Andrea Montgomery

Contact details

2009-03-11T11:08:00.005Z

Email me!

Telephone: (0034) 922 384 654

About Andrea Montgomery

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After 20 odd years working in the public and quasi-private sector in the UK, I had everything…highly paid and challenging job, great man, lovely cottage, fab clothes, fast car and twice yearly vacations in exotic locations.

Then I traded it all in (well not the great man) for a life amongst the bananas in the north of Tenerife. I swapped grey skies for blue, an office for a pen, oak trees for palm trees and a red Toyota sports for a Fiat Punto. But am I happy?
Well, most of the time!

Current blogs

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Stockport Express (MEN Newspaper Group):
"IT'S the end of Carnaval week and I feel I’ve only narrowly escaped with my sanity in tact. The combination of sleep deprivation, physical endurance and some disturbingly bizarre sights is enough to have me Googling for the nearest psycho-analyst..."Read blog

A Step in the Wrong Direction - Real Tenerife Island Drives:
“D’y think we’ve been walking for more than 15 minutes yet?” asks Jack, re-reading the scant directions in his hand.
“More like 40 minutes” Sue and I agree.
We’d been hiking steadily uphill through the forest and, according to the ‘map’, should have taken a right turn 25 minutes ago.
“Compass!” Jack was like a surgeon calling for a scalpel.Read blog

Samples of published work

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Going Native in Tenerife published by Bookshaker.com:

"Tenerife is an island that attracts over 6 million visitors a year, many of whom think they know it like the back of their hands and few of whom know it at all..."Read article

'Carnaval on Tenerife' -published on SimonSeeks.com:
"Every February, Tenerife's the place to head for a hot, hedonistic week of stamina-sapping street parties - making it the perfect escape from cold, gloomy days in northern Europe..." Read Article

Tenerife Highs - published on Real Tenerife Island Drives magazine:
"In a dormitory shared with 14 strangers, it was ‘lights out’ at 9 pm and so began one of the longest nights of my life. Despite exhaustion, the altitude and my aching limbs prevented me from even the remotest inclination to sleep and for 6 hours I lay with my eyes wide open in icy silence..." Read article

Escape to the Hills - published in Sparkle:
"Just 4 flying hours from a UK that seems to have slipped into a second Ice Age, the Canaries are currently enjoying average temperatures in the mid 20s (70s Fahrenheit), six and a half hours of sun a day, and daylight to near 7pm.
So it won’t come as much of a surprise to discover that a sizeable percentage of the UK is already booked to make their escape to these idyllic islands and hotel beds are as scarce as gritting salt..."Read article

Resume

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2003 to date - Freelance travel writer and author: specialising on the Canary Islands of Tenerife, La Gomera and La Palma and with published work on Sri Lanka.

2004 to date 'Living Tenerife' lifestyle magazine.
Main feature writer producing an 1800 word location report; a 1000 word special feature; a 500 word short feature and ad hoc news items for each monthly issue.
Blog Manager responsible for all postings, maintenance and correspondence.
Proof reader for the monthly printed magazine.

2008 - Author of Going Native in Tenerife, published by BookShaker.com
Equipped with almost five years of researching and feature writing about the island, in the summer of 2008 I was commissioned by BookShaker.com to produce a 'warts and all' guide to Tenerife. ‘Going Native in Tenerife’ has in-depth reviews of 35 towns, resorts and villages across Tenerife, many of which do not appear in any other guide book. There are insider insights into culture; history; gastronomy; language and all the main fiestas including when, where and how to enjoy the best of them. Launched in January 2009 and available through Amazon, the book is already performing exceptionally well.

2007 - Designed, built and launched the Real Tenerife Island Drives website which now attracts over 5,000 visitors per month and runs to 39 pages of top quality, original content.
Launched and maintain Real Tenerife blog which now receives over 1000 views per month.

2006 - Author, designer and publisher of Real Tenerife Island Drives
A comprehensive guide book based on a series of road journeys designed and written specifically for those wishing to hire a car, Island Drives is sold both on Tenerife and on the web and has performed consistently well since its launch at the end of 2006.

2002 to 2003 Self employed Business Development Consultant
Based in the UK and working predominantly with Government departments and Colleges of Higher Education, I specialised in marketing, strategy and communications.

2001 to 2002 Director of Business and Workforce Development, Cheshire & Warrington Learning & Skills Council.
A government body, the LSC was established in 2001 to oversee the funding of workforce development and all post-16 education in England and Wales. As a Director, I was responsible for a large staffing section and a budget in excess of £9 million to develop and contract for workforce development initiatives in the area.

1990 to 2001 Director of Research, Marketing and Strategy, South & East Cheshire TEC Ltd
Quasi public sector organisations, TECs were established in 1990 to administer publicly-funded training programmes across England and Wales. During my time with TEC I rose to the position of one of three Executive Directors working alongside the Chief Executive with responsibility for a budget of £2.8 million and 35 staff.