Showcase

Penny hails from Vancouver, Canada; Russell is from Melbourne, Australia. They work as a team and could be called entrepreneurs. They have presented travel slide shows in Vancouver for thirty years, a result of their independent globetrotting that included four months in Central and South America, fifteen months in Asia and East Africa, nine months in West Africa and Europe and multiple travels in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands. They also have given night school courses on various travel themes: archaeology, anthropology, budget travel.

Their book publishing business started when they were managing a travel agency in Vancouver.  In 1981, China opened its doors to independent travellers. The Jennings went to China in 1982 to gather first-hand information for their clients. Their new-found knowledge led them to publish a guide-book, appropriately called China On Your Own, that sold internationally.

They gave slide presentations to promote the book, but many people preferred to join a tour rather than endure the difficulties of travelling on one’s own. This prompted the Jennings to plan and escort a series of tours to China.

After touring China, clients requested other destinations. The Jennings then planned and escorted tours to many of the countries they had travelled independently.

Tour planning required knowledge of weather patterns and the best time to visit a country. The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland supplied them with 30 years of data. After additional research they published a 432-page definitive tome, Travel Planner’s Weather Guide.

Two books of personal travel tales followed: Around the World in Sandals, and Timbuktu, where are you?

The Jennings live in Vancouver when they aren’t travelling.