Here’s a little more about us, the people behind FunThingsTexas.com…
My name is John Els. I am the founder of FunThingsTexas.com. I’m one of those people who could have a sticker on my car, “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!”
I was born in South Africa, grew up there, and lived there until I was almost 30. My wife, Esmé, was born and raised there as well.
In our time in South Africa, we were lucky enough to travel around and see quite a lot of it. The Cape Town area is magnificent, and a definite favorite. We spent a lot of time in the Kruger National Park, and saw some amazing animals there. The entire coastline is beautiful too, especially between Plettenberg Bay and Cape Town. The Karoo is a special place to me.
In 1991, we traveled to Europe and spent 6 weeks touring through Europe with a bunch of young people. We saw some amazing things, like Paris, the French Riviera, Rome, Venice, and much more. We went trout fishing in Hopfgarten, Austria. We went skiing at Jungfrau, high up in the Swiss Alps. We even visited the red-light district in Amsterdam. It was an amazing trip, and the travel bug bit!
In 1996, when our first child was 2 years old, we got the opportunity to move to the US. We landed in San Francisco, and enjoyed the beauty of that area for two years. Then we moved to Texas!
We loved Texas from day one! The people are friendly and hospitable. There are so many beautiful things to visit around here.
We have traveled around Texas often, enjoying so many wonderful experiences. We have seen a lot, but there is also much more to see!
In 2006, I started FunThingsTexas.com. I wanted to create a website focused on Texas family vacations and things that kids will enjoy too. With our own love for travel, and two boys who like to explore things, this was quite easy.
FunThingsTexas.com started out covering things to do in three or four Texas cities. Then I started adding information about hotels and restaurants. Our Texas Events system followed soon after that.
In 2017, I revamped the site by adding a directory to allow any tourist service provider in Texas to have their own profile page. I felt that this would give you, my reader, so much more to choose from. With that, I gave the site a new look, and also changed the website to FunThingsTexas.com (no longer Fun-Things-Things.com.)
My goal with FunThingsTexas.com is to give you useful information about vacationing in Texas. I hope that you will find all you need to plan some memorable vacations in Texas!
Safe travels!