Meet Matthew Hirtes

Hello world, I’m Matthew Hirtes. I didn’t see myself as a travel writer until an in-flight mag paid me to visit the La Geria wine region in Lanzarote. Despite the very same title already running an article of mine about surfing on Gran Canaria. After all, that fitted in with my past life as a sports journo in the UK where I was deputy ed of the Official Chelsea magazine.

Expat hell

At first, I was a sad expat, missing home comforts on offer in the resorts of Gran Canaria’s south but not in the capital, Las Palmas, where we still live. The first year here Matthew Hirtes was a house husband, looking after youngest son Alex who’d contracted leukaemia at just eight months old. Then when Alex went to nursery, I taught English in local schools.

Surf and turf

I began to use my Canarian base to my advantage. As well as covering the surf of the Atlantic and the turf of La Geria, I’ve narrated hotel stays and trips to out-of-the-way beaches. And after the release of my sleeper hit of a travel-guide-meets-expat-bible Going Local in Gran Canaria, Radio 4 got in touch. Would I be interested in John McCarthy interviewing me? As well as showing him a very different side to Gran Canaria, I introduced him to other Canarian characters.

My name could be Earl

Matthewhirtes.com offers a pictorial introduction to my Gran Canaria. I’ll be here until all my boys have finished school. Considering new recruit Tom hasn’t even started yet, brace yourself for a long-running series of Matthew Hirtes’ Random Photos of Gran Canaria. With even more entries than Earl Hickey‘s infamous list.

Call me maybe, email me definitely

If you’d like to get in touch, contact me at matthewhirtes [AT] gmail [DOT] com. I’m always happy to receive feedback on my posts. Also, this is the easiest way for a travel editor (nudge, nudge et cetera) to reach me.

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