St Paul’s to St Peter's James Gilpin talks to Becky Chappell about his recent career change that has taken him from investment banking in the City of London to tour guiding in Rome. AddThis NAME: James Gilpin AGE: 35 HOME: London, Florence and Rome OCCUPATION: Tour guide and entrepreneur. He runs White Hat Tours, a specialist cultural tour operator, offering small group tours of Italian towns and cities, with innovative itineraries that guide travellers away from the crowds. CONTACT: For more information call +44 207 7712681 or visit www.whitehattours.com. James Gilpin has recently undertaken a major career change. Previously, he worked as an investment banker in the City of London. However, after spending over a year living in Italy, working as a language teacher and tour guide, he now runs his own tour company, White Hat Tours.
He is passionate about the Italian visual arts, language and gastronomy and combines all these elements in his White Hat tours of Italian towns and cities. THE ITALIAN MAGAZINE: What prompted you to make such a radical career move? JAMES GILPIN: It all started with a New Year’s resolution to learn Italian. In January 2003, I enrolled on the beginner’s class at the Italian Cultural Institute in London and spent the following two years studying the language in my spare time. It was obviously difficult at first, but upon getting to know the teacher and other classmates, it soon became a wonderful team experience. During this time I began to start seriously considering my career options. I was growing increasingly in love with Italian culture and becoming more and more disenchanted with working in investment banking. I longed to do something more creative and flexible, where I would have greater control over how I managed my time. So in early 2005, I finally decided to leave and start my own tour company. TIM: What gave you the idea for the tour company? JG: I never enjoyed going on guided tours myself, since I always found them so impersonal. I remember once going on a large group tour around the Uffizi, being herded around like a sheep and feeling totally exhausted by the end. I believe that art is most appreciated and understood when it is experienced in its original context. I wanted to avoid big museums and galleries and take groups to more private venues. It’s more memorable to organise a special visit to a church, villa or palace, and enjoy a sense of privileged access away from the crowds. In Florence, for example, the White Hat itinerary avoids all the four major museums and instead we experience the Renaissance through visiting a series of frescoes in monastic refectories around the city. In addition, I think travellers gain the greatest enjoyment and appreciation of a culture by experiencing it through a variety of different forms. I therefore wanted to include a cooking lesson, language classes and musical events on each tour. They provide a refreshing break from sightseeing and enable travellers to become more aware of local traditions and engage in the native language. TIM: What did you have to do in order to set the business up? JG: There were obviously quite a few steps I needed to go through before launching the company. I had to master Italian, research all these special places, establish some Italian contacts, be a tour guide myself and, of course, experience the ‘real Italy’. Essentially, I needed to spend time living in Italy and really immerse myself in the culture.
TIM: So where did you live in Italy? JG: I decided Florence was the best place to complete my language studies, and so enrolled on a three-month course at a language school there. Mornings were spent in the classroom, afternoons exploring the city and neighbouring hills, and evenings practising Italian with Laura, my landlady, and her daughter. After completing the course in Florence, I then moved to Rome and worked as an English language teacher. TIM: What was it like working in Rome? JG: It was a shock to suddenly be the teacher rather than the student, but with my knowledge of Italian grammar I understood why all my students made the same mistakes! After six months in Rome, with many hours spent walking around the Forum and the Vatican Museums, I decided that I was ready for the transition from language teaching to tour guiding. All those years of studying art history were suddenly relevant again, as I began explaining the Roman empire, the Catholic church and the Sistine chapel to various groups of English-speaking tourists. TIM: Where did you stay in Rome? JG: I initially rented a tiny studio flat in the Trastevere district since it was such a central location and had a wonderful view of the Janiculum hill. Later, I moved to the Ponte Milvio district and shared a house with Giovanna. Like all native Romans, she was a fantastic cook and taught me how to prepare al dente pasta, as opposed to the English ben cotto version! TIM: What did you miss about the UK? JG: I was engaged for most of the time that I was in Italy (now married), and so obviously missed my fiancé, who was living back in London. We saw each other quite regularly, however, since the return flights are so cheap. Overall, however, I did not miss London since it was such a wonderful and exciting experience to be living and working in Rome.
TIM: What was the lifestyle like in Rome? JG: Rome is the tourist capital of the world and with so many people visiting the city on holidays there is always a great buzz and excitement on the streets. It’s a city full of politicians, priests and people who work in tourism and leisure. The public transport system can make life a bit frustrating at times, but it’s always a pleasure to walk to your destination if you are not in a hurry! Romans are really proud of their history and heritage. It’s a very visual culture and people like to spend time ‘seeing and being seen’. TIM: When did you decide to return to London? JG: I returned in July, since I was getting married in London at the end of that month. It was a good time to leave Rome, since most Romans go on holiday in August and the city becomes unbearably hot. By then, I had spent well over a year in Italy and felt confident that I had enough knowledge and contacts to start the tour company. TIM: What are your plans for the future? JG: White Hat Tours launched in October, offering tours of Rome, Florence and the Roman Campagna, and the first tours will take place in March 2007. I am currently researching other Italian towns and cities and planning to expand the range of tours in the future. WHY BUY IN… ROME? ● Home to a collection of spectacular ruins and architecture, not to mention a host of impressive museums and galleries, Rome is every culture vulture’s destination of choice. With so much to take in, one trip is never enough. ● Rome is one of Europe’s most populated and desirable cities and inevitably has a healthy property market to match. Most sought after by foreign investors are buy-to-let studio flats within the ancient city walls, which can be rented to tourists for around €800 per month. ● A more economical alternative to the city centre is the bohemian area of San Lorenzo, close to the university La Sapienza, where one bed apartments can be picked up for €165,000. Related links: Italian News Italian Homepage Newsletter: To receive the best overseas property and travel news enter your email address at the top of the page and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Mortgage: Time for a change of scene? Get a European mortgage with Barclays. Magazine Subscription: If you found this news article useful, why not visit www.merricksmagazines.co.uk and subscribe to The Italian Magazine, the UK's No. 1 title for lovers of all things Italian?
