Beyond the Destination is born from a lifelong passion for the wild and wonderful places of our world. We believe travel should be more than just seeing the sights; it should be about connecting with the very heart of a land and its people. Through our affordable private tours across North America, we invite you to experience landscapes and cultures not as a tourist, but as a valued guest, fostering a deep respect and stewardship for these incredible places.
Your guide’s journey is the foundation of our tours. With a background in anthropology and a heart for connection, he spent five years fully immersed in diverse cultures—not just visiting, but living. Imagine sharing meals and stories with over 300 host families across 11 countries, learning the rhythm of new languages, and exploring the soul of places like Germany, Portugal, Mexico, and the vast expanses of Canada and the USA. This deep well of experience is what transforms a simple trip into an unforgettable story.
But his understanding of place runs even deeper than travel. Before leading guests through national parks, canyons, coastlines, and alpine landscapes, he spent 24 years working the land on a New Mexico ranch—raising cattle and horses, tending alfalfa and Kentucky bluegrass fields, managing orchards, and cultivating a large, diverse garden. Life on the ranch taught him the rhythms of weather, water, soil, and seasons—knowledge that now enriches his interpretation of North American landscapes.
From repairing fences at dawn to irrigating fields under desert stars, he learned the kind of practical problem‑solving, patience, and resilience that every great guide carries quietly in their pack. Those years instilled a deep respect for the natural world and a firsthand understanding of ecology, wildlife behavior, and land stewardship—insights he now shares with guests as they explore the West’s national parks, Alaska’s wild frontiers, and the cultural landscapes of the Southwest.
Combined with 28+ years in travel, tourism, and guided outdoor operations, he brings a rare blend of academic insight, multicultural fluency, and hands‑on field experience. Whether interpreting geology, astronomy, ecology, or cultural history, he connects each place to the people who shaped it—and to the land that sustains it.
For travelers, this means every journey becomes more than a tour. It becomes a story told by someone who has lived the land, learned from its people, and carries its lessons with him wherever he goes.
