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  TravelQuest International
305 Double D Drive
Prescott, AZ 86303  USA
 
     
 
     
     
  The TravelQuest Team  
     
     
 
     
 
Aram Kaprielian - President
  President and founder of TravelQuest International, Aram Kaprielian grew up within the travel industry. In the 1980's, he worked for and managed his father's group travel company, Travel Bug International, one of the original pioneering astronomy travel companies.
   Having traveled to almost every region of the world, Aram fell in love with the mountains of Arizona and founded TravelQuest in Prescott, Arizona in 1996.
 
   Since that time he and the TQ team have made it their passion to create innovative travel programs to all parts of the world - from the American Southwest, to Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and even Antarctica and the North Pole.
   Aram personally scouts out emerging destinations, and has visited all seven continents. His passion for sharing unique, one-of-a-kind travel experiences with travelers from around the world is evident in every TravelQuest program.

Trish Bustria - Administrative Assistant
 
  Born and raised in San Francisco, one of the most diverse and beautiful cities in America, Trish grew up with people from all over the world and has a vast appreciation for all cultures. New to the Prescott area, Trish enjoys exploring Arizona and discovering the hidden treasures of the desert. As a natural born artist Trish is pursuing her Fine Art Degree while working at TravelQuest. She brings a youthful energy to the office and helps keep all aspects of the workflow organized. In her spare time, Trish enjoys  
Shakespeare, all types of music and spending time with her dog Oliver.

 
 
Kari Hull - Office Manager
 
  Born in Phoenix and raised in Prescott, Arizona, Kari earned her Bachelors degree in Hospitality Management at Northern Arizona University. After 17 years as a small business owner, Kari most recently served as Program Director for a non-profit organization that took her to Western Africa and Haiti, and inspired her to start her own non-profit charity, Children’s Peace Project.
   A natural leader, Kari brings to  TravelQuest skills that focus on team 
building that motivates change and progress in business development. At home Kari enjoys spending time with her husband and two lovely daughters.

Christine Broiles - Logistic Coordinator
 
 

Growing up in both Kodiak, Alaska and Mililani, Hawaii, Christine has an immense appreciation for different lands and cultures, allowing her to feel right at home amid the city lights of Honolulu or in a cabin tucked in Alaska's Kachemak Bay.
   Her wide range of life experiences, as well as her insatiable thirst for knowledge and attention to detail make her well suited as our TravelQuest Logistic Coordinator.
    Christine, her husband and

daughter enjoy exploring all the wonders Northern Arizona has to offer.

 
 
 

The Industry Leader in Astronomical Tours

     
 
 
  Trip Leaders
 
     
 
Michel Girardin    
 
  Michel has been involved in the South African eco-tourism industry for the past 24 years. He spent 16 years as Operations Director of Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve and has owned and managed his own lodge in South Africa for the past 8 years.
   His association with TravelQuest started back in 2002 when he coordinated their South African Total Solar eclipse tour, and was instantly hooked on the astronomical niche.
Michel has subsequently worked for TravelQuest as a Tour Director in Turkey (2006) and China (2008).

Jay Anderson    
 
    Jay was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. After high school, Jay moved to Vancouver to attend the University of British Columbia, acquiring degrees in physics and astronomy and a job as a weather forecaster with Environment Canada, the Canadian government’s official forecast agency.
   Combining his interests in astronomy and meteorology, Jay compiled a study of weather prospects for the 1979 total solar eclipse that was widely distributed to eclipse
chasers. Jay has been producing studies of the climatology along eclipse tracks ever since. In 1990, Jay joined with Fred Espenak to create official studies under NASA auspices.
   In 1994, joined with Travel Bug — the precursor of TravelQuest - to help find an eclipse viewing site in Bolivia. When Travel Bug became TravelQuest, Jay became an instrumental part of TravelQuest’s eclipse-finding team and has worked with Aram Kaprielian steadily since that time.
   “Aram and I have seen many weird and wonderful places together, investigating the sites along the eclipse tracks: Madagascar, Botswana, Western China, Siberia, and Easter Island.” And so many eclipse memories and friends as well — to Jay, that’s what really makes shadow chasing so special. “Eclipses are stunning, wonderful events” he notes, “but the magic also comes with friends around the globe and at TravelQuest, who come together in exotic places every now and then to reconnect under the shadow of the Moon.”

Deborah Carter    
 
  Deborah has been leading tours for Travel Quest since 2001 when she led her first total eclipse on safari in Zambia. Since then Deborah has led two other total solar eclipse tours with TravelQuest - one Egypt and most recently to Russia.
   Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Deborah has visited numerous places around the globe including many countries within Africa, eastern Australia, Europe and Russia 
and enjoys travelling immensely.
   Deborah has been leading tours since 1987, is very good with details, and just as importantly has a great sense of humor and is always on hand to help out in sticky situations.
   Over the years Deborah has made lots of friends on TravelQuest adventures and looks forward to her next TravelQuest journey.

Paul Deans - Astronomer
 
  For more than three decades, Paul has been helping others discover the wonder and beauty of the night sky. While working at several planetariums in Canada, he wrote and directed more than 100 multimedia astronomy shows, gave countless lectures and night-sky presentations, and organized and ran numerous astronomy outreach programs.
   In 2002, while an editor at Sky & Telescope magazine, Paul joined his first TravelQuest tour on a northern
lights tour to Alaska. Since leaving S&T and becoming a freelance astronomy writer/editor, Paul has combined his enthusiasm for astronomy with his love of travel. He is also an eclipse enthusiast (having seen seven total and two annular solar eclipses) and is the editor of Travel Quest, TQ's quarterly e-zine.
   Paul leads TQ's annual trip to Iceland for our Fire, Ice & the Aurora tour, and can be expected to be seen on TQ trips to various worldwide destinations.

Holly Gilbert
 
  Dr. Holly Gilbert is the Associate Director for Science in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She earned her B.A. in physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics from the University of Oslo, Norway. Before joining NASA she worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s High Altitude Observatory and at Rice University.
   Holly has extensive experience
studying the solar atmosphere, especially the dynamic phenomena associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares. Her research is driven by the desire to gain a better understanding of the magnetic environment that controls these violent eruptions (“solar storms”) and the forces behind space-weather events.
   One of Holly’s roles at NASA is to manage the education and outreach activities of the Heliophysics Science Division. In this capacity she has appeared in television documentaries on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel. Her commitment to education and public outreach was recognized in 2007 with the dedication of the Dr. Holly Gilbert Solar Telescope at St. George Observatory in Schriever, Louisiana.

Cesar Higueras    
 
  Residing in Spain with his wife and daughter Daniela, Cesar is a student of history, art, language (he speaks Spanish, French, Italian and English), food and good wine. He has guided numerous TravelQuest groups through Europe as well as eclipse trips to North Africa and Asia.
   Besides possessing great knowledge about the peoples and places he leads groups to, it is probably Cesar’s charming wit and humor that makes him so popular a
TravelQuest trip leader.

Jean Morrison    
 
    Jean was born and raised in the leafy southern suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. After graduating from the University of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, she started work with the South African Tourism Board and also spent time in New York and Los Angeles promoting SA as a wonderful tourist destination.
   She then returned to Johannesburg to get married and spent 10 years working for Sabi Sabi Private Safari Game Reserve. Her work then took
her back to the USA where she and her husband, David, spent 8 years in Tucson, AZ promoting many travel destinations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Her travels have taken her to many African countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe and of course, the USA and Canada which she knows well.
   She now resides in the UK and travels a lot in Europe and Southern Africa. She has observed 2 total eclipses and loves the challenge of leading travelers through new destinations.

Dr. Will Smith    
 
  Will is from Jackson, Wyoming, and currently serves as the Medical Director for Grand Teton National Park, Teton County Search & Rescue, and Jackson Hole Fire/ EMS. Dr. Smith is an Emergency Department Physician and serves in the US Army Reserve — recently completing medical missions to Panama and El Salvador — and has been deployed twice to Iraq. His combat experience, pre-hospital EMS experience as a paramedic, as well
as his technical Search and Rescue skills, have lead to numerous speaking engagements at Wilderness and EMS conferences around the country.
   As an avid outdoorsman and dedicated physician, Dr. Smith continues to apply and master his medical and rescue skills in wilderness settings. He also provides a multitude of other consulting services in regards to wilderness medicine.  Will’s first glimpse of totality with TravelQuest was on Easter Island in 2010.

Dean Schroeder    
 
  Dean was born and raised on a dairy farm outside of St. Louis, Missouri , in the great American Midwest. He always knew that travel was his passion and he started his career as a travel agent fresh out of high school. He started with Air 1, an all-first class carrier based in St. Louis. A bigger and better opportunity landed him a fifteen-year career with TWA.
   When American Airlines purchased TWA several years back, many
employees were furloughed. Dean has been on recall status for five years, and is currently involved with an agency assisting with both corporate and leisure travel.

 
 
 
 
 
Chris Slevin    
 
  Christopher's travels since the mid-60s have taken him to all seven continents including three total solar eclipses with TravelQuest to Africa, Egypt & Russia.
   His creativity was reflected in trip development for such European tour operators as Kuoni and Thomas Cook, and in the US, Lindblad Travel and Ker & Downey Safaris. However he says, "Escorting tours is my greatest pleasure since one experiences the outcome of all the planning directly
with an incredibly diverse and fascinating melange of travelers." In addition to being a great organizer, Christopher is also a great storyteller – which makes traveling with him even more enjoyable.

Paul Swart    
 
  Paul began his travel career in the safari industry in 1987 as an apprentice guide in the remote Linyanti Region of Botswana. He steadily worked his way up through the ranks at some of the finest game reserves and lodges in Southern Africa. Paul has been recognized as a preferred African safari guide by the Condé Nast Portfolio. Before moving from South Africa to the USA in 1997, Paul served as General Manager for the award  
winning Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve in South Africa.
   When he is not in his office he enjoys whitewater kayaking, snowboarding, and horseback riding. A master of logistical planning, Paul has led 4 previous TravelQuest eclipse trips to Zambia, South Africa, Libya and most recently Western China.

Rick Fienberg - Astronomer
 
  Dr. Rick Fienberg is the American Astronomical Society’s Press Officer and Education & Outreach Coordinator. Earlier he spent 22 years at Sky & Telescope magazine, the last 8 as Editor in Chief. He’s a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Astronomical Union has named asteroid 9983 Rickfienberg in his honor.
    Before joining S&T, Rick earned his B.A. in physics at Rice University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy at Harvard University; he has done research on the aurora borealis, planetary nebulas, active galaxies, and the center of the Milky Way. He is a co-creator of the Galileoscope educational telescope kit, a Cornerstone Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
    Though trained as a professional astronomer, Rick remains an amateur at heart, observing the sky and taking astrophotos from his homebuilt hilltop observatory in southern New Hampshire. An inveterate traveler and eclipse-chaser, he has visited all seven continents and the North and South Poles. .

Caren Banks
 
  Caren went to work for a top safari company in Southern Africa at the ripe old age of 17 and her life changed forever. After moving to the United States, Caren spent the 1980’s in a highly successful detour through the world of mergers, acquisitions and finance. Her holidays, however, were spent traveling in Africa, and it was not long before sustainable tourism worldwide became more important than financial portfolios.  In the early 
1990’s Caren founded Nature Encounters, a small boutique travel company specializing in custom designed adventures. In 2002 Caren approached her favorite owner-operated properties and put together Caren’s Best, an exclusive collection of outstanding camps and lodges, inns and retreats, and remote private stations worldwide.
   She was introduced to the world of eclipses by TravelQuest International in the Gobi Desert in China, and really enjoys being part of the on-site, organizational team who makes these trips as enjoyable, and smooth, as possible, anticipating every possible detail along the way.

Gary Seronik - Astronomer
 
  Gary has always had stars in his eyes.  From childhood on, the night sky has excited his imagination and fueled his curiosity.  Gary has spent the past two decades sharing his passion for backyard astronomy with the public. From his early work as a show presenter and producer at Vancouver British Columbia’s famed MacMillan Space Centre, to his current positions as Contributing Editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and columnist for SkyNews in Canada, he 
has encouraged thousands of people to look up and enjoy the wonders of the universe. This past summer he was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s prestigious Simon Newcomb in recognition of his outstanding writing.
   Gary is a seasoned traveler and was a leader on TravelQuest’s eclipse tour to Egypt in 2006. He has also served as the ‘resident’ astronomer for TravelQuest’s annual Costa Rica Southern Sky Fiesta since its inception in 2004.

Martina Potzsch    
 
  Although born and raised in northern Germany, Martina fell in love with the Icelandic countryside at the age of 18. For several years thereafter, Martina lived in both Iceland and Germany. She attended the Iceland Tourist Guide School and graduated in 1992. That same year she started guiding visitors as a summer job. After receiving her bus-driving license and moving permanently to Iceland in 1996, she began working full time as a freelance driver-guide.
   Martina specializes in leading hiking and camping tours through Iceland’s wilderness during the summer, but in the winter she takes groups all around the country on hotel/bus tours. Her favorite Icelandic sites are usually well off the beaten track, located primarily in the highlands of the interior. She also loves Icelandic folk tales and saga stories, and delights in sharing them with her touring companions. She has guided each of TravelQuest’s Iceland aurora tours since the first one in 2002.

Gabrielle Kaprielian
 
  Gabrielle grew up in Prescott, Arizona. After high school, she attended the University of Arizona in Tucson where she studied political science and French.
   After graduation she worked in the Dominican Republic, France, and the Southern Caucasus. She spent a year and a half living in Yerevan, Armenia, working on a project to develop democracy in the country. Currently, Gabrielle plans to begin a  master’s degree in conflict resolution and
international relations in Washington, D.C.
   Gabrielle is a lifelong traveler. Her first eclipse was in Brazil at the age of 10 and she has been following them ever since. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, yoga, hiking, and watching the Green Bay Packers.

Dr. Jim Little Jr.    
 
  Jim is a Family Physician who grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he now runs a busy family medicine and urgent care clinic. Jim has a special interest in wilderness and travel medicine. His father started a family tradition of chasing total solar eclipses in the 1970’s. Most recently, Jim travelled to the Cook Islands with TravelQuest for his fifth eclipse.
   When he isn’t working, Jim enjoys travel, skiing, hiking, paragliding,
scuba diving, home brewing and photography. He is looking forward to the August 2017 solar eclipse when the center- line passes directly over Jackson Hole and he can host an eclipse trip a little closer to home!

Josu Camacho    
 
  At the age of just 18 years Josu began his travel career working as a guide for one of Spain’s first expedition tour operators. During his free time he traveled the world gathering a global perspective that serves him to this day.
   On 1996 Josu created his own Madrid-based tour company with his wife Kitty. His first project with TravelQuest was to organize a prehistoric cave art tour through Spain and France in 2000. Since then Josu
has led TravelQuest tours through Europe and North Africa, including Morocco and Libya.
   Josu loves music and good food, as these things, “keep his spirit awake!”

Chuck Simpson    
 
  Chuck has called Phoenix, Arizona his home since the age of six. He has worked in the transportation and tourism industry since 1974. In 1999 graduated from the International Tour Management Institute in San Francisco and began his career as an Independent Tour Director and Guide.
   Since 1998 Chuck has worked with TravelQuest on trips both in the USA and abroad to Central America, North Africa and China. Chuck’s
management experience relates to any country he travels to, and he loves to extend his care and knowledge to make our travelers’ experience with him as rewarding and special as possible.

 
 
 
     
     
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  Copyright 2012 TravelQuest International. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 09, 2012.

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