on places I had visited. I realised the value of the information in my notes when I spotted a group of foreign travellers on an organised tour at the Katas Raj Temples near Chakwal. I compiled my notes into Pakistan Traveller, my first book, and one of the first new travel guidebooks to Pakistan since 2008. My 2015 publication was successful enough to convince me of the potential of tourism in Pakistan, so I set about a much wider release for the second edition.
This year, on the nation's 70th birthday I released Pakistan Traveller with the hope that I can draw travellers back to Pakistan. Pakistan is not the easiest of destinations, but I truly believe it's worth the effort. The world of travel has changed, and with new technology its easier to bring amazing quality content to audiences worldwide.
I believe Pakistan is now poised to capitalise on its status as the world's best kept travel secret - it just needs the right publicity - and that's why I'm inviting the world to come and experience Pakistan for themselves.
