Hi everyone, my names Cian Thompson and I’m the founder of Verkennen, I’m exactly the same as you, I’m not special nor different, just a 24 year old lad who was raised on a council estate and has a thirst for traveling the world (maybe to escape who knows 😂) I’ve always wanted more in life and see everything as an opportunity.

I had my first backpacking trip when I was 17, lying to my mum that one of the lads was 18. So me and 2 friends jumped on a plane and made a B-line for Venice, Italy.

I was hooked, the feeling of not knowing what comes next was amazing, the uncertainty of who your gonna meet or what your gonna eat… I liked this feeling.

Ever since this trip I knew I wanted to go backpacking, so at 18 I did a season in Zante (which was crazy as expected) and met a Scottish lad called Calum who is still one of my best mates to this day, before going on my first proper trip to South east Asia.

I remember the feeling of landing in Ho Chi Mihn city, the motorbikes beeping, the smell of petrol in the air, the humidity that made you sweat through your clothes… this was freedom.

When I got to that first hostel, I remember how exciting it was to speak to so many different nationalities, I had only heard these accents in the movies, and then I met Dillon.

Epizode Festival, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam 2019

Dillon was an American lad from Florida who was working at the bar and we quickly became good friends, I would then Go on to travel the rest of Vietnam with Dillon before splitting off to travel Cambodia and Thailand… then covid hit.

When Covid hit I was still in Thailand and ended up getting the last flight out of Bangkok to London before going back up to Manchester.

During Covid, I worked in Care on a nursing ward as I wanted to do my part and help out, but after a year I was ready for a change.

I got a call from Dillon saying he was currently traveling Egypt and if I wanted to join , so I asked Calum (from Zante) if he wanted to go too because this would be one of the most legendary introductions of my life if those two met, so we booked our tickets and made our way to Cairo.

Egypt was a totally different box of frogs compared to Asia, different language, different culture, desert, coffee and cigarettes… I loved it !

We traveled Egypt for around 2-3 months, visiting the pyramids and pretty much exploring every corner of the place we could.

After coming home and working in a sales job for a year, I would then go onto travel the Philippines, Vietnam and Bali for 8 months before moving to London and spending a year there.

And that leads me to 2024, the year I started this brand and made some of the biggest decisions of my life, from spending the whole year researching and developing the products (along with Dillon who is now my personal my business partner) to getting engaged to my Fiancé (who I met in Vietnam whilst I was working in a hotel back in 2022)

I didn’t start this brand for me, I started it for you, the reader. From my mistakes whilst I have been traveling, having a messy bag full of sand, not bringing a towel, not knowing where to go. These are the problems Verkennen solves, we are not just for the Backpacker… we are the Backpacker.

A little about me

Verkennen

Email: Verkennen.travel@gmail.com