An exciting life of adventure and exploration awaits for an Oldham blogger as he has been named one of the most influential travel writers on the Internet today.
Ex-army man Paul Steele started blogging about his adventures in the breathtaking Saddleworth Moors, and gained acclaim for his description of the wild and wonderful area.
Paul, who served with the Royal Army Medical Corps, never thought that his blog would open him up to worldwide appreciation and recognition.
The Diggle local said: “I got a job sat behind a desk in Manchester and I put on four stone. I got out the house and went exploring to walk it off. I started blogging, I got addicted and it escalated from there.”
His hobby has now gained him international acclaim on the web, with more than 114,000 Twitter followers and a top place as one of the most influential travel writers on the web.
Now the Oldham Internet celebrity is writing for the Visit Britain website, and has even been contacted by CNN about writing projects in the future. To top it all off, he managed to get a winter wonderland trip to Norway from the Norwegian tourist board. He got to ski, visit an ice hotel and see the Northern Lights on his trip.
“It was stunning, the northern lights were swirling over our head. Tourist companies see that there is another market out there on the Internet and another way of learning about places to visit. It’s weird, I’m just doing my thing and I’ve had messages from all over the world with people saying they want to come to Saddleworth. I’m going on trips that people would give their right arm for.”
Paul is now hoping to become one of a handful of people to trek to the South Pole. Paul added: “Ever since I was a child that has been my dream.”