TravelQuest Tours

TravelQuest International President, 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 – and provide the very best in client services

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.

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 family business owner, and serving as Program Director for a non-profit organization that took her to remote areas in Western Africa and Haiti, Kari joined the TravelQuest Team in 2009.

A natural leader, Kari brings management 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. In her spare time, she volunteers as the Director of Children’s Peace Project, a charity that invests in education programs in developing countries.

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.

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. As a natural born artist, Trish is pursuing her Fine Art Degree while working at TravelQuest.

As client relations, Trish brings a youthful energy and fresh perspective to the office, woking directly with travelers to help them realize their travel dreams. In her spare time, Trish enjoys creating artwork, discovering new music, and spending time with her family.

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, he 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."

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.

Caren was introduced to the world of eclipses by TravelQuest International in the Gobi Desert in China, her second was in Shanghai and most recently she escorted a trip to Mangaia in the Cook Islands. Caren really enjoys being part of the on-site, organizational team who make these trips as enjoyable, and smooth, as possible, anticipating every little detail along the way.

Kelly Beatty, Senior Contributing Editor for Sky & Telescope magazine, has been explaining the science and wonder of astronomy to the public since 1974. An award-winning writer and communicator, he specializes in planetary science and space exploration.

Kelly enjoys sharing his passion for astronomy with a wide spectrum of audiences, from children to professional astronomers, and his work has appeared in numerous other magazines, newspapers, and encyclopedias. You’ll occasionally hear his interviews and guest commentaries on National Public Radio. He observes the night sky often through one of his eight telescopes.

He has been leading astronomical tours since the 1980s, including six total and five annular solar-eclipse expeditions. Two of those were TQ airborne charter flights that carried passengers literally to the ends of the Earth — the north and south poles — to witness totality. He orchestrated TQ’s viewing of the 2004 transit of Venus from Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and served as trip leader astronomer for the 2012 transit tour in Tahiti.

Kelly hails from Madera, California. He holds a Bachelors degree from the California Institute of Technology and a Master’s degree in science journalism from Boston University.

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!"

Deborah has been leading tours for TravelQuest since 2001 when she led her first total eclipse on safari in Zambia. Since then Deborah has led another four total solar eclipse tours with TravelQuest - one in Egypt, in Russia, on a cruise in the South Pacific and most recently on Mangaia in the Cook Islands.

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Deborah has visited numerous places around the globe including many countries within Africa, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, India, Europe and Russia and enjoys travelling immensely. She also teaches Yoga.
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.

Baptiste Cunin is originally from Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, Lorraine, in the east of France. After completing a master degree in mechanical engineering and technical marketing, he worked for a company producing electronic chips, before working as a project manager for GE Energy. Baptiste moved near to Zurich, Switzerland in 2007. As a lead commissioning engineer for Alstom, he spent missions in France and Armenia starting new gas turbine power plants. In 2011, Baptiste moved outside of Geneva where he works for Andritz Hydro, a company that rehabilitates hydro power plants.

A travel bug by nature, Baptiste was bitten by the eclipse bug in 2012 in Australia. Baptiste has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and West Africa. In his spare time, Baptiste loves science and astronomy, watching the stars, to ski and snowboard, go mountain biking, and hiking through the Alps.

For four 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 presented numerous astronomy outreach programs. He was an editor at Sky & Telescope magazine for more than six years, and while at S&T, he joined his first TravelQuest trip – a northern lights tour to Alaska.

Since leaving S&T and becoming a freelance astronomy writer/editor, Paul has combined his passion for astronomy with his love of travel. He is also an eclipse enthusiast (having seen eight total and two annular solar eclipses). Paul leads TQ's Fire, Ice & the Aurora tour to Iceland, and can be found on most TQ eclipse trips to various worldwide destinations.

He is also the editor of Travel Quest, TQ's quarterly e-zine.

Travel and education have been at the heart of David’s life path. David has found a way to combine these two avenues to learning in his professional experiences. First as a teacher and then as a principal, David helped to lead student experiences all over the United States and world. Now, David is employed by the national education reform organization, Expeditionary Learning. As a School Designer, David works to both create and transform schools around the United States. At the heart of Expeditionary Learning is the opportunity to learn experientially, a component that aligns well with helping to lead trips for TravelQuest. David loves exploring and helping others gain as much from an experience as possible.

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.

As a solar physicist, Holly has extensive experience looking at the Sun and other stars. Always interested in astrophysics, she pursued her passion by obtaining her B.A. in physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics from the University of Oslo, Norway. Presently, Holly is Chief of the Solar Physics Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, but before joining NASA she worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s High Altitude Observatory and at Rice University. Her area of expertise involves studying the solar atmosphere, especially the dynamic phenomena associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), solar prominences, 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.

Holly is also committed to participating in education and outreach activities, including appearing in television documentaries on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel. She thoroughly enjoys opportunities to reach out and engage the public in conversations about astronomy-related topics (especially the Sun!).

Michel has been involved in the South African eco tourism industry for the past 25 years. He spent 16 years as Operations Director at Sabi Sabi game Reserve and has owned and managed his own lodge for the past 11 years.

His association with Travel Quest started back in 2002 when he coordinated their South African Solar Eclipse tour in Venda. Once exposed to TQ he was instantly hooked on this unique astronomical niche. Visiting exotic places to view “ when the crocodile eats the sun” (Shona proverb for solar eclipse) has becoming a passion for Michel.

Michel has subsequently worked for TQ as Tour Director in Turkey (2006), China(2008) and Easter Island 2010.

Raised in South Africa, Warren has an immense appetite for the natural world: His career has steered him through a variety of organizations from the Wilderness Leadership School, where he pioneered and led trails through South Africa's unspoiled wilderness, to Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve - South Africa's premiere Private Reserve.

Over the past two and a half decades Green has guided over 5000 people on safaris throughout Africa including prestigious groups for the Museum of Television & Radio and National Geographic.

Currently Green resides in rural Virginia where he operates a boutique sustainable tourism marketing company supporting initiatives from Belize to Kenya.

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.

Thomas D. Jones, PhD is a veteran NASA astronaut, scientist, speaker, author, and consultant. During 11 years with NASA, he flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth orbit, and led three spacewalks to help build the International Space Station. He has spent nearly 53 days living and working in space.

Tom is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and holds a doctorate in planetary science from the University of Arizona. Before joining NASA, Tom piloted B-52D strategic bombers, studied asteroids for NASA, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA, and now consults and writes about the next generation of human space exploration and how to prevent a future asteroid collision with Earth. Dr. Jones has published six books, is a regular on-air TV space commentator, and is active in the debate about our nation's future in space.

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 2012, Gabrielle completed a master’s degree in conflict resolution and international relations in Washington, D.C. She currently lives in Switzerland and works for an organization that develops media in war-torn and developing countries.

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.

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!

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 4 total eclipses and loves the challenge of leading travelers through new destinations.

A former editor for Sky & Telescope magazine and contributing editor and consultant for Odyssey magazine, Stephen James O’Meara is now a contributing editor for Astronomy magazine and has authored or coauthored a dozen popular books on astronomy and science. Steve has received the Lone Stargazer Award, the Omega Centauri Award and the Caroline Herschel Award for his greatest visual achievements, including the recovery of Halley’s Comet, the pre-Voyager discovery of "spokes" in Saturn’s rings, and the determination of Uranus rotation period. The International Astronomical Union named asteroid 3637 O'Meara in his honor.

Steve is also a contract photographer and videographer for National Geographic, and excels in documenting volcanic eruptions around the world. Steve has appeared on dozens of TV documentaries with his wife Donna – the shows range from Ripley’s Believe It or Not to a National Geographic Explorer movie ("Volcano Hunters") about their life; the latter film was selected as one of the year’s best National Geographic documentaries and won the Fall 2002 Golden Eagle Award for excellence in documentary.

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.

Dr. Mike Reynolds has spent thirty-six years in astronomy and space sciences in the gamut of a high school and university instructor, planetarium and museum director, researcher, writer, lecturer, and administrator. He earned his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Science Education from the University of Florida. Mike has received numerous recognition for his work, including the 1986 Florida State Teacher of the Year, NASA Teacher-in-Space National Finalist, and the G. Bruce Blair Medal. He has written a number of astronomy books and articles and is a Consulting Editor for Astronomy Magazine. Mike has led numerous astronomical expeditions worldwide, and has also served as an invited speaker internationally.

Mike is Executive Director Emeritus of the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California and is currently Dean of Mathematics & Natural Sciences and teaches Astronomy at Florida State College in Jacksonville.

Mike has a long tenure of leading eclipse and astronomical expeditions. His first total solar eclipse was the March 7, 1970 eclipse which ran through the southern United States; Mike observed and photographed totality near Waycross, Georgia. Since that first eclipse, Mike has successfully observed sixteen other total solar eclipses, numerous annual and partial solar eclipses, as well as total, partial, and penumbral lunar eclipses. Mike co-authored the book Observe Eclipses (1979, 1995) with the late Richard Sweetsir.

Other Books Written by Dr. Mike Reynolds includes:
Basic Astronomy Labs (1995) with Jay Huebner and Terry Smith
Binocular Stargazing (2005)
Falling Stars: A Guide to Meteors and Meteorites (2001, 2010)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chris has recently published a children's travel book. "The Adventures of Dezmund & Dippity," and is a member of the International Travel writer's and photographers Association.

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.

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 6 previous TravelQuest eclipse trips to Zambia, South Africa, Libya, Cook Islands and twice in China.

Born with the travel bug in a small German town, Isa Weber escaped provincial monotony at 20. Working for five years on cargo ships allowed her to travel off the beaten path, mainly to Asia and Central and North America. She moved to Tahiti in 1982 where she worked her way up from a welcoming hostess to various management jobs in the hospitality industry. Among other positions she was the Sales and Reservations Manager for the famous Bali Hai Hotels and director at the Tiki Village Theatre on Moorea.

In 1998, wishing to spend more time for her two children, Isa traded her hospitality position for an office job. She worked for the biggest Tahitian pearl producer and was in charge of human resources at its retail outlets and the Pearl Museum. Since arriving in Tahiti, she has been working as a freelance guide. And in 2011 she began giving cultural lectures on different cruise ships, with topics focusing on the Pacific Islands.