About OS Wayfarer

Introduction

OS Wayfarer is not a business or an enterprise but a passion!

My name is Graham Kingston (see my Profile Summary), and it is my passion (some might say obsession) for personal technology, project management and travel, that has resulted in OS Wayfarer. Of course, without the wonderful support provided by my wife Katherine who calms the exuberance, anchors the outfit in some reality, and ensures a measure of class, the whole show wouldn’t be sustainable. So, OS Wayfarer is also a partnership.

We are retired baby boomers and we’ve been at this caper, in one form or another since about 2009.

So, what is OS Wayfarer?

At its core, OS Wayfarer is about self-publishing eBooks, especially our travel eBooks. So far, we have self-published eight travel eBooks, plus one give-away eBook.

I find the production of each eBook fascinating, and it is detailed in the recent series of posts about Our Approach to Self-publishing (soon to be an eBook). It is very similar to project tendering (without the stress) which I enjoyed so much during my professional career.

We endeavour, for less than the price of a cup of coffee, to share our experiences with you.

Our approach

Four key principles underpin our approach:

• We love to take a “Do it Yourself” approach as much as is feasible: in respect of our travel, eBooks and this website. Naturally, this enables me to feed my passion and saves money at the same time.
• A cost-effective approach is always front of mind, but my passions do get in the way occasionally! (Let’s not talk about camera/video equipment – okay?)
• A commitment to maintaining standards is important to us. This is no doubt a carryover from our professional experience and expertise as workplace managers.
• A desire to share our knowledge and expertise thereby helping others to enhance their travel and self-publishing goals.

We strive to be professional; and to adopt practical, affordable, achievable, and effective approaches.

Unashamedly, we take considerable pride in the fact that we have self-published eight travel eBooks (one as a print version as well) and maintain the OS Wayfarer website as a supporting resource.

Our website

The OS Wayfarer website is about presenting our self-published eBooks and blogging about our interests. Until recently I have not been particularly disciplined about blogging. However, this has changed with a change in approach. First, I have started to blog about planning for each of our major trips. It started with Athens and now I am continuing this approach with Cornwall. Secondly, I sat down and wrote 10 chapters on our approach to self-publishing and then serialised it in posts to the website.

My posting efforts may still be off the pace, but it is far better than it used to be!

In 2020, we will be posting a quarterly journal. This will keep followers/visitors informed about our activities and enable us to review and plan these activities.

Travel

We travelled as a part of our professional working lives, but to less developed countries. We lived and worked in Bandung, Indonesia (four years), Kitwe, Zambia (four years) and Kuching, Sarawak (two years). These wonderful opportunities provided a rich experience for our family and instilled a desire to travel (perhaps it was always there).

We have travelled quite a bit since retiring and intend to continue doing so. In retirement we have travelled to other parts of the world: for example, Athens, Prague, Isle of Skye, along the Queensland Coast, Istanbul, Bucharest, Budapest, and Barcelona (it just so happens that all resulted in an eBook!).

We endeavor to capture our travel experiences in our eBooks and self-publish them on Amazon and Smashwords (for distribution to Apple iTunes, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble – Nook).

The rationale for writing these books is too provide a record of our journeys for personal reflection and to hopefully to assist others making the same journeys. Of course, they feed my passions as well.

We also blog about our travel adventures, especially planning, destinations, photo albums and travel photography.

Our eBooks are available for less than a cup of coffee!

Our partnership

OS Wayfarer is a partnership between my wife (Katherine) and myself (Graham). In my later professional life, I had a passion for project management, tendering and mentoring. Earlier passions that have endured include electronics, personal computing and programming.

With eBook self-publishing I found a way to continue with these passions. Katherine, who is the better reader, writer, editor and historian, provides invaluable and unstinting support and brings a dose of class and reality to it all.