Our U.S. 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.

Douglas Grimes, President and founder of MIR, created the company after traveling to the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s on a goodwill exchange between members of the Soviet Olympic Volleyball team and players of the sport from 11 U.S. states. He has made over 100 trips to our destinations and is a member of the Explorers Club. Whether exploring archaeological sites in Central Asia and the Caucasus or leading "Inside the Russian Space Program" tours to the Baikonur space launch site, Douglas' trips have spanned MIR's destinations since our inception. Recent travels include Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. 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. Recent travels include: Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and the Baltics countries of Latvia and Estonia. Email: annie

Dmitry Rudich, Director, Custom Group Tours, 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. His travels have also taken him from Minsk to Moscow to Vladivostok, across the snow-capped mountains of Tajikistan, throughout Eastern China and Central Asia, most recently Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Email: dmitry

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

Anne Thorsteinson,Custom Group Specialist, was born and raised in Alaska and came south to the University of Washington for a degree in Russian Language and History. She has studied Russian in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, lived in Budapest, and traveled throughout Central Europe, Central Asia, the Baltics, Balkans and Russia. Most recently she spent three months in the Pacific Rim port of Vladivostok. Email: anne

Andrew Barron, Director, Scheduled Tours, 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, on an extended overland expedition from Shanghai to Urumqi, through Chinese Turkestan and from Western Russia to Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the heart of Central Asia. Email: andrew

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 to Uzbekistan in Central Asia and most recently accompanied her clients on a tour of Iran. Read about her experiences on her travel log. Email: meaghan

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, and she has lived in France, Italy and Morocco. Additionally, Charity has traveled along the Silk Road as well as through China, Mongolia and Siberia and on to Moscow on two trips aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway. Read about her experiences on her travel log. Email:  charity

Lindsay Fincher, Tour Specialist, earned her Master's degree in Russian & Post-Soviet Studies from the London School of Economics. She has studied in Moscow and St. Petersburg and traveled throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and, most recently, China and North Korea. Raised in Southern California, Lindsay is an avid surfer who journeys annually to the warmer waters of Costa Rica. Email: lindsay

Joanna Millick, Sales/Client Services Specialist, was born in Warsaw and speaks a host of Slavic languages. Her experience in Poland as a tour manager complements her Master's degree in International Studies. She has traveled widely throughout MIR's destinations, and recently led a group through Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. Returning to her six-year career with MIR after a year in Poland, she uses her expertise to send travelers on the trip of their dreams. Email:  joanna

Olga Hayes, Private Journeys 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. She returns to St. Petersburg regularly, last visiting in October. Email: olga

Lisa Peterson, Private Journeys Specialist, earned her degree in International Studies from the University of Washington and taught English and History in Romania and Russia. She has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe and has a special affinity for the Balkans, spending the last six summers studying language in Dubrovnik and Sarajevo. She is an avid reader of travel literature and her book recommendations have been featured on NPR's The World and by Lonely Planet guidebooks. Email:  lisa

Liz Riley, Marketing Director, 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 explored Bulgaria and Romania as well as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Email: liz

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 attended a World Congress of Orthodox Old Believers near Lake Baikal. Email: mariana

Jenelle Birnbaum, Marketing/Administrative Support Specialist, received her degree in Art History and French from Tufts University, spending a year studying in Paris. She has toured Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, France and Iceland as a violinist with both the Seattle Youth Symphony and Tufts Symphony orchestras. Raised in the Seattle area, Jenelle has an abiding interest in Russian literature and music. Email: jenelle

Nicole Buchholzer, Administrative/Sales Support Specialist, grew up in Colorado and ventured to Hawaii for her degree in International Relations, spending a year studying abroad in Prague, Czech Republic and Thessaloniki, Greece. An enthusiastic traveler, Nicole has explored Eastern Europe and has been on voluntourism trips to Mexico and Chile. Email: nicole

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 traveled to France in 2008. Email: accounting

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 as well as along the Silk Route in Uzbekistan and to Kazakhstan. Email: jered