Jake Haupert
Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board

Jake is dedicated to unleashing travel's superpowers in transforming self and society. He is honored to contribute to the transformational travel (r)evolution and the emergent transformation economy as an entrepreneur, speaker, facilitator, and consultant. Proudly guiding, supporting, and empowering connections and growth through travel by unifying transformational destinations, practitioners, and travelers in a global forum, for the betterment of all.

He brings a heart-centered, futurist perspective with a pragmatic, actionable approach, leveraging horizon scanning and story-telling to bring about a more empathetic, ethical, equitable, and ecological travel dynamic.

He is also taking transformational travel theory to practice as the Co-Founder of Explorer X and ROAM Beyond. Jake founded Evergreen Escapes in 2006, exited in 2018, and now sits on the Advisory Board.

Jake has been interviewed and quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, Skift, Shape, Vox.com, USAToday, and NPR, among other publications, podcasts, and radio.

Michael Bennett Ed.D.
Co-Founder

Once described as “a disarmingly earnest combination of spiritual guru and travel agent with a strange obsession with Joseph Campbell,” Michael is a seasoned traveler, speaker, consultant, educator, entrepreneur, and organizational consultant who has dedicated his life to helping others transform their lives through travel. He believes that through travel, we all embark on our own Hero’s Journeys of exploration, discovery, learning, growth, and transformation. Michael is a recognized thought-leader in the travel industry and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, Skift, Shape, Vox.com, USAToday, and Seattle Met among other publications. Michael earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and his MBA and Ed.D. from Pepperdine University. He is a Co-Founder of the Transformational Travel Council (2016) and Explorer X (2017).

Eric Rupp
Business Ops & Lead Author of The Transformational Travel Journal

The General Manager at Evergreen Escapes, Eric’s wanderlust, thirst for knowledge, penchant for insight, and deep love of design have resulted in a delightfully abstract resume that includes Directorship of a Bolivian University, missile propulsion design for the Department of Defense, and bartending in Greece.

Jorge Perez
Vice Chair of the Board & South America Ambassador

Jorge is the founder and owner of Tierra del Volcan, an eco-tourism, family, and adventure travel company based in Ecuador that offers legendary moments and promotes adrenaline-fueled conservation. With 20+ years of experience in conservation and the travel industry, Jorge is a pioneer on private land conservation. He is also the former president of ASEC, (Ecuador Ecotourism Association).

Kurt Kutay
Director

Founder and former CEO of Wildland Adventures, Kurt is a travel industry pioneer., Kurt is a travel industry pioneer. He has served on many professional boards and conservation organizations including The International Ecotourism Society and the ATTA. Kurt wrote a chapter on adventure travel for Fodor's guide books and has written numerous articles on ecotourism. 

Sallie Fraenkel
Director

Sallie Fraenkel is the founder and president of Mind Body Spirit Network where she connects people through events focusing on spa, wellness, food, beauty and travel. She has a lifelong passion for and expertise in wellness travel which she uses in her consulting practice. Sallie’s latest addition to her portfolio is a certification in Coaching for Transformation. Sallie is the former COO of Spa finder Wellness, Inc.® and Executive Vice President of the Global Wellness Summit. Prior to that she had a twenty-year career in the entertainment industry. Sallie has served on several non-profit boards including Gift of Hope, NYSPA, GSN Planet and as Co-Chair of the Social Impact Initiative for the Global Wellness Institute.

Brian T. Mullis
Director

Brian is an advisor, guide, and social entrepreneur working at the intersection of sustainable development, conservation, and tourism. As Founder and former CEO of Sustainable Travel International, Brian has helped advance sustainability within the travel and tourism sector. Other past leadership positions include the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board for the Department of Commerce and the World Economic Forum's Future of Travel and Tourism Council.

Mike Rae
Director

Mike Rea is a social entrepreneur who has been committed to creating philanthropic value and impact for more than 15 years.  To the TTC family he brings expertise from Tourism Cares, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Give2Asia, and Bank of America, and an eye to both storytelling and building innovative, impactful programs and communities.  You can check out two of his most meaningful travel experiences: in Sri Lanka with his tsunami giving retrospective and the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan.

Tom Byrne
Director

Tom Byrne is an experienced entrepreneur, executive and advisor whose ability to tap into where strategy and creativity intersect, combined with his passion for wellness, travel and transformational growth, keep him on the vanguard of the experience economy. Currently, as Chief Strategy Officer of Kaptyn, he is helping transform shared mobility for good using sustainable vehicles. In 1997, Tom co-founded New River Capital Partners where he has held leadership and advisory roles with Jamba, Unsettled, ITC Learning, Yogascapes, Moss Adventures, LDN CBD, Avaltus, Reel.com, Swisher, Hygiene, Certilearn, Friends of Birch State Park and other organizations. From 1988 to 1996, Thomas held several executive positions at Blockbuster and Viacom, most recently as Blockbuster’s Vice Chairman and President of the Viacom Retail Group. From 1984 to 1988, Tom served as a CPA with KPMG after graduating from the University of Florida.

Phil Cousineau
Advisor

Phil Cousineau is a freelance writer, documentary filmmaker, independent scholar, worldwide lecturer, storyteller, and creativity consultant. He has published over forty books, written or cowritten over twenty-five award-winning documentary films, and has hosted "Global Spirit," on PBS and LINK TV for the last ten years, a series that Bill Moyers has described as some of the most important television on the air. Cousineau has led art, literature, and mythology tours around the world, from Ireland and Greece to England, France, Italy, and Cuba, in search of what the ancients called "The soul of the world." Currently, he lives with his family on Telegraph Hill, in San Francisco..

Gordon Hempton
Advisor

Gordon, known as the Sound Tracker ®, is an acoustic ecologist and Emmy award–winning sound recordist. For 35+ years, his sound portraits have recorded vanishing natural soundscapes. They have been featured in People magazine and a PBS documentary, Vanishing Dawn Chorus. Hempton is subject of a feature film, Soundtracker, and co-author of One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Quest to Preserve Quiet. He is Founder and Vice President of The One Square Inch of Silence Foundation and Quiet Planet®.

Norie Quintos
Advisor

Norie is a communications consultant who helps destinations and travel companies find and tell their authentic stories. She is an Editor-at-Large for National Geographic Travel Media, the former executive editor of NatGeo Traveler, and an AdventureEDU educator. She 'grams and tweets @noriecicerone. Learn more about Norie's work by visiting her website: www.noriequintos.com

Katherine Droga
Advisor

Katherine is passionate about the transformational effect travel can have for people and planet. Her consultancy firm, Droga & co. specialises in developing and promoting sustainable and inspiring tourism destinations, experiences and events worldwide. Katherine previously led Tourism Australia’s international and domestic operations, events and partnerships for over a decade. She is the proud founder of the Wellness Tourism Summit and Chair of the Global Wellness Institutes, Wellness Tourism Initiative.

Mat Rudisill
Advisor & Brand & Marketing Communications

With 20 plus years shaping brand experiences, Mat brings a wealth of knowledge and passion for brand strategy, marketing communications, and social entrepreneurship to the TTC.  His work with global brands, start-ups, and nonprofits contribute to his holistic approach to strategic brand and communications efforts. Mat’s insistence that all great brands tell a great story pushes him to help organizations find a voice that is authentic and meaningful, not only to customers but to a broader community. His highest goal is nurturing communications cultures that seek to engage, excite, and move company and consumer into better awareness of not just a product or service, but of self, community connection and impact on the larger world we all share. 

Elyse Mailhot
Advisor & Publicist

Combining a passion for adventure travel and 25+ years of travel industry experience in integrative marketing with a large database of industry leaders and media globally, Elyse has worked with some of Canada’s most innovative tourism organizations. Her career took a turn following a hiking trip and Antarctic cruise. Transformational adventures as such have shaped Elyse’s life and career. She left a lucrative job to start her own adventure travel PR consultancy, EM Adventure Marketing, and has not looked back since.

James Wallman
Advisor

International bestselling author of 2 books on the experience economy: Stuffocation (Penguin, 2015), Time And How To Spend It (Penguin, 2019). Futurist, entrepreneur and experience strategist: clients inc HSBC, KFC, IDEO, Facebook, Intrepid Travel, Marriott International. Advises UK government on the experience economy. Keynote speaker: given talks from Amsterdam to Berlin, Cannes, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Nashville and Las Vegas.

Ronny Turiaf
Advisor

Ronny Turiaf is best known as a star athlete who spent 10 seasons in the NBA, but closer inspection reveals a global citizen committed to making the world a better place.  Born in Martinique, trained in Paris, galvanized at Gonzaga, and made an NBA Champion in 2012 with the Miami Heat, Turiaf has had a long and fruitful career…but doesn’t take a single day for granted. Only weeks after being drafted to the Lakers, a team doctor discovered a heart condition that required surgery. He made a full recovery and went on later in his career to found the Heart to Heart foundation, to provide support to children with heart related issues so they can live a healthy and happy life.

Turiaf credits basketball with instilling in him hard work, dedication, and teamwork. He is also a student of life who speaks many languages and travels frequently to expand his mind. He is well versed in marketing, advertising, social media, non-profits, strategy, client management, and much more. Ronny has been fortunate enough to run the Heart to Heart Foundation, become Chairman of IVC Global, to be an intern at Olson Agency, to be a partner at Bros. Stories, Dash Radio, and serve as a Jr. NBA Ambassador. Ronny is passionate about art, books, and helping others realize and achieve their dreams. He now spends his time following his heart around the world sharing his experiences and unique journey

Caliopy Glaros
Advisor

Caliopy is the Founder of Philanthropy without Borders, a consultancy which provides strategic guidance to travel advisors and nonprofits on philanthropic and volunteer trips. As an expert in philanthropy and intercultural communication, Caliopy works with organizations to build and optimize travel programs that inspire generosity, cultivate empathy, deepen learning, and connect people across cultures in mutually beneficial ways. Caliopy has designed such donor and volunteer programs in more than fifty nations on five continents.

Natalia Cohen
Advisor

With 15+ years’ experience of living and working in over 70 countries, Natalia Cohen has a broad range of professional experience within the travel industry and has made an art of embracing and adapting to change. Her understanding of team dynamics, the importance of connection, effective communication and a positive mindset led her to become part of the first all-female team to row unsupported across the Pacific Ocean. Natalia and the crew completed this challenge setting two world records and gaining an international following. This was a journey of just under 9,000 miles from San Francisco, USA to Cairns, Australia in a 29ft ocean rowing boat. The expedition was not only a challenge of extreme conditions and perseverance but also a journey within to better understand the strength of the human spirit, the importance of being aligned with your values, developing mental resilience, the diversity within a team and enjoying the journey.

She has a deep understanding of the power of travel and a strong passion for people, psychology, adventure, movement and spirituality. To find out more about Natalia visit www.nataliacohen.co.uk 

Brady Hedlund

Advisor

Brady’s passion and purpose is around providing people with life changing experiences focused on personal and spiritual growth. He ran a travel company for 12 years called Life Before Work, A Co-Living Space in Nicaragua, built a small hotel in Thailand, and a mini festival on a private island in Panama. 

He is now taking everything he built and evolving it into transformational experiences along with creating large scale experiences by partnering with other tour companies and retreat organizers with the intention of building a community of people that want to co-invest in a network of Co-Living Retreat Centres all over the world. The centres will have a focus of personal and spiritual growth with yoga, meditation, breathwork, biohacking and workshops from some of the top facilitators in the world. Creating more balance, connection with self, others and nature. Inspiring people to pursue a life with more impact and meaning!

Tania Carriere

Advisor

Tania Carriere, has been inspiring “best lives” through transformational retreats for over 25 years. Her career trajectory spans being partner in an international business transformation consultancy leading profound change in the support of purpose-driven leadership to being the founder of Advivum Journeys, where she leads seekers on intricately designed destination retreats based on her signature multi-disciplined methodology which combines theatre, change theory, positive psychology, coaching, adult learning and travel into one immersive and experiential adventure. She has designed bespoke retreats for National Geographic photographers, top 100 Forbes recognized financial advisors, global marketing brands and hundreds of individuals who are seeking to reshape their success trajectory as they live into bold choices to be authentic, aligned and fulfilled. Tania is also a vibrant international leadership and life coach proud to support changemakers in answering life’s biggest questions and keeps herself inspired by blogging while travelling - 77 countries and counting!

Jasmine Goodnow, PhD

Research Advisor

Jasmine is an Associate Professor of Recreation Management and Leadership at Western Washington University where she teaches courses in sustainable tourism, inclusive recreation services, and eco-adventure— a study abroad course to destinations such as Costa Rica, Peru, South Africa, New Zealand and Alaska. Her research focuses on transformational travel and the construction of liminality, and microadventure as a form of sacred, inclusive, and sustainable travel. She shares her research at conferences such as the International Adventure Conference, The International Ecotourism Conference, and Sacred Journeys: Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. Her research is published in academic journals including Tourism Review International, International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, Journal of Travel and Tourism Research, and Leisure/Loisir: The Journal of the Canadian Association of Leisure Studies. During her free time Jasmine enjoys traveling, bicycle touring, hiking, and relaxing at the beach.  

AMBASSADORS

Ambassadors represent TTC in their respective destinations by spreading the word about transformational travel, speaking at conferences on behalf of TTC, and inviting travelers and those within the travel industry to join the movement!

Maria Baltazzi
North America Ambassador

Maria Baltazzi is traveler, long distance walker, and TV show producer. She was one of the original producers of Survivor. Maria's most recent adventure has been founding Sojourn Explorers, where she curates adventures throughout the world that have a fundraising component to them – proceeds from each trip go to one of several nonprofit partners. 

David Benitez
Outreach & MICE Manager

David is a very passionate on business interactions through designed, humane, and authentic event formats! In 2015, he founded CoCoA, a B2B experimental marketing events consultation company that provide designed programs in the business events world. CoCoA  also partners with Mindmeeting to provide event content design and empower desired audience behavioral changes through tailored made moderation and facilitation of the event program. Previously, David successfully launched the award-winning educational summits “IBTM Talks” with Reed Travel Exhibitions. He has experience in launching and Project Managing “Evento Days,” the leading events industry exhibition in Spain.

Shoba Mohan
India Ambassador

In 2004, Show founded RARE India – a representation, communication, sales and marketing company that promoted experiential travel that included a range of hospitality and tourism products – boutique palace hotels, experiential walks, riding programs, off-roading destinations, art for tourism, etc. The products encompass a variety of interests viz. nature, health and wellness, wildlife, adventure, cuisine, art and history, culture and conservation and above all involve people – passionate, lateral thinkers and doers from various walks of life promoting an ideology and fostering learning. Shoba Mohan’s myriad interests and evolution in travel run parallel to that of RARE, yet writing about issues, nature and conservation continue to be areas of personal interest.

Deeply spiritual and a fervent lover of India and the subcontinent, Shoba works tirelessly for upholding the image and beauty of the country through the strengths she sees as a powerful narrative to promote every aspect of the country. Having spent some years escorting special interest groups for cuisine personally cooking for them, to Buddhist university groups to cultural explorers to women in power, she believes that India’s potential through traditions, its people and mythology is yet to be fully explored and the country’s tourism offices can set a precedent for the rest of the world to follow.

Jennine Cohen
North America Ambassador

Jennine Cohen is a trusted luxury and adventure travel expert, speaker and coach. She’s frequently called upon as a media source and has been quoted in Travel & Leisure, Afar, Conde Nast Traveler, Vogue, YahooTravel, Fortune, Forbes, ABC, CBS, and numerous trade publications. These days, she’s the Managing Director of the Americas at GeoEx.

Raj Joshi, M.D.
European Ambassador & Research Guru

Raj is an Expedition Leader that has led numerous expeditions worldwide, including high profile media projects. He embraces the power of travel in developing human interaction with people and cultures. Raj has climbed the highest mountain on every continent and believes that everyone needs their own ‘Everest’ to create change both within the inner self and in greater society. With his expertise in expeditionary environments and through his company The Adventure Boutique, Raj inspires and challenges people to transform through adventure.

Nigel Malone
Australia Ambassador

With 20+ years in the marketing and design industries, Nigel brings significant experience and insight to the table. His credits include rebranding three World-Heritage listed sites and assisting the Yolngu Aboriginal people of North East Arnhem Land develop cultural tourism businesses. A qualified Sea Kayaking Instructor, avid climber, and serial rescue dog adopter, Nigel’s current enterprise is the Adventure Junky App, earth’s sustainable travel game.

Rafa Mayer
Argentina Ambassador

Rafa’s passion for travel revealed itself when he was a child. Born in a home of travelers, he became a young backpacker during high school when he would go camping in Patagonia with his friends, always dreaming about his next adventures. 

After receiving his degree in Marketing and Advertising, he traveled around the world until the age of 24, when he decided to settle down and dedicate himself to what he loved the most: hosting people from around the world to experience the south of South America. 

Rafa founded Say Hueque Journeys in 1999 and was able to combine his two greatest passions:  Argentina, and the exploratory spirit of travel.   Twenty years later, his company is a team-orientated group of passionate travelers and profesionals who share his love for local culture, his appreciation for amazing landscapes and his dedication for helping people worldwide experience Argentina and Chile in a memorable way.

He is a strong beleiver that when we travel, we have a uniquely permeable mindset that allows us to be deeply moved and transformed. That´s why he is so  proud of being the Ambassador of TTC in Argentina, as he deeply share its values, principles and vision.

Married and with two kids, he now spends a lot of time traveling together as a family. It is such an enriching experience, where he is able to have front row seats to see how traveling transforms, teaches and moves his kids. It is with the fuel from these experiences that he decided to develop a new travel division: Argentina Family Adventures, his latest passion. 
   

Douglas Simões
Brazil Ambassador

Pure Brasil and Ybytu Founder, Born in 1974, married, Anita and Miguel’s dad, degree in Computer Science and master degree in Business administration. Travelled to more than 40 countries at the 5 continents. Lived in Melbourne-Australia (3 months – 1992-93), London-UK (2008), and Canada (3 months - 2016/17). Guide trips at least once na year. Former president from ABETA (www.abeta.tur.br). During free time travel with the family to wildlife, nature and ski destinations, dive with Luciana (wife) and hike or cycle alone to the mountains. At home like to cook, to play guitar, to play and to watch football and brew beer.

Stine Selmer Andersen
Nordic Ambassador

Besides being a passionate traveler and tourism nerd, Stine has worked with and specialized in sustainable destination development in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. She has been in charge of not only marketing and relationship management – but most importantly engaging the local businesses in working together to create a more attractive destination based on transformational products and multidisciplinary collaborations. This has given her vivid experience in relationship management, business and destination development, public speaking and  most importantly facilitation workshops and development projects. Stine is now a consultant at Visit Greenland.

Travis Bays
Central America Ambassador

Travis is a former Peace Corps Costa Rica volunteer, social entrepreneur, and consultant with 15+ years of experience in micro credit community banking, project design and management, and best practices for sustainable tourism. He is a co-founder of B Corp certified and 1% for the Planet member, Bodhi Surf + Yoga — a community engaged, award winning responsible tourism company in Bahia Ballena-Uvita, Osa, Costa Rica. He is an avid surfer, ocean lover, and traveler, and enjoys bringing his passions for Blue Mind into his wide array of roles.He also consults for the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, co-founded the SOMOS Foundation and sit on the board of directors for Geoporter Costa Rica, a local non-profit that educates community members how to use geospatial tools to develop solutions to environmental challenges.

Raj Gwayali
Nepal Ambassador

Raj Gyawali has over two decades of experience working specifically on responsible tourism in practice – on the ground developing his company Socialtours as the first tour company in Asia to be sustainability certified. As a consultant he helps governments and communities develop more sustainable practices, and inserts sustainability strategies in government plans. Raj’s work ranges from training guides in more sustainable practices, to educating customers on the practice of responsibility in tourism as travellers, developing more sustainable tourism offerings, as well as guiding governments and stakeholders in putting sustainable procedures into action.

Tanner Colton
Onboarding, Education & Training Program Manager

A lifetime of seeking in nature and around the world has taught Tanner one important thing: our lives are not ours alone and there is no end to what we can learn. As the co-owner, along with his wife Kolena, of Travel Life Adventures he seeks to create space were personal transformations can take place for travelers, and to work with and support communities in creating sustainable and empowering tourism programs and infrastructure. It is time for travel to be an agent of positive change instead of a tool of exploitation.

Mona Lewicka
Director of Connections & Partnerships

Growth through taking challenges, connecting with others and understanding the world is Mona’s motivation for travelling through life (preferably by bicycle or on foot). After graduating from the University of Warsaw with a degree in Social Science, Mona then worked as a Foreign Office intern, university projects funded by the European Commission and later with multiple NGOs in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Most recently she worked as a Buyer Manager at Connections in London, where she was helping travel leaders connect with each other during niche networking events, as well as growing its Adventure portfolio and leading Connections Adventure event in The Azores in 2019. In 2016, she co-founded a tailor-made travel planning company, nomaddict.org, which she has been running ever since. Transformed by everything that went well and wrong during 5 years of journeys to nearly 70 countries across 5 continents, Mona is ready for learning, new experiences and bringing people together, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whenever she can, she runs, meditates, hikes and sharpens her rock-climbing skills. At the TTC since November 2018.

Kelsey Bumsted
Marketing Manager & Ally Onboarding

Kelsey’s background and interests lie heavily in understanding cultures and exploring areas of the world as foreign to her own as possible. Her first exposure to transformational travel was at twenty-one years old when she de-enrolled from a semester of college at a small school in New Hampshire to pursue her personal studies in Nicaragua where she used her photography and marketing experience to work for two nonprofits and a coconut oil company. Following that, she spent two years living in a remote area of Belize as a Health Resource Volunteer and the local communications chair for the Peace Corps. She cares deeply about sharing experiences through photography and being a guide to empower others to go out and do the same.

Samantha Hardcastle
Marketing Manager

Samantha is the founder of Amore Social, a marketing communications agency focused on furthering transformative travel. She consults with destinations and tourism organizations, supporting them in elevating their experience to match the extensively researched motivations and desires of travelers worldwide. Samantha draws on her own passion for exploring the world through cultural cuisine, music & theater, artisan design & crafts, and her undeniable magnetism towards nature & wildlife to bring fresh ideas to travel providers.

Kolena Allen
Ally Onboarding Specialist

Kolena has spent her formative years traveling the world and seeking to empower communities to make travel and tourism work for the betterment of their people. As the co-owner, along with her husband Tanner, of Travel Life Adventures she seeks to create space were personal transformations can take place for travelers, and to work with and support communities in creating sustainable and empowering tourism programs and infrastructure. It is with this desire that Kolena brings her skills and expertise to the TTC in supporting the Ally program and being the first point of contact for potential members. 

Elizabeth Drolet
TTC Producer & Storyteller

Elizabeth Drolet is a multimedia jackie of all trades with nearly 10 years of storytelling experience in broadcast journalism, TV/Video Production, and digital media. She received her BA in Technical Journalism and PR at Colorado State University. She  was a destination PBS TV correspondent and radio feature reporter in Aspen where she covered mountain culture and business. Drolet is a recipient of the Colorado Broadcasters Assn. Award of Excellence for an outdoor adventure series that she created and hosted, in which she reported live from adventures ranging from hot air ballooning, paragliding to even SUPing down the river. In 2017, as journalism became a dirty-word nationwide and fake news was trending, Drolet decided to chase her adventurous heart to a new frontier with the intention of telling stories that activated heart, sparked joy and connected humanity. She followed her love for travel and culture to Italy to accomplish a life-long dream of living abroad and started a freelance business in brand journalism and digital content creation. She now lives in Seattle, where she likes to de-ice the city with conversations with strangers and produce media that creates positive social change and impact. You can catch more of her stories on instagram @elizaventures5  

Sara Leger
Gathering Event Coordinator

Sara is a consultant and also founder of Leger Experiences, a boutique brand that harnesses the power and magic of intentional communities gathering in transformative containers such as women's retreats, business masterminds, live-events and international small-group travel. Sara's superpowers to exceptionally curate, organize, and host makes her a sought after expert whose experiences' elevate conscious leaders and inspire curiosity, shift paradigms, and connect us more deeply to ourselves. In addition, Sara offers operational and experience consulting for growing organizations and venues by optimizing systems, strategies, and efficiencies that increase revenue and enhance the client experience.

Chloe Lauer
Curriculum Development Manager

Chloé is pioneering the #transformationaltravel movement and is at the forefront of bringing personal evolution through self-directed adventure to everyone. She created the world’s first course on Transformational Travel, supporting people as they embark on their inner journeys, no matter where they are -- at home or abroad. An adventurer since 18, she has solo-traveled to 60+ countries and completed a 10,000-mile, 100-day road trip across the USA and back. A former “doer,” travel worked its transformational magic on Chloé, inviting her to “be” in the moment, trust the world, and feel at home with herself — wherever she is!

HONORABLE GURUS

These two founding partners contribute vision, energy and influence to the development of the philosophy, and execution of our mission, and vision. They continue to raise awareness on how transformational travel is a powerful force for good.

Don Mankin, Ph.D. | Co-Founder & Advisor

Don is an intrepid explorer and author of the critically acclaimed book Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean. Don’s award-winning travel writing, appearing regularly in the Huffington Post and his Adventure Geezer blog, explores his travels to the far corners of the earth. Don earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University.

Birgit Mohrmann | Community Building Guru & Writer

Birgit joined Ultimate Safaris in 2014 as Sales & Marketing Director. A 4th generation Namibian, she knows first-hand the incredible power that travel  has on travelers and the communities they visit. Birgit's infectious enthusiasm and commitment to the preservation of the environment are just part of what make her so special.