Our US Staff
Our staff of expert travel planners is exceptionally well traveled and extremely
knowledgeable about our destinations. We couple an unrivaled depth of experience
with an unmitigated enthusiasm for foreign culture, history, language, and geography.
From Budapest to Vladivostok, from the Arctic Circle to the Gobi Desert and beyond,
we've been there, and we've returned with a wealth of experience, knowledge and
information that benefits our clients immeasurably.
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Douglas Grimes, President and
founder of MIR, created the company based on his work in citizen diplomacy, in
the mid-1980s. He has made over 100 trips to our destinations. Whether exploring archaeological sites in Central Asia and the Caucasus, or personally inspecting any of our half-dozen international offices, Douglas' trips have spanned MIR's destinations since our inception.
Email: douglas |
Annie Lucas, Vice President,
has been with the company since the very early years. Her background in Russian & Eastern European Studies serves her in her role overseeing company-wide operations, systems and product development. With a passion for out-of-the-way places (favorites include Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), she personally scouts emerging destinations and has an extensive travel history.
Email: annie |
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Dmitry Rudich, Custom Group Tour Specialist, grew up in Ukraine. He has traveled since he was a child, spending an interesting month in North Korea as a Young Pioneer. Dmitry traveled in Ukraine, Russia, the Caucasus and Turkey before coming to the U.S. for an international business degree. More recetly, his travels have taken him from Minsk to Moscow and from Volgograd to Vladivostok.
Email: dmitry |
Brian Seifipour, Custom Group Tour Specialist, spent a year studying in Minsk for his degree in Russian Studies and International Affairs. Fluent in Russian, he has most recently worked in Toliatti, a Russian town on the Volga River, through USAID's U.S.-Russia Volunteer Initiative Program.
Email: brian |
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Margie Banin, Custom Group Tour Specialist, is a native of the Pacific Northwest with degrees from the University of Washington in Russian Studies and Japanese Language & Literature. She has more than 20 years of travel experience visiting regions around the globe. Memorable experiences range from camping her way across Kazakhstan, Central Russia and Buryatia to several years living in rural Japan. She is always eagerly awaiting her next adventure.
Email: margie |
Marina Arkhipova, Sales/Operations Support Specialist, was born in Turkmenistan and raised in Ukraine. Coming to the U.S. at 14, she won a basketball scholarship to St. Leo University in Tampa, Florida, where she earned a degree in International Hospitality and Tourism Management. Marina is fluent in English, Russian, and Ukrainian.
Email: marina |
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Charity Shaller, Sales Specialist, earned her degree in Romance languages, and her interest in French and Italian has grown into a desire to communicate with the far reaches of the world. Charity's recent travels include Uzbekistan, Western Russia and the Silk Road.
Email: charity |
Andrew Barron, Tour Specialist,
studied Chinese and Russian in college and spent a year living and working outside
of Beijing. His travels have taken him across China, from Xi'an to Lhasa, from Shanghai to Urumqi; and from Western Russia to Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the heart of Central Asia.
Email: andrew |
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Devin Connolly, Tour Specialist, made her first trip to Russia and Lithuania at the age of 13. Since then, she has returned to Russia for two extended trips, both of which were very rewarding. Devin taught English at St. Petersburg State University for a semester before completing her degree in Russian Language and Literature. Devin recently spent time in the Silk Road oases of Uzbekistan.
Email: devin |
Meaghan Samuels, Tour Specialist, grew up in California and completed her Creative Writing degree at the University of Washington with a minor in International Studies. Inclined towards international travel since she spent a summer in Europe with her grandparents as a child, she has circum-navigated the globe, from the foot of Sadako's stolid statue in Hiroshima to wandering the wine vineyards of South Africa and recently to Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
Email:
meaghan |
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Kristina Hyman, Tour Specialist, is a native of Tallinn, Estonia, and has lived in Poland, Sweden, and California before moving to Seattle. She has traveled extensively in Europe, especially the Baltic Sea region, and throughout Russia, Turkey, and Portugal. She holds a Master's degree in International Business and has previously worked as an importer and as a translator.
Email: kristina |
Joanna Millick, Director of
Independent Travel, was born in Warsaw and speaks a host of Slavic languages.
Her experience in Poland as a tour guide complements her Master's degree in International
Studies. She has traveled widely throughout Eastern Europe, Western Russia,
Central Asia and Iran and puts it all to use designing private journeys for MIR travelers.
Email: joanna |
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Jennifer Tam, Independent Travel Specialist, grew up in the little town of Lincoln City, Oregon. She spent a year living in China while earning her degree in International Business and traveling to places like the famous Sunday Bazaar in Kashgar and the modern city of Shanghai. Jennifer is active in the outdoors and hopes to return to China one day to master the Chinese language.
Email: jennifer |
Olga Hayes, Independent Travel Specialist and native of St. Petersburg, Russia, worked for many years as a senior curator for the State Russian Museum, as a consultant to museums throughout Europe and as a professor at St. Petersburg University. She has a Doctorate in Russian Culture specializing in Russian icons as has served as a tour guide in St. Petersburg for many years.
Email: olga |
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Anne Thorsteinson, Sales/Operations Support Specialist, was born and raised in Alaska and came south to the University of Washington for a degree in Russian Language and History. She studied in St. Petersburg for several months before spending a year teaching English in Budapest and traveling around Central Europe.
Email: anne |
Liz Riley, Marketing Specialist, grew up in Delaware where she earned a degree in Mass Media Communication. Her love of adventure, the arts and the internet brought her west to Seattle where she has found a way to combine all of them at MIR. Liz has recently done some exploring in Bulgaria and Romania.
Email:
liz |
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Mariana Noble, Copywriter & Sales Support Specialist, earned her Russian Studies degree in Seattle, and studied Russian language in St. Petersburg. Mariana's favorite vacation spot is Siberia, where she recently attended a World Congress of Orthodox Old Believers near Lake Baikal.
Email: mariana |
Jered Gorman, Air Specialist,
was born in Seoul and lived in Korea, the Netherlands and Germany as a child before moving to the Pacific Northwest. Jered studied in Guilin for his degree in Chinese Studies, is conversant in the Chinese language and has traveled extensively in China.
Email: jered |
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Robin DeJong-Glass, Finance Director,
is a native Washingtonian with a penchant for warm places. While most of her traveling
has been to destinations like the Caribbean, Hawaii and Mexico, she and her husband
hope to travel with MIR to St. Petersburg one day.
Email: accounting |
Kristin Anne Carideo, Marketing/Sales Support Specialist, is a native New Yorker who recently earned a Master's degree in Scottish Literature while living in a small Scottish town by the sea. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe and studied Chinese Art at Oxford as part of her undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College.
Email: kristin |
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