Alan Taylor

— Sales Manager

Alan was born in Flagstaff, Arizona and is descended from some of the earliest European explorers of the American West. Alan got the adventure bug at age 10, when his family moved to Nome, Alaska, and he has been looking for new adventures ever since. Alan worked his way through college at the North Rim Lodge of the Grand Canyon. After college he spent time exploring every corner of the United States by plane, train, automobile, bus—even a bit of hitchhiking. He started working in the travel industry in Portland, Oregon, where he worked for a travel company that specialized in tour packages for travelers coming from Asia. He then worked for several years with a large national travel agency on both the leisure and corporate side. He has been a Sales Manager and trainer in call centers for the past several years and was excited to be given the opportunity to work with MTS. On most weekends you can find Alan exploring all the great things Northern California has to offer, from hiking or skiing in the Sierras to biking through wine country.

Alicia Zablocki

— Director of Latin America Progams

Alicia was born in México City and began exploring the countries of Latin America as a teenager. On her first trip to South America, she fell in love with the wildlife and mysterious ruins of early civilizations. Alicia joined MTS in 1990, enticed by the company's reputation as the first tour operator to bring adventure groups to Peru and Patagonia. In the intervening years she has wandered every corner of her native continent in search of new and exciting adventures to share at MTS—from trekking in the cloud forests of Colombia to tracking wild jaguars in Brazil.

Anne Wood

— Director of Europe Programs

Anne is a 3rd generation Italian and German American who has traveled throughout Europe—often in hiking boots—regularly for decades. Having explored over 30 countries in Western and Eastern Europe so far, Anne often jokes that she has seen more of Europe than most Europeans have. Anne has been working for MTS since 2001, and spends several weeks out of each year personally scouting and fine-tuning our European adventures. "Off duty" you'll find Anne consulting for USAID, speaking on behalf of the Breast Cancer Fund, or in the outdoors hiking, running, and mountain biking.

Anthea Engle

— Adventure Coordinator

Anthea was born and raised in England, and has been with MTS since 2000. Her travel career goes farther back, though, beginning with a job as a flight attendant for British Caledonian (they were called “Calle Birds” back then) at the age of 20. Anthea has traveled on all 7 continents, lived in Bahrain for 1-1/2 years in the 1970s, and has been on a number of MTS trips, including the Galápagos Islands, "Himalayan Passages," and part of our "England Coast to Coast" trip in 2003.
 

Chris Bettencourt

— Art Director

Chris has been the "artsy" side of MTS since 1999, when he was lured out of a freelance graphic design and photography career by the promise of working for a company he "never imagined I'd have a chance to work with." He learned of MTS while running the photography gallery of a highly respected mountaineer and adventure photographer who had worked with MTS on numerous occasions, and was awestruck by the amazing world he saw in the pages of the MTS catalog! Working for MTS has given him the opportunity to travel most of the places on the "must go someday" list he compiled as a boy while reading through his father's steamer trunk full of National Geographic magazines. Chris has carted bags of film (and now memory cards!) to numerous countries on 6 of the 7 continents ("Australia, here I come!"), been to the top of Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the globe, and recently had the great fortune to marry his wife Denise in a very traditional Maasai wedding ceremony between Arusha, Tanzania and the Ngorongoro Crater. He recommends the experience highly!

Danilo Bonilla

— Director of North America, Galápagos, Costa Rica and Rivers Programs

As former captain of the Costa Rica National Rafting Team, Danilo has barrelled down over 50 of the world's most famous whitewater rafting rivers including the Zambezi in Africa, Chile's Futaleufú, and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. Born and raised in Costa Rica, he discovered rafting while working as a guide after high school. Ever since then, he has been designing and running kayaking and rafting trips around the world. Danilo began guiding for MTS in 1995.

Edwin d'Haens

— Regional Specialist

Born and raised in The Netherlands, Edwin moved to the United States in 1994. He began working in the travel industry in 1995, as a Tour Director on bus tours throughout the U.S. catering to European tourists. He also worked for nine years in alumni and museum travel, organizing trips to Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Vietnam, Kenya, Jordan, Uzbekistan, as well as all over Europe. Edwin loves pretty much everything that the outdoors has to offer, and it's not uncommon to find him spending his off hours hiking, sea kayaking, and bird watching.

Gayle Price

— Documents Specialist

Gisele Camozzi

— Controller

Jim Kennick

— Chief Financial Officer

John Baston

— Special Operations for Alaska and North America

A naturalist, former National Park ranger, and veteran Alaska guide, John brings an incredible wealth of hands-on experience and perspective to his job. The wilderness is where he feels most at home, having worked for the National Park Service in Yosemite, Glacier Bay, Mount Rainier, Kenai Fjords, Point Reyes and the Golden Gate.In addition to being a world-class guide, John is also an avid photographer and herpetologist, so if you're on a trip with John and see a snake or lizard you want to know more about, John is your man!

Julie McCormack

— Director of Asia Programs

Julie is the newest member of the MTS family, joining us in May 2012 to fill the big shoes of retiring Asia Director Narendra Gurung. An avid traveler and lover of all things Asia, she jumped in with both feet and christened her new position by launching two exciting new trips in the Chinese frontier—Exploring Xinjiang's Ancient Cities and Camels, Mountains and Villages—drawing on her love of China gained during a year of living there! Julie likes to say that with each passing year, the list of places she does NOT want to visit grows smaller and smaller!

Kevin Callaghan

— President & CEO

Kevin joined the Mountain Travel Sobek family in 2001, after 15 years as CEO of growth companies in online information services, direct marketing, health & wellness, branded lifestyle, and web-based businesses. Companies included Royal Robbins, international outdoor apparel; Krups USA, a healthy living and wellness search fund; and HotLinks, a precursor to today’s social media companies. He got his start in venture capital and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to manning the helm at MTS, Kevin is also active in the Young President's and World President's Organizations, and served as Northern California Chapter Education Chair in 2010-2011 as well as Chapter Chairman in 2011-2012.

 
An insatiable traveler and adventurer, he is happiest when he is in the field. Kevin has been to 38 countries (including North Korea in 2012). He has trekked in Patagonia and the Himalaya, gone on wildlife safaris in East and Southern Africa, climbed Mount McKinley, run the Grand Canyon in a dory, and completed an Outward Bound educator’s program. He is also an avid sailor, and once worked on a charter yacht in French Polynesia as well as crewed on the winning sailboat in the Southern Ocean Racing Conference's Pineapple Cup.

 
Kevin is married to Diann (also an inveterate traveler), has two sons, both in the film industry and also avid travelers, and he has a B.A. and M.B.A. from Stanford.
 

Laura Parent

— Regional Specialist

Salt water runs deep in Laura’s veins! Growing up in sunny South Florida, she was influenced by her father's career as a ship's officer and harbor pilot, and at 17 took her first job on the water, quickly realizing that working on boats would be her ticket to see the world. Achieving her captain's license at a young age, she has since logged over 20,000 nautical miles in offshore passages as crew or watch officer on boats ranging from traditional sailing schooners, to expedition ships, to racing yachts, to luxury megayachts, to pulling boats with no engines.

Laura eventually dropped anchor in the SF Bay Area, where she is very happy heading up sales for MTS’s Alaska & North America, Galapagos, and Polar programs. An avid photographer & surfer, she has a degree in Ecology & Evolution and a penchant for marine mammals.
 

Laura Roundy

— Director of Africa, Middle East and Polar Programs

Growing up in New England, Laura never dreamed that one day she would earn her living crafting adventure trips in Africa, the Middle East, Antarctica and the Arctic Circle! After earning her degree in anthropology from Montreal's McGill University, Laura backpacked around the world, living for periods in Costa Rica and Australia before settling down in California

Linda Yaxley

— Adventure Coordinator, Latin America

Linda’s adventurous spirit and passion for the outdoors has taken her backpacking, hiking and river rafting in all but 4 states. She has traveled through 40 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico. Linda brings a wealth of travel industry experience to her job as an Adventure Coordinator with16 years as a travel consultant and agency manager. In her spare time, Linda loves perfecting her culinary skills, studying Italian and exercising her dog in the great outdoors.

Mindy Goodman

— Adventure Coordinator

Mindy grew up in New York and began her career in the travel industry over 30 years ago after graduating from the University of California, San Diego. Her love of travel grew with every opportunity to explore the world, beginning in Europe and continuing on to Latin America and Asia, where she feels most comfortable, even considering it to be her first home (she lived in Bali, Indonesia for 6 years). As part of the MTS team, Mindy has traveled to Turkey, Galapagos, Ecuador, Peru, Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, and India. She loves learning about different cultures, meeting people of all walks of life, trying new foods, cooking, hiking, biking and camping. Her favorite color is green, so her love of the outdoors isn't surprising. So far Mindy has been to over 35 countries and has many, many more on her list.

Monte Andreasen

— Information Systems Manager

Natalee Sheperd

— Adventure Coordinator

Paul Vesper

— Equipment Manager

Paula Tucker

— Adventure Coordinator

Tanya Rinaldi

— Director of Pacific Programs

A native of Australia, Tanya has been designing and running adventure programs in the Pacific for over a decade. She is a true global explorer, with more than 50 countries under her belt and a commercial pilot's license to boot! Growing up in New Zealand and Australia instilled in Tanya a passion for all water sports, especially surfing and SCUBA diving. Her local expertise shines through in the breadth of unique adventures she has brought to the MTS line up.

Tara "T" Kekaha

— Regional Specialist

A native of Berkeley, California, but with roots in Hawaii, T's first international trip was to Europe, where she still has many friends. She loves getting to know people, creating art, diving into rivers and oceans, and exploring the diversity of cultures in her position at MTS. She has lived in Thailand and has traveled in Russia, Peru, and the Galápagos. T loves the lushness and beauty of Southeast Asia, and always looks forward to her next adventure.

Tara Starr-Keddle

— Regional Specialist

Tara has 14 years of travel industry experience in positions ranging from tour guide to volunteer in Ghana, Africa. She has traveled to over 45 countries—17 of which are in Europe—and has lived in both England and Spain. Her personal passions include hiking, camping, backpacking, running, kayaking, and traveling. Tara has been working for MTS in the Europe region since 2005, and travels every year on one of our trips so that she can give you accurate, detailed information to help you select the right adventure.