Marilyn Downing Staff Founder & President
Marilyn is the founder and driving force behind Asia Transpacific Journeys. She earned degrees in environmental biology and sociology before setting off on worldwide travels, and a stint living in Thailand where her company was born over two decades ago. She is the veteran of far-flung adventures that span three decades and the most remote corners of the region, fueled by an abiding love of trekking and traditional tribal cultures. An accomplished photographer and engaging speaker, she’s a frequent expert lecturer at museums, universities and conferences.
Adopting her Thai son gave Marilyn firsthand insight into the plight of orphans in the region, and was the impetus for the establishment of Asia Transpacific Foundation, the charitable arm of the company. This non-profit organization seeks to educate and ease the conditions of orphaned children throughout the region, and has evolved into a health initiative that produces clean water for schools and impoverished villages.
Cana Bacher Air Travel Coordinator/ Trip Coordinator
Cana hails from Sweden, where she developed an addiction to skiing that has driven her down the world’s best slopes over the course of the last decades. A love of travel propelled sojourns through Asia, Australia, the South Pacific and Europe. She’s a graduate of the Academy of Travel Management in London.
Lesa Clarkson Travel Specialist
Lesa circumnavigated the globe during a semester in college, and earned a degree in International Business from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She then spent two years in Japan working for the Ministry of Education. Extensive journeys throughout Asia followed, including two stints in Bhutan. Her first-hand knowledge of the region makes her a superb resource when crafting trips.
Emily Crimaldi Trip Coordinator
Emily’s fascination with Asia began in junior high with amazement at her friend's fluency in Japanese. This interest led to classes in Asian culture at CU Boulder, where Emily earned three academic scholarships and a degree in Political Science. A semester studying Chinese in Taiwan was followed by travel in Vietnam and Cambodia. When not exploring the distant lands of Asia, she can be found searching the local thrift stores for the best vintage finds or indulging her passion for theatre, dance and the fine arts.
Karin Delany Air Travel Coordinator
For Karin, weekends spent camping near her native Munich and throughout Europe with her family laid the foundation for a lifelong love of exploring. She graduated from Munich’s Academy of Travel and Tourism and traveled extensively throughout Asia and Europe. Her interest in facilitating interaction with people of differing cultures led her to Asia Transpacific Journeys, where she is able to assist travelers who are ready to experience inspiring cultural connections.
Chris Dunham Travel Specialist
While growing up, Chris' passion for competitive swimming cultivated a deep familiarity with pools from Oregon to Maine, but left little time to explore the rest of the world. That all changed once he earned degrees in Psychology and Computer Science from Miami (Ohio) University, after which he threw himself into travels throughout Asia. Recent forays include extensive journeys through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and Myanmar (Burma).
Kristine Edwards Predeparture Coordinator
Kristine left Minnesota for college in Pennsylvania, where she earned a degree in International Business, having developed the new major at her school. An inherent joie de vivre and penchant for all things global fueled trips abroad, including living in Spain, teaching kids Spanish in Honduras, and tsunami relief volunteering in Thailand. While painting new boats with locals in Phuket she was struck by the resilience and generosity of those who had lost so much, and a love affair with Asia ensued, bringing Kristine to our door.
Donna Galland Controller
Donna displayed a knack for numbers early on, which was honed with a degree from CU in Business Administration. She crunched digits for Moguls Mountain Travel as Controller and at a Boulder law firm as Financial Manager before seizing the accounting reigns at Asia Transpacific Journeys. She’s currently pursuing her black belt in kickboxing, so keep your hands out of the till.
Julie Getzel Trip Coordinator
Julie hails from North Carolina, where she attended the University of North Carolina, earning degrees in International Studies and Italian. A passion for travel led to stints working in London, studying in Italy, diving remote reefs in western Australia, and backpacking around Asia. She enjoys hiking, painting and is a fan of Italian architecture.
Tamara Grivicic Predeparture Coordinator
Tamara is a native of Croatia, and is currently on a well-deserved sabbatical from her doctoral studies in Linguistics at CU. She’s a graduate of UC Davis, where she garnered multiple academic awards and scholarships; she’s fluent in three languages and gets by in four others. She’s a devotee of Anusara yoga, and a health food connoisseur, and when she’s not administering immune tonics and liver cleansers to her colleagues she may be found indulging a fancy for sci-fi TV shows.
Jarrod Hobson, CTA Travel Specialist
A graduate of the University of Maine, Jarrod worked on an expedition-cruising vessel that took him to the Antarctic, South and Central America. He heard the call of the west, and moved to Boulder, where his passion for skiing and whitewater kayaking could flourish. In the past decade, he’s made countless trips to our region and enjoyed extraordinary experiences (including lunch with the king of Sumba). He is a superb resource for facilitating beyond-the-ordinary travel for others and was named a Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist for 2007.
Eric Kareus Travel Specialist/Sr. Sales Manager
Eric was raised in the arid Colorado River valley and reared on National Geographic, periodic family trips to Central America, and Asian cuisine. He holds a degree from the University of Colorado in International Relations and Economics with an emphasis on the developing world. He was a guide in Europe, then joined ATJ in 1993 and has since traveled extensively throughout the region. His knowledge of Asia borders on the encyclopedic— Eric was named a Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist for 2006 and 2007.
Jane Klein Writer/Publications Manager
Jane had to install a pull-up bar at Asia Transpacific Journeys to mitigate the effects of a restless energy that has propelled her from Tokyo to Tonga. A scholarship to study in China was foiled when the tanks rolled into Tiananmen, then law studies were put on indefinite hold to found a rock-climbing guiding company in Greece. Back in Boulder she surfed the dot-com wave until heading for the travel industry. As the voice of Asia Transpacific Journeys, she strives to capture the allure as well as the historical underpinnings of Asia’s amazing cultures.
Tom Lastick Travel Specialist/Sr. Sales Manager
While working in Australia in the mid-90s, Tom planned a two-week trip to Bali before returning home to his native Colorado. The trip became a three-month sojourn throughout SE Asia, and the beginning of a lifelong love of the region and its people. He has traveled in more than 50 countries worldwide, and most locales in Asia and the Pacific. A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Colorado, Tom’s passion, wealth of knowledge and personal experience makes him an invaluable resource.
Kirsten Louy-Nasty Operations Manager
Kirsten grew up in our nation’s capital, dreaming of places far and away. She landed in Papua New Guinea to participate in a grassroots organization studying women and small businesses. Kirsten created and received the first Cultural Studies Bachelor of Arts at Keene State College in New Hampshire. Her travels have taken her throughout four continents.
Rebecca Mazzaro Travel Specialist
Rebecca became hooked on travel after spending a year of high school in a small Spanish province bordering Morocco. She studied Environmental Biology earning her degree at CU Boulder. A musical streak culminated in a performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and a penchant for travel manifested itself in years spent guiding around the U.S. She fell for Asia during extensive travels in the region, where she expertly captures its people and places on film. She revels in sharing her deep first-hand knowledge and was named a Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist for 2007.
Kim Mitchell IT/ Online Marketing Manager
Striking a rare right-brain/left-brain balance, Kim holds an M.S. in Information Systems, a B.S. in Marketing, and possesses a keen eye for design. When she isn't pedaling her way through grueling road bike events, she can be found snowshoeing and Nordic skiing throughout the Rockies. She's lived in Germany, Argentina and Italy, and traveled through many countries in Asia, in a quest for the perfect plate of Asian cuisine.
Pat O'Connell Travel Specialist
As a child, Pat dreamt of becoming an astronaut, but decided that exploring the world and its various cultures would be just as exciting. He earned a degree in Operations Management from Western Washington University, climbed the corporate ladder, then began leading tours worldwide until he discovered his current ideal situation: a career requiring frequent destination research. His expansive travels in our region over decades make him an unsurpassed resource for crafting extraordinary itineraries.
Jonathan Osgood Predeparture Coordinator
Jonathan studied international relations and cultural studies, earning a degree in political science from CU Boulder. A year spent teaching English in Korea afforded interesting travel adventures—a foray into the Demilitarized Zone as North Korea was preparing to test its long-range missiles, where he noted with some envy his guide’s bulletproof vest; sailing in the Sea of Japan aboard a 40-ft. yacht; and entertaining the locals in remote villages in Laos with rock classics on his guitar. In Colorado, Jonathan can be found snowboarding, and honing his rock climbing skills in hopes of returning to the limestone at Thailand’s Railay Beach.
Simone Poplin, CTC, CTIE Air Travel Manager
This year Simone celebrates 15 years as Asia Transpacific Journeys' Travel Agency Manager, marking over 25 years as an international travel agent. Her favorite travels include a visit to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, a sunrise climb to the top of volcanic Mount Bromo, Indonesia, a camel caravan in Morocco, bazaar browsing in Cairo, and viewing the Taj Mahal at sunset. Simone delights in getting you the best fares to our corner of the world so you can create memories of your own.
Jeff Robers Travel Specialist
Jeff pulls together dazzling itineraries for demanding private institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History, Princeton, Yale, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the San Diego Zoo. His depth of knowledge in Asia is expansive, having lived in Vietnam, Thailand and Australia for many years (not to mention Africa and Europe) and having led tours throughout the world for 20 years. His first-hand knowledge and passion for travel is unsurpassed, and a great resource when crafting and leading trips.
Stacey Schultz Marketing Director
Ski resort billboards throughout her native Utah featured Stacey catching big air as the local phenom with the golden locks. She earned a degree in Visual Communications from the University of Utah, then spent a season of ski teaching in New Zealand that ignited a lifelong wanderlust. She worked as an art director in San Francisco during the dot-com boom, changing her course with a four month sojourn through Southeast Asia that ended at Asia Transpacific Journeys' doorstep. Her keen eye for photography and design, balanced with her experience in the travel industry, plays a key role capturing the excitement of travel in print and on the web.
Allison Shepley Administrative Coordinator
Allison is a native Iowan whose keen sense of precision and composition earned her a degree in Photography from CU. Her passionate nature finds plentiful modes of expression. When she isn't waist deep in powder she may be found penning a story, up to her biceps in pottery clay, or wandering Colorado's gorgeous canyons in search of the perfect water hole. On her next trip to Asia she'll be tasked with capturing portraits and the area's stunning landscapes on her vintage, medium format, twin reflex-lens Ricoh.
Katie Weiland Predeparture Coordinator
Katie holds degrees in Sociology and Spanish from the University of Wisconsin. A love of travel and different cultures was indulged in a year abroad studying in Costa Rica, soaking up its culture, and exploring its eco-systems. A self-confessed music junkie, she’s a fixture at local bluegrass venues and jamband concerts. An abiding love of animals has defined Katie since childhood: she’s been a dedicated vegetarian (and sometime vegan) since the age of 12, and is an impassioned supporter of animal rights. Weekends will find her hiking through Boulder’s beautiful foothills with her English bulldog and American terrier.