Curated Travel Experiences,

Not Tours.

Every spare minute — and dollar — I get my hands on goes to travel. As soon as my good friend Donna moved to Paris, I started hanging out there a lot. Soon we were organizing group trips, first for friends, and now for people who would soon be our friends (like you).

I love getting to know a city beyond the usual tourist venues — the unknown and quirky museums, the grand parks, the places where only the locals eat, the cafés where cats share your table (not for the allergic, of course), the little streets with the trendy shops or just where to get a spectacular cup of coffee.

My travels in the last few years have taken me to France over and over again. Some of my other favorite trips have been to Italy, South Africa, Morocco, Spain, Ethiopia, England, Namibia, India, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Algeria, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Germany — and lots more. I walked across England by myself twice, and I’ve hiked in the Sahara, the Amazon and all over Europe.

I’ve been designing and facilitating group experiences for ages. But my first love has always been travel — and making sure that everybody on the trip is having a great time.

Sheila and I met at Johns Hopkins where she was teaching a marketing class (she’s worn many hats) and I was working on a MBA. She needed an assistant and I needed a job. Turned out to be a good match and lasting friendship. I helped her organise the hiking trips she was doing at the time and eventually joined her for a few. Those were good times and she kept journals that are sure fun to read today.

After I moved to Paris and created Best Friend in Paris, (actually, it was Sheila who came up with the name for my business and helped me get it up and running), Sheila came up with the concept of doing small group trips together. We pitched our idea to Politics & Prose and were off and running. I am so grateful to all the people who have trusted us with their time and money over the years. We’ve had so many wonderful people join us and I hope that if you’re reading this, we will be meeting soon!

My love of travel was enhanced by my work with USAID, where I spent much time in other countries, including Thailand, Egypt, Ghana, Peru, Mozambique, and Zambia. I particularly love visiting France and England, and Berlin and London are two of my favorite cities.

I worked in litigation at USAID and two other federal agencies, and I have lived in Washington since 1978. I have a degree in Russian studies as well as a law degree.

Sheila and I met in French class, and as a result both of us nearly speak French.

My first “travels with Sheila” occurred over 40 years ago, when she invited my husband and me to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. None of us had ever been before. Thus began our trips together (and 25 + years of summering on OBX).

Sheila and I have hiked in the US, Italy, Portugal and France. We have driven all over the country (we are known for our “unplanned detours” because something looked interesting). We love learning about a place – what’s new, what’s old, where should we eat, what should we see, where can we go next. Planning our trips has been a highlight; a mix of thoughtful detail with room for spontaneous adventure and exploring.

After decades of traveling with her, I went on my first Wild Blue Yonder trip to Venice. It was fabulous. When she asked me to be a trip leader for the first domestic trip, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Creating a unique travel experience takes time, pre-planning , an open mind and a genuine love of creating a memorable experience for the people who choose to journey with us. I hope to meet you soon.

I am so thrilled to be a part of the Wild Blue Yonder team, having landed here via my childhood friend Donna Morris. We go way back, she and I: we connected initially through our mutual love of the piano as teenagers and here we are, two gals from N.C., sharing another mutual love: traveling and exploring.

Spending some college summers in Avignon, France, I fell in love: with the French language, the literature, history, culture, cuisine, shopping, the whole package! I've been a devoted francophile ever since. I honed my language skills through a decades long career at the World Bank, raised a couple of kids and finished a masters degree in Public Health. After retiring, I took on a new career of teaching ballet to children.

Now it's time to play with Sheila and Donna and I can't wait to meet all our fellow travelers!