The founding of TravelTagMan.

My work background started as an apprentice Toolmaker. It gave me great start in life that would eventually turn full cycle many years later and bring me back to the trade that I started out in. It gave me the skills that lead me to starting this business. As a young person, I wanted a change from the daily grind of a factory job and I found a more exciting lifestyle when I moved into the hospitality and tourism industries. I worked in the Casino business as a Gaming Croupier then Supervisor which gave me the ability to travel overseas looking for work. During this period I got involved with a 18-35's Tour company in Europe which lead to an offer of work as a Tour Manager leading escorted tours through both Europe and Australia for a number of years. Since then I have had the pleasure in travelling extensively around the world over the past 25 years and travelling is a passion I will carry through the rest of my life. I currently still have an interest in the South Australian tourist industry where I meet travellers of all backgrounds regularly and promote our products to all that will listen!

It was 2004 while travelling through South East Asia, I visited Thailand and Laos on holiday. Whilst staying in Vientianne the Laos capital, we ventured to the old market.(which has since been rebuilt into a modern day shopping mall!) I was walking through this market when I entered a small shop with a vast array of nick nacks and in a bowl of odds and sods tucked away I found a single U.S. military "dog tag" belonging to a US armed forces member. I purchased this tag due to an interest I had in military dog tags. It only cost a few 'kip' the local Laos currency. When I returned home I did some
research online and found an organisation in the US that tries to find original owners/family members to recovered dog tags. After some research unfortunately the lead came to a dead end however I still have that first U.S. Dog Tag I bought to this day and my collection has increased by many since then!

It was from this purchased tag that the seed was sown and from my experience in travelling, I saw a need for wearing I.D. tags whilst away and especially more so after the horrific footage of the tsunami of December 2004. I had some friends who were affected by this shocking tragedy in Patong Beach, Thailand and this was the actual catalyst for me to start to sell personalised army dog tags online. This was late January 2005, initially as a hobby but I soon saw there was market out there where people wanted these tags for one reason or another.

July 2006 saw us purchase our first automatic embossing machine and 1 year later we produced our first purpose built website and have since been manufacturing and supplying customised Travel I.D. tags to travellers, military personnel, people on medications, fitness groups and the general public. We now operate a number of tag embossing and debossing machines. One Vietnam era debosser was sourced via a US military surplus auction in the US while another historic 1920's type debosser was located on the Australian Army base at El Alamein neat Port Augusta, South Australia. This particular machine weighs over 200kg! Our latest machine is a fully automatic portable embosser which is the same model currently used in the field by the US Army. Please see our videos page to see how they work!

We firmly believe the product we produce will give everyone access to a high quality, long lasting product that will do the job it is intended to do for a very minimal cost. Our tags might not be cool or trendy however these above tragic events are proof that TravelTagMan products are a cheap, quick and simple solution giving peace of mind for a problem many people may have to face at some time in their life. The tragic loss of a loved one.

Thank you for visiting our online business and if you have any queries on our Travel I.D. tags feel free to contact us. If you would like to give us some feedback we welcome you to contact us or if you would like to purchase your own personalised Travel I.D. Tags then you can do so by clicking here.

Regards
TravelTagMan