Meet the Team

CEO

Elizabeth Gordon

Travel is in our CEO, Elizabeth Gordon’s genes. Born in Kenya and raised in Paris, Elizabeth’s instinct for exploration was instilled by her parents, who took her to many exceptional places in Africa and around the world.

After graduating from Stanford University, Elizabeth, also a pilot, worked for Wilderness Safaris managing camps in Namibia, before starting a vacation rental business in Buenos Aires. She has visited more than 50 countries, been on more than 40 safaris, and speaks six languages. “My whole life has been about travelling and I wanted to build a business that allowed people to not just do cookie-cutter experiences,” she says. Alongside her mother, Marcia Gordon, the duo created a brand that is now a leader in the boutique travel industry.

Now based in Washington, DC, when she’s traveling you’ll find Elizabeth sleeping under the stars in a tent while eating a gourmet locally-sourced meal cooked for her by locals. “I want to be able to take you to both a neighbourhood bistro and for a five-star intimate experience. Those are the magical moments you’ll remember.” Over the last decade—together with a team of 25 women—Elizabeth has challenged the status quo, entering new and unique markets, with her finger on the pulse of the ever-changing travel industry, always delivering a truly personal and extraordinary experience to every single client. She and the team are passionate about protecting the world’s most exceptional wildlife, landscapes, and cultures by helping responsible adventurers connect and experience the wonders the planet has to offer.

Co-founder

Marcia Gordon

Marcia Gordon is our co-founder, and you could, in fact, say her entire life has been an extraordinary journey. She has over 40 years of experience in African travel. After working in the Peace Corps in Uganda, she spent 12 years living in Kenya building Park East Tours, raising three daughters, designing a home overlooking Nairobi National Park, earning her pilot’s license, studying traditional medicine and expanding her vast knowledge of properties in Africa. She has worked with leading Conservation and Educational organizations such as WWF, NWF and top alumni.

After a lifetime in the safari world, Marcia Gordon started Extraordinary Journeys with her daughter, Elizabeth Gordon—which became one of the first companies to create bespoke itineraries in Africa. She is now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Marcia always encourages travelers to gently push outside their comfort zone, because that is where the transformational moments of travel take place—the real magic. She loves an adventurous night under the stars just as much as time spent in a safari camp. She was named a “Guide to the Super Guides” in Departures Magazine and is a grandmother of five. Her team describes her as curious, welcoming, warm, and authentic.

Head of Sales | Global

Jamie Mehrotra

Jamie Mehrotra’s wanderlust was fostered on weekend getaways during a summer at Oxford while attending the University of Virginia. During her time away from “work” creating educational programs at the Smithsonian, she explored the world until her appetite for travel led her to Extraordinary Journeys—where she’s worked for the last 11 years. She’s one of our longest-standing most experienced employees and her teammates describe her as being efficient, intelligent, and organized. Some of Jamie’s most memorable experiences in travel include being kissed by a giraffe at Nairobi’s Giraffe Manor, quad biking on the Makgagkadi Salt Pans of Botswana, soaking up the sun on North Island in the Seychelles and of course her wedding in New Delhi! While Jamie, now based in Dallas, Texas, has traveled the world extensively, she loves to help travelers experience India and Chile—some of her favorite places in the world outside of Africa.

Head of Sales | Africa

Pearl Jurist-Schoen

Pearl Jurist-Schoen first caught the Africa travel bug in Kenya’s famed Maasai Mara. Then, in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, she became interested in wildlife conservation efforts. In South Africa’s Kruger National Park she was blown away by the incredible game concentrations and she had a meditative experience in the remote walking zones of the Serengeti. She is passionate about travel both inside and outside of Africa. She’s a long-time Extraordinary Journeys employee, who has been with us for eight years.

Pearl is a Boston, Massachusetts native who studied Anthropology and completed fieldwork in Tasmania and Barbados. She returned to Tasmania to play Gaelic football, run a half-marathon on Mt. Wellington and work at the University of Tasmania. Our team and clients describe Pearl as being intelligent, detail-oriented, and genuine—some of the most perfect traits needed to be an expert travel advisor!

Head of Sales & Product Development | South America

Emma Fritz

Originally from the Finger Lakes area of New York, Emma developed a love for exploration and adventure from an early age; her grandfather was an intrepid traveler who spent years exploring Africa and Asia in the 50s and 60s. During the holidays, he would share his picture slides from distant lands with the family—inspired by her grandfather, Emma began to plot her own adventures. Her first taste of international travel came through her journeys to Latin America in high school and college, igniting a passion for discovering new cultures and landscapes. Her interest in the cultural nuances and language differences between countries led her to a Spanish and Latin American Studies degree. During that time, she studied abroad in Costa Rica and completed a tourism internship in Buenos Aires. After college, she moved to Chile and worked as an English teacher for four years in Santiago. Later, she spent six months as a caretaker on a sheep ranch in the Aysen region of Patagonia.

After returning to the U.S., she worked with language interpreters, TEFL teachers, and business travelers in Rochester and Boston before finding her place in South American travel. She loves that her work and interests intersect seamlessly, and she is passionate about the future of sustainable travel in Latin America. Currently residing in Austin, TX, Emma enjoys exploring Texas state parks with her husband and two dogs. At every opportunity, she ventures south to explore more of the mighty continent that has captured her heart.

Head of Sales & Product Development | South America

Olivia Schellenberg

After completing her degree in Clinical Psychology, Olivia moved to Argentina, hoping to learn a new language. Having never visited South America or stepped foot in a Spanish class, she likens her move to Buenos Aires to a blind date—exciting but tinged with apprehension. Ultimately, the chaos and harmony of the city drew Olivia in, and she fell in love. With Argentina as her home base for several years, she took every opportunity to travel the continent extensively. Her enthusiasm for South America grew with every trip, as did her connection with this colorful part of the world. No matter how often she returns, she continues to be amazed by the region’s diversity in landscapes and culture. Olivia now channels that passion into her work— she serendipitously landed in the travel realm and has stayed ever since. Her love for the region is untamable, and she considers herself lucky to share it with others. Although Olivia is now based in Boston, Massachusetts, she will always consider South America her home.

Senior Destination Specialist | Africa

Kim Green

Kim has traveled extensively, counting herself lucky to have visited all seven continents, but no matter where she’s heading, she says there’s always a meaningful connection to be made with a destination. Based in Denver Colorado, she’s our long-time safari specialist. She’s also a mother of two girls and can’t wait to continue exploring the world with her family. Kim turned her passion for travel into a career and led small groups around the world as an international travel director. In her nine years at Extraordinary Journeys, some of her favorite journeys have included mokoro rides in the Okavango Delta, catching tiger fish in Zambia, a balloon ride over the red dunes in Namibia, standing atop the ‘Roof of Africa’ on Mt. Kilimanjaro, snorkelling the azure waters of the Seychelles, and coming face to face with mountain gorillas in both Rwanda and Uganda. Our team describes her as knowledgeable, friendly and a perfectionist—what more could you want in a travel specialist?

Destination Specialist | Africa

Abby Watson

Abby’s love of travel started after she graduated from the University of Iowa and moved to California in search of adventure. While in California, she discovered a passion for the yachting industry, where she spent six years traveling the world by sea, covering over 20,000 nautical miles in the process. While living aboard as Chief Stewardess, Abby not only provided her guests with the highest level of service and hospitality but cut her teeth planning and executing adventurous itineraries. From Belize, Panama, Mexico, and Costa Rica to the inland waterways and passages of the Pacific Northwest, she created intricate itineraries to some of the more remote and “off the beaten path” marine destinations of the Americas.

She now channels her love of exceptional hospitality and her passion for exploration into helping others discover their adventurous spirit. Abby’s interest in Africa was piqued when she met her husband, a Cape Town native, and she has been enamored with Africa’s beautiful diversity and distinctive cultures ever since.

Abby prefers longer adventures that allow her to immerse herself as much as possible in new environments, explore local cultures, and find time to see the natural wonders. When not traveling, she enjoys sampling new wines, watching rugby, and enjoying the great outdoors at home in Iowa with her husband Blaine, daughter Esme, and dog Ringo.

Destination Specialist | Africa, North Africa & Middle East, Indian Subcontinent

Amelia Adamson

Our Safari Specialist Amelia Adamson, originally hailing from Portland, Oregon, has been with Extraordinary Journeys for five years and is currently based in Oslo, Norway. Her first encounter with Africa was through Semester at Sea—a multi-country ship-based study abroad program where she got to explore South Africa and Namibia, amongst many other countries around the world, by sea. Amelia has now visited over 37 countries, including extensive travel throughout Africa on safari. Her teammates describe her travel planning style as collaborative, adventurous, and thorough and say she’s always optimistic, fun-loving, and genuine. Amelia is an active traveler who loves to experience everything each destination offers and says, “I always feel like there’s more to see and a reason to come back!”

Senior Destination Specialist | Africa

Anisha Barrientos

Anisha Barrientos grew up in Tanzania and brings with her a unique perspective and unparalleled passion and knowledge of safaris. After graduating from UCLA, she worked for the Africa department of a luxury tour operator, and there began her love for planning safaris. Our safari specialist Anisha has been designing safaris for the past decade. She absolutely loves being able to share the beauty and wonder of her home continent with clients. Her travels in Africa have taken her to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Rwanda, Mozambique and Namibia. Some of her favorite safari memories include trekking Gorillas in Rwanda, quad biking through dunes in Namibia, watching a lioness single-handedly take down a wildebeest in the Serengeti (while having lunch, right at camp) and canoeing on the Zambezi River in Mana Pools. Now based in Los Angeles, California, Anisha loves a good adventure, but always makes sure she has downtime pencilled in during her trips, striking that perfect balance between being on the go and R&R (highly recommend following suit when she plans your next adventure). Her teammates describe her as being enthusiastic, well-traveled, authentic and always looking for new experiences.

Destination Specialist | Africa, North Africa & Middle East

Brigid Finley

Brigid Finley, originally from Berkeley, California, came to Extraordinary Journeys with over 15 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry. Prior to joining the team, she led PR and marketing campaigns for some of the world’s top travel and tourism brands—including Marriott International, Peru Trade Commission, and Visit Telluride—as well as her own independent travel consultancy. A graduate of Boston College, she also holds a degree in Political Science, and a Professional Certificate in Sustainable Tourism Destination Management from George Washington University’s School of Business. After many years of helping brands and destinations tell their stories, she decided it was time to help people create their own. Now, she brings her passion and knowledge for Africa and the Middle East to Extraordinary Journeys’ international clients, helping them to make stories and memories. Whether out exploring the world or closer to home, Brigid enjoys hiking, skiing, cooking, and simply being outside. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, young daughter, and two rescue dogs, Lola and Cruz.

Senior Destination Specialist | Africa

Lara Ray

Since her first safari in 1997, Lara Ray has traveled throughout East and Southern Africa. From horseback riding in the Serengeti, tiger fishing in the Okavango Delta, to rhino tracking in South Africa and bonefishing in the Seychelles, Lara has had some incredible safari experiences. Lara is someone we’d describe as our true Africa expert, through and through. Lara is one of our longest-standing employees—we’ve been privileged to have her work with Extraordinary Journeys for 12 years.

Based in Southborough Massachusetts, Lara is a total expert in family travel and has explored Africa and the world extensively with her son, daughter and husband. She has seen firsthand what a life-changing experience travel can be for children of any age. She loves finding the unique experiences that make a trip special for adults and children.

Her teammates describe her as being knowledgable, personable, thoughtful and caring—which is also reflected in how she works with her clients on a day-to-day basis. If you’re wondering where the best destinations in Africa are in and around water—diving, fishing, boating—Lara’s your girl!

Head of Business Operations

Rachel Cappucci

Rachel Cappucci is a Massachusetts native with a passion for adventure and spontaneity. She moved to New York to finish her degree in journalism while immersing herself in the city’s vibrant cultural scene. On her first trip to Africa, she fell in love with with the rich wildlife of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and to date it remains her favorite. In Tanzania, she drove the northern circuit, admiring the diverse landscapes. In Johannesburg, South Africa, she became particularly fond of the city’s street art. Exploring off-the-beaten-track wineries in Stellenbosch tops her list of memories. And, of course, one of her most unforgettable experiences is bungee jumping at Victoria Falls. The opportunity to exchange with local people and build friendships around the world is very meaningful for her.

She’s been working for Extraordinary Journeys for eight years and her teammates describe her as supportive, thoughtful, and a problem-solver—sounds about right for our head of operations.

Lead Trip Coordinator

Amber Blanchard

Amber is a Wisconsin native who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in Photography and Film. Amber’s summers during college were spent in Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains at Camp Wayne where she found her passion in adventure, leadership, and operations. After graduation, she moved to New York City and eventually back to the Midwest and is now based in Illinois.

Amber has a strong background in operations management, which means she enjoys coordinating all the tiny trip details to make each Extraordinary Journey trip unique and unforgettable.

She loves learning about all different cultures, is a foodie, and is always in search of adventure. She has many places to travel on her bucket list, and as a new team member of Extraordinary Journeys, Amber especially can’t wait to travel to Africa (especially trekking to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda). She has a strong interest in animal and environmental conservation and what we as humans can do to help. She feels strongly that we can all learn so much from the world around us and it is important to preserve that.

Trip Coordinator

Brea Boatwright

Brea is a versatile soul born and raised in Central Florida. Home and abroad, she was introduced to travel at a young age. The beautiful beaches of Florida were the weekend playgrounds of her childhood, while her earliest out-of-state memories are of snorkeling in Jamaica at the age of 10 and sailing on the crystal blue of the Atlantic aboard a Disney Cruise.

Brea received her Bachelor of Science from The University of South Florida in 2015 and began her career in healthcare administration. Shortly after, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where she got married, started a family and discovered her passion for event planning and design, and travel. Brea has always been the planner amongst her family and friends, especially when it comes to travel, and so it felt like a natural step to turn her skills into a career. She loves looking for new things to experience in a destination, especially food—one of her top priorities when traveling is finding out where the best local restaurants are.

When Brea is not putting floral arrangements together, she and her husband love visiting different beaches in the Caribbean and trying new foods along the way. She believes that travel truly expands your mindset and improves your mental and physical health. Although new to the safari world, Brea cannot wait to learn more about her African ancestry and submerge herself in its authentic culture. She currently resides in Tennessee where she began her event designing business.

Trip Coordinator

Charlotte Pope

From a young age, Charlotte has always loved to travel. It started while she spent her summers flying as an ‘unaccompanied minor’ from Boston to North Carolina to spend time with her grandparents. Exploring new places has always excited her. In college, she spent a semester abroad on Semester at Sea through Asia and Africa where her love for the world grew even more. After graduation she taught English abroad for a year in Thailand to elementary students (with her friend and EJ co-worker Amelia)!

Her wanderlust continued with three years of leading trips with an active travel company. She spent her summers guiding biking and hiking trips in Jackson, WY, and Kenai, AK, and spent her falls in Stowe, VT. After many years in the travel industry, Charlotte was eager to find a job behind the scenes planning trips for others. Extraordinary Journeys was the perfect fit. Her teammates describe her as gracious, warm, resourceful, and spontaneous.

To this day, she has visited 40 countries, with a few of her favorite places being New Zealand, Vietnam, South Africa, Colombia, and Germany! On her off time, some of her favorite things to do are hiking in the mountains, playing pickleball with friends, visiting family in the Pacific Northwest, cooking for friends, trying new hoppy brews, and skiing the many epic mountains of the world!

Itinerary Designer

Esther Ndirangu

Born and raised in Kenya, home of the safari, Esther is based in Nairobi and designs our itineraries. Inspired by childhood visits to Nairobi National Park and Nairobi Animal Orphanage, Esther’s desire to travel came at a young age, and she channels that passion into her work for Extraordinary Journeys. She holds a diploma in Tourism Management from Kenya Utalii College. She has had the privilege of traveling extensively within East Africa as a group leader, as well as to parts of Asia on familiarization trips.

Since joining Extraordinary Journeys in 2014, Esther has expanded her specialist destination knowledge. She added Southern Africa, South America, Morocco, Egypt, India, Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, and Israel to her ever-expanding repertoire. She also loves discovering new sides to her vast and varied homeland and tries to visit new places whenever possible. Esther’s favorite park in Kenya is Amboseli for the elephants, which have always been her favorite animal.

As for future adventures, she is looking forward to visiting Cape Town and Victoria Falls after reading about them while building itineraries, and to the U.S. to meet her Extraordinary Journeys family. Apart from traveling, she loves cooking, spending time with her daughter Imaani, and Zumba dancing to keep fit!

Operations Assistant

Gena Tweed

Gena Tweed has possessed a love of Africa for as long as she can remember. She’s had the opportunity to visit the amazing continent many times and continues to look forward to exploring it further. Each visit has not only reinforced her passion for wildlife and conservation but has also inspired a love for the land and its incredible people. Based in New Mexico, Gena has worked with Extraordinary Journeys for four years. Her teammates describe her as being loyal, calm, considerate, and detailed—what more could you look in the person who’s planning all the tiny important details of your great adventure?

Gena has hiked Mount Kenya, and enjoyed safaris on horseback, foot, and camelback. She has experienced the Great Migration in the Maasai Mara and Serengeti, took a microlight flight over Victoria Falls, and had dinner on a pontoon in the Zambezi river. Gena’s favorite animal is the cheetah. Each trip is unique in this land of adventure and she can’t wait to share her passion for the African continent with you.

Trip Coordinator

Julie Banks

Julie Banks is a South Georgia native with a restless spirit and a never-ending need for adventure. Her endless curiosity has taken her to all corners of the earth, from farming rare, medicinal herbs in the Appalachian hills to assisting the conservation efforts of the elusive giant river otters of the Rupununi River in Guyana.

Through her own diverse experiences, an unwavering commitment to conservation, and her attention to detail—three things that make her an asset to the Extraordinary Journeys team—Julie applies her passion for travel to her work. Julie believes that travel transcends mere exploration; it’s a transformative journey that holds the potential to shape perspectives and ignite a profound sense of responsibility for the planet. One of the most compelling aspects of travel is its ability to evoke empathy. When individuals immerse themselves in the lush rainforests of Costa Rica or witness elephants in the savannas of Africa, they don’t just see nature; they feel it. These firsthand experiences evoke emotions that transcend words, forging a bond between the traveler and the natural world.

Julie currently lives in Bozeman, Montana, where she spends her downtime leading pack mules into the wild mountains of the Northwest and learning to cross-country ski with her dogs. She’s also a keen photographer. And when she’s not planning her next adventure, she’s trying to capture the world through as many different lenses as possible.

Trip Coordinator

Katelyn McMillan

Katelyn’s love for history led her to pursue a Bachelor of Science in History and Political Science from Indiana University. Upon graduation, she entered the legal field before committing to exploring her love of history through the travel industry. After graduation, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee to explore a new space before ultimately moving back to the midwest in 2022. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration from Indiana University to further refine her skills in all aspects of her work.

She enjoys hiking, reading and community involvement ranging from local knitting and reading clubs to participating in local road races. She particularly enjoys slowly and intentionally knitting her own clothing from ethically and sustainably sourced fibers. Her family has sheep that she intends to spin her own wool from.

Katelyn looks forward to exploring historically significant places in the future, studying each trip in detail before embarking on her travels to really appreciate the historical significance. While she has not yet had the chance to travel internationally, she is delighted that Extraordinary Journeys has given her the opportunity to grow professionally in this area and to explore new spaces.

Trip Coordinator

Lauren Sullivan

Lauren Sullivan—our adventurous trip coordinator who is originally from New York—followed her desire to immerse herself in a remote wilderness and moved to Southeast Alaska where she spent many summers working as a rafting and hiking guide (after studying Fine Art in college) Between seasons, she spent months cross-country road tripping throughout the US, primarily exploring the vast west.

She currently calls Montana home, but travels often—she lives in her RV and seeks out new rock climbing spots along the way—her favorite passion. Alongside climbing, environmental conservation, animal protection, and awareness are important to Lauren.

In the future, she’s interested in getting involved with community outreach for the most vulnerable communities in African society and focusing on sustainable tourism that could benefit these communities—which makes her a perfect fit for our team at Extraordinary Journeys. Her teammates describe her as intelligent, open-minded, and spirited.

She’s passionate about exploring the remote wilderness areas that Africa has to offer and more “lesser known” areas. She has big travel plans in the future to explore climbing in South Africa at the Waterval Boven, Blyde River Canyon, Rocklands, and Cederberg Mountains. ANd She wants to go rafting the Zambezi River, hike Kilimanjaro, and go gorilla trekking in Uganda.

Trip Coordinator

Lisa Newby-Fraser

Lisa Newby-Fraser was born in South Africa and raised by a very adventurous family—from the age of eight to 13, Lisa sailed around the world with her family. Following that, she was educated in Europe and South Africa. She has lived in France, Spain, Seychelles, South Africa and the United States. She’s now once again based in Cape Town and has been working with Extraordinary Journeys for five years.

Lisa loves archery, hiking, photography, and learning about medicinal plants—all of which you’ll find her doing on all her active, adventurous travels. Her ambitious bucket list is to see all corners of the globe. Her teammates and clients describe her as being detail-oriented, meticulous, and knowledgeable—so if you’re looking for a highly-organized trip with every last detail in order, then Lisa’s your girl!

Trip Coordinator

Samantha Lambert

​​Samantha is an Ohio native who graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.A. in Film & Telecommunications. She spent a semester abroad in Wales—where she truly found her passion for adventure and travel in its wild mountains and rugged coastlines. While exploring Europe, she learned so much about travel operations, which would eventually lead her to a career in the industry.

Samantha has a strong background in operations and has coordinated all her own adventures. She enjoys bringing together all the tiny trip details that make each Extraordinary Journey trip a bespoke and unforgettable experience. Whether it’s the infectious bustle of Nairobi or the cosmopolitan charm of Cape Town, she loves learning about different cultures, seeing the beautiful sights of a new destination, and trying delicious desserts along the way—baked feta with honey in Greece is currently her number 1.

Samantha is forever dreaming about her next adventure and always has at least one trip planned. With so many incredible places to see in the world, Samantha’s destination list never seems to stop growing, but the beauty of Africa never fails to amaze her, and she can’t wait to visit again soon to learn more about this diverse continent.

Head of Client Liaison Team | Africa

Sumendri Govender

Sumendri Govender has 12+ years of experience working in Southern Africa travel. She started her career in travel just out of high school and is now passionately dedicated to facilitating once-in-a-lifetime experiences for any traveler.

Born in Durban, South Africa, she now lives in Johannesburg where she has resided for the last six years with her husband and two children. Sumendri is the link between the Extraordinary Journeys team and our travelers while they are on the ground in Africa. She’s indispensable—our eyes and ears on the ground and the person behind the scenes who truly makes the magic happen. She has been working with Extraordinary Journeys for 10 years, and over that time she has formed amazing working relationships from afar—an essential part of the EJ family who she called the most knowledgeable, amazing, and wonderful people she’s had the privilege to cross paths with. Her teammates describe her as innovative, easygoing, warm, and organized—just the kind of person we need to represent our team in Africa, our first love.

Head of Marketing

Jen Ross

Born into a nomadic family, Jen has travel in her blood. Over the first 18 years of her life, she moved frequently, relocating ten times across the eastern and midwestern United States. With a new home always on the horizon, she became resilient and learned to adapt well—two traits that later defined her professional journey.

Following her passion for people and their stories, Jen obtained a degree in journalism and sociology, followed by a master’s in Business Administration with a focus on marketing. After college, Jen took up a post with General Motors, where she honed her marketing skills, working across public relations, branding, and licensing. Before joining Extraordinary Journeys, she worked for various digital marketing agencies and as a digital marketing strategist for small businesses.

Outside of work, Jen enjoys exploring the world with her family; their adventures have taken them from the flawless beaches of the Cayman Islands to the ancient cities of Italy, with many parts of the U.S. in between. Always thinking about her next trip, Jen is currently planning a big family getaway to Spain. A lover of culture and people, she enjoys chatting with locals when she travels, gaining insight into their way of life, and soaking up the ambiance of new places.

Head of Content

Alicia-Rae Light

Our head of content Alicia-Rae Light was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and grew up spending her winters in a small, coastal Mexican village with her family. Thanks to her parents for giving her those sun-drenched, salty days in Puerto Marques, a love for travel was entrenched in her soul—and a passion for meeting local people, and exploring new cultures has since never waivered.

She’s a seasoned travel journalist, copywriter, content strategist, and photographer with over 15 years in the industry. From local newsrooms, music and fashion magazines, a long stint at lululemon where she became the managing editor at the helm of content focused on health, wellness, and active adventures. That led to her following her dream of becoming a freelance travel writer, and her work has taken her to all seven continents—from north to south.

She came to Extraordinary Journeys by happenstance—sharing an immersive adventure to Uganda’s remote Kidepo Valley National Park during the pandemic with a member of EJ, and the stars aligned for her to join the team in 2021.

Alicia-Rae is passionate about sustainable adventure travel, conservation, wildlife, food and wine, and authentic, immersive cultural experiences. An adventurer at heart, she loves seeking out wildlife in their natural habitat on expeditions, hiking long-distance trails with a focus on cultural immersion, kayaking, and traveling to off-the-beaten-path destinations. She’s trekked to hang out with the mountain gorillas all over East Africa, camped amongst penguins and fur seals in Antarctica, dove with sharks and rays in Fiji, hiked her way through Palestine, and tracked wild wolves in the Canadian Arctic.

Head of Design

Tegan Wille

Tegan Wille is a talented creative and a lover of the natural world—so it’s well-suited that she ended up as a graphic designer in Africa-based travel. She grew up in the hustle and bustle of Johannesburg and later moved to South Africa’s mother city, Cape Town, which immediately resonated with her heart and soul. A self-proclaimed dendrophile, there’s nowhere she’d rather be than in nature.

Cape Town is where she studied branding and visuals and has since built her career as a designer in the travel industry, working for some of the best including Wilderness Safaris, and The Royal Portfolio where she managed the group’s design for seven years. Through divine intervention, Tegan found herself in a meeting with the delightful faces of the Extraordinary Journeys marketing team and is now our head of design, helping us create life-changing experiences through sharing the beauty of breathtaking destinations around the globe with her authentic, soulful designs.

Social Media Manager

Lisa Goosen

A love for branding and consumer behavior led Lisa to pursue a qualification through the IMM Graduate School of Marketing. Following a role at a boutique agency, she moved into the automotive sales and marketing arena, racking up ten years of experience in various client services and social media roles. The pandemic prompted a reevaluation of her personal and professional priorities, leading to a freelance career in content writing and social media management.

Lisa enjoys packing her bags and heading somewhere new, whether it be for a local weekend getaway or a carefully planned holiday abroad. Currently, her most significant and most daunting adventure lies ahead as she prepares to make the monumental move from South Africa to the UK. While she will undoubtedly miss the radiant sunshine and always consider South Africa home, she looks forward to embracing life as an expat in England.

Despite her role demanding an always-on approach to social media, Lisa values her moments of disconnection after hours, which often involve leisurely walks with her English Springer Spaniels or donning her gardening gloves. She’s passionate about being a collector of life experiences, stories, and memories. Through her role at Extraordinary Journeys, she hopes to nurture an appreciation for nature, wildlife, and the wonders of the unknown.

SEO Content Writer

Jennifer Hubbert

Raised in a loving but modest household on Vancouver Island, Jenn had a late start to travel. As a child, she pored over the National Geographic maps splayed across her older brother’s bedroom. She learned the names of far-off places well before she boarded her first international flight. Once graduating high school, she immediately packed her deep-seated curiosity for the world and a sense of adventure to au pair for a family in Switzerland—a job she found on a thing called the Internet. Half-way across the globe, solo and not speaking a word of Swiss-German, total immersion was a complete shock to the system. It was the thrill of a lifetime that continues to inform her insatiable love of travel—perhaps most, reminding her that life can be an extraordinary adventure, if you dare to heed the call.

For most of her career in travel media, Jenn worked in publishing, first as the digital editor of British Columbia magazine. In 2018, she was promoted to editor-in-chief of Canadian Traveller, a quarterly print magazine. Her role brought her to exciting destinations like Tahiti, Barbados and Bolivia. The publication shuttered during the pandemic but as one door closed, another opened—or in her case, two. Completing her family, Jenn, her husband and eldest son welcomed identical twin boys. Today, Jenn resides in a suburb south of Vancouver, scratching out stories and informative articles. Joyfully, with sons in-tow, her next great adventures won’t be solo ones.

Image Coordinator

Beatriz Taveira

Beatriz grew up in Portugal. She studied Design at the Fine Arts University of Lisbon and the Bauhaus University of Weimar in Germany. From an early age, she began creating, specifically in the visual arts area. Art has always been an undeniably significant part of her, and to this day, she feels it would be impossible to feel fulfilled without expressing and stimulating her creative side.

After graduation, she decided to pack her whole life into a backpack and start traveling. Starting with a trip around Europe, she stayed in Greece and Bosnia for more than half a year, volunteering for the refugee crisis, then traveling and working in Australia, and later living in Indonesia for two years.

She felt this calling to get to know Africa and moved to Cape Town, where she is now based. She loves it for its endless activities, its breathtaking nature, and the opportunity to live right by the ocean—where her heart truly is.

Beatriz has had a variety of work experience: working on a farm in Australia, as a yoga instructor and manager at a resort on the remote Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, and then as a graphic designer, mural artist, and painting custom surfboards in Bali.

Now, with Extraordinary Journeys, she has found the perfect balance, combining creativity and visual artistic skills with her immense passion for travel. Showing people beautiful places worldwide and motivating them to travel there feels like a blessing. In her opinion, there’s nothing one can do more enriching than traveling—it can only make someone better.

Graphic Designer

Georgie Wood

Georgie grew up with a mother in the travel industry who ignited a passion for exploration within her from a young age. Her earliest memories include celebrating her first birthday in Malawi, and from that point forward, she was fortunate enough to visit numerous remarkable countries across Africa and beyond.

After university, Georgie’s passion for travel led her to spend three years working on luxury travel yachts, which took her to diverse locations such as New York City, the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.

Following her yacht adventure, Georgie settled in Cape Town, a breathtaking city in South Africa, and enrolled in Art Direction and Design studies at Red & Yellow Creative School of Business. She’s since immersed herself in the world of design, working with leading design and branding studios in Cape Town. Georgie is thrilled to be working at Extraordinary Journeys in a role that blends her love of design and travel.

She is also an aspiring photographer, specializing in travel, lifestyle, and wildlife photography. Her camera is a constant companion on her journeys, capturing the beauty of the world and sharing it with others.

Georgie’s extensive experience and her love of travel and design continues to fuel her career aspirations. She is eager to continue exploring the world, one adventure at a time.

Copywriter

Joey Tyson

Joey was lucky enough to travel from a young age, his parents taking him on holidays to Spain, Greece, and Yugoslavia (as it was known then). Although in his moody teens, he was never that interested—something his mom never lets him forget—his love for new places really began with a backpacking trip across South America in his early 20s and the freedom that comes with a different destination every few days. Since then, he’s traveled across Europe, Australia, and East Africa, writing about his travels whenever he can.

Joey has worked as a journalist and copywriter for the last ten years. He has worked in-house for U.K. holiday comparison site TravelSupermarket, both as a writer and editor and as a freelancer, writing for the Guardian, the Independent, Reader’s Digest, the Culture Trip, and the BBC, writing about travel and other topics. Joey likes to write about people, their environment, and where the two connect. Some of his favorite stories include writing about sustainable cooking stoves in Uganda, the lost canals of Milan, and hiking to the remote rock churches of Tigray, Ethiopia.

Joey was born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in the north of England, and has lived in London and Milan, Italy, where he is now based.

Head of Payables | Finance

Shiyrah Keeney

Shiyrah Keeney is the Head of Payables at Extraordinary Journeys, leveraging her extensive expertise in financial operations and vendor management. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in health science and biology from Northern Arizona University, where she was also a member of the cross country and track teams. Her passion for travel and culture was sparked during a summer spent in Kenya conducting research on the health practices of the Maasai in collaboration with Boston College, Northern Arizona University, and The School for Field Studies.

Shiyrah’s professional journey has been diverse, as she has worked for several small businesses and startups, and in the non-profit sector. In addition to her financial expertise, Shiyrah is a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor, and a coach for Girls on the Run.

Known for her dedication, versatility, and competitive mindset, Shiyrah excels in diverse roles and adapts quickly to new challenges. As a former Division One athlete and a proud mother of three, she brings a strong work ethic and exceptional multitasking abilities to her position. Her experience in financial operations, vendor management, and contract management enables her to effectively handle accounts payable and other business finances.

Shiyrah resides in the Washington, DC area with her husband and three sons. Her commitment to personal growth, her love for travel, and her dedication to making a positive impact are the driving forces behind her success in both her professional and personal endeavors.

Accounts Manager

Catherine Kennedy

While living and working in New York, Catherine’s sales and manufacturing position took her frequently to Indonesia, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Singapore, and other parts of Asia. It was her sister’s many trips to Africa, and work with Extraordinary Journeys that ultimately brought Catherine Kennedy to the team. Her teammates describe her as being adaptable, selfless, kind, and a total accounting connoisseur. She currently lives with her family in the Southeast where she handles accounts payable and other business finances—she’s truly indispensable to us and has been for the last eight years.