If there is one thing Adam Farrell loves it is promoting his homeland. Wherever he has gone, and whatever he has done, he has never missed an opportunity to talk up Bermuda. Now, after a host of adventures in the Caribbean, Europe and Africa, the young Bermudian settled in London two and a half years ago, and is now working as a senior account executive at Hills Balfour, the Department of Tourism?s UK marketing agency, doing what he does best: promoting Bermuda.

?I heard about this great opportunity with Hills Balfour, and I was interested in tourism because I understand how important it is to the economy. I think it is the backbone of the economy,? he says. ?International business has overtaken it, but at the end of the day the climate and good location are our natural resources, and tourism is always something you can rely on.?

Having worked in Bermuda hotels during his summer holidays as a student, Mr. Farrell was instantly attracted to the job opportunity he now enjoys.

?I thought, ?Brilliant, all the better to promote Bermuda ? the Island that is my home?,? he says. ?It is something I know and love and feel good about selling, because advertising was also something I was interested in. Turning my talents to selling Bermuda gives an added zeal to my job ? ?Believe in the brand?. I believe in Bermuda, so I am quite happy to be in a position where I can talk to people about it.?

Mr. Farrell particularly likes attending trade shows because its attendants are so inquisitive.

?You can tell people about the Island and they see your passion,? he says. ?If you can convey passion to people they think, ?Right, I should go and check it out?. That is what I hope, and you can also set them straight about a few things.?

Born and raised here, Mr. Farrell was educated at Saltus Grammar School and then to ?A? level at Uppingham School in Leicestershire, England. A gap year followed at age 18, during which he ?did a bit of travelling? including learning how to sail by crewing on the Tall Ship in the Caribbean. Then it was on to Britain, where he completed a Cordon Bleu certificate cookery course at Tante Marie in Woking, Surrey.

?That was a really good experience,? he remembers. ?I love to eat so I like to cook.? Brief spells answering calls at international accounting firm, PriceWaterhouseCooper?s and holding up priceless works of art at the famous auctioneers, Christie?s, in London followed.

His gap year over, Mr. Farrell then attended Britain?s Durham University, where he studied English and philosophy, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree.

Still unsure of what his career path would be, he took another gap year off, this time joining a course that took him to Ghana, where he divided his time between working in an advertising agency and teaching English to school children.

While the advertising agency experience was While the advertising agency experience was less demanding than he expected, as an ?advertorial? writer who also proofed advertisements, as a volunteer he was given greater responsibility than he would have encountered in Bermuda, Britain or the western world generally, and for that he was grateful.

?Generally, there didn?t seem much to do. The radio would be going, and workers would fall asleep at their desks. It wasn?t that they were lazy people, but their work ethic was different,? he remembers.

Teaching young students English was, however, more challenging.

?It was amazing. I had a lot of respect for teachers after that,? he says. ?The school was very, very basic ? open air with a covering roof and five classrooms back to back ? and you could hear what the people next to you were teaching. I was among a group of volunteers from Britain and elsewhere. Corporal punishment existed. There was one guy whom came around with a bamboo stick. If he thought a class was out of control he would storm in and administer the punishment there and then. It was quite distressing, particularly to all of the female volunteers. It was something I didn?t like, and luckily I managed to keep my class under control. Otherwise, the kids were very, very well behaved and well brought-up. They were very religious.?

Overall, the young Bermudian volunteer enjoyed his time in Ghana so much that he hopes to return some day.

?Ghanaians are the most friendly people I have ever met in my entire life,? he says. ?If we were waiting for a bus, a stranger would buy us ice cream because he thought we looked hot. You felt safe everywhere. We were a few white people so we stood out and were celebrities of sorts. A lot of young people hadn?t seen white people, except maybe on television.

?The Ghanaian tag line is, ?You are welcome?, and that really summarises the whole country. I have a lot of respect for Ghana and wouldn?t mind going back there to work longer. In fact, I was disappointed that I was only there for three months. I had a great time and was sorry to leave.?

More adventure lay ahead, however.

In January, 2000 Mr. Farrell joined a hot-air balloon company at Chateau d?Oeux in the Swiss Alps.

?I decided to do something different, and it was good fun,? he recalls. ?Bombard Balloon Adventures was based in Switzerland, and basically they took wealthy Americans on balloon tours which included a gourmet lunch a couple of thousand feet up in the air. There were eight British, one Canadian and myself working as ground crew, and our job was to follow the balloon on the ground in powerful four by fours. We maintained radio contact and had to be there wherever they landed, where our job was to grab the tow ropes, make sure the balloon came in very slowly, and hold it down so it didn?t take off again. You had to be really fit to do it.?

Of course, the intrepid Bermudian also got a chance to go up in the balloon.

?It was amazing flying above the Alps, and now I would like to go ballooning in Kenya,? he says.

Meanwhile, Mr. Farrell?s next move was to join the German ?C? class racing schooner, , on the Cadiz, Spain to Bermuda leg of the Tall Ships race, 2000.

?It was brilliant. We made it in three weeks. Andrew Roberts from St. David?s was also on board. An expat chap and I were on the same watch and we talked a lot about Bermuda ? so much so, in fact, that the Germans called us ?The Bermuda Talk Show?. It was a fantastic experience, and I am waiting for the next race and great experience.?

Because he is a self-confessed ?travel bug?, Mr. Farrell says that is one reason why he hasn?t returned to Bermuda to live yet. Instead, he prefers to keep his options open for a while.

?Right now it is so cheap to go around the world. You can go for much less than the cost of going to Bermuda,? he says. ?I am very lucky, I have the support of my (widowed) mother Carola, who has always been keen for me to do what I want. I do feel guilty, but she is surrounded by friends, and I come home twice a year.?

With his second gap year behind him, Mr. Farrell then pursued a post-graduate degree in advertising at West Herts College, University of Hertfordshire ? ?it was one of the top courses, and very well thought of in the industry? ? and gained his postgraduate diploma.

Two years in the marketing arm of Lowe, a major London advertising agency, followed. Here, he worked on the account team for Egg, ?a funky internet bank?, handling press advertising in Britain?s major national newspapers as well as e-mail marketing, which stood him in good stead for the position he now holds at Hills-Balfour.

Off duty, Mr. Farrell shares accommodation with a fellow Bermudian, Matthew Davies, and keeps in touch with other of his fellow Islanders who also live in London. Each summer, he, Mr. Davies and James Thomson organise a charity ?booze cruise? on the river Thames, to which all the Bermudians they know are invited, as well as friends of friends.

?We have crown and anchor, limbo and rum swizzles, and the organisers wear Bermuda shorts. Overall, 220 people have raised over ?2000 for the charity Youth Sports UK. It has been a very big success, and is something I don?t think many Londoners get to do. I think we will do it this year for a different charity.?

All in all, this adventurous Bermudian enjoys making the most of his current opportunities, both professional and personal, although Bermuda will always be ?home?.

?Life is good here, and a lot of my friends from college are here as well,? Mr. Farrell says. ?It will be difficult to come back to Bermuda after London because there is so much going on here, and you have to take advantage of that. Then again, London is a city, and I am not a city person. I will return home eventually.?