Who We Are

Our adventure together started way back in the early 90s, on the border of Ecuador and Peru in South America.

Our individual round-the-world trips crossed paths in a sleepy border town called Vilcabamba, in southern Ecuador. Two years of work and play (…. mainly play) followed around The Americas, Asia and Australia.

In our late 20s, we returned to the UK, swapped our packs for some bricks & mortar and settled into family life, careers, a wedding and the arrival of our daughter.

Truth is, we got swamped. Swamped with stuff (the removal company claimed they’d never seen so much stuff in such a small house – ever) and swamped with life in the suburbs.  How did two backpackers let this happen?

So, in the late 90s we decided we needed to breath again. Fresh air, outdoor living and family time beckoned in the Lake District.

We’d like to say we got it right straight away, but we didn’t.  Initially we just swapped the routine from the city to the Lake District and still managed to get swamped.

Then we read Australian author Steve Biddulph’s recommendation that every man should take his 40th year off, which is exactly what Jorrit did in 2007. What a great decision that was, for all of us.

It helped us rediscover our passions – for the great outdoors, the environment, vintage travel items, exploring the world and a simpler, slower way of life.

Driven by these passions, and with the help of our friends, we created Millican in the summer of 2008. It took us nearly a year before we were happy to launch the first Millican collection of organic canvas rucksacks, shoulder bags, overnight bags, cooler bags and travel accessories.

At Millican, we follow the path left by eco-adventure nut and godfather of sustainable living Millican Dalton. Like him, we want to inspire others to care for the planet. We want to tell wild stories. We want to write in leather bound books – preferably Moleskine ones.   Unlike him, we’ll never live in a cave. Sorry.

We also gleaned a few thoughts about running our business from maverick Millican. First, we don’t pretend to be perfect. Sometimes, we fail, but we keep trying. Second, we think about stuff that matters – fair trade issues, sustainability and adventure travel.

Now in our third year, our small team is expanding with the arrival of Sandra (bringing order to our chaos) and Rob (driving life in the social media lane for us). Both complement our team of freelance experts – Matt, Liz, Adam, Jon, Rob, Roger, Cheryl and Moy – who’ve helped us get our Millican dream off the ground.

Then of course, there are our friends. The ones who thought we were joking when we wanted to put their names to our bags, who’ve modelled on our photo shoots and even stepped up to be filmed for TV.
There are many great minds behind Millican.