MIR’s 30 Years: 1980s Volleyball Diplomacy, and MIR’s Beginning (VIDEO)
MIR's president Douglas Grimes fulfills a life-long dream: playing volleyball against Soviet Olympians, leading to the creation of MIR Corporation. Read More
MIR’s 30 Years: MIR in a Nutshell
Here's everything you need to know about MIR Corporation, a pioneering, award-winning travel company specializing in travel at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Read More
Travel Tips: Doug’s Excellent Siberian Winter Adventure
Just one month before Douglas Grimes (MIR's founder and president) and his clients arrived in Irkutsk, the temperature had registered -35 Fahrenheit. January in Siberia can be chilly. Doug planned the custom winter trip for writer Sophy Roberts and photographer Michael Turek, and figured that the weather in February would be a little more inviting. And it was: it was 19 degrees above zero the day they spent playing on the Lake Baikal ice. 19 degrees and snowing. But, warmly dressed and undaunted, the crew stepped boldly out onto the thick ice of Baikal and did what Siberians do so well: enjoyed themselves. Read More
Witnessing the Fall of the USSR: Doug’s Memories of August 1991
It's been 28 years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. We're marking the anniversary with eyewitness accounts from MIR colleagues and contacts. In this installment, Doug shares his memories of the fateful days of the August coup in 1991, and his travels from Seattle to Moscow to Kamchatka in the Russian Far East. Read More
MIR featured in the Financial Times as Siberian Specialists
In her column How to Spend It for the May issue of the Financial Times, British journalist and traveler Sophy Roberts writes about the allure of obscure border crossings, and the “small coterie of top-end travel outfitters who have made it their business to expedite difficult border crossings in far-flung lands.” Roberts traveled through Siberia and across the Mongolian border this past winter on a journey that MIR created especially for her. MIR founder Douglas Grimes accompanied her. Read More
5 Tips: How to Travel Like an Insider in Moscow, Russia
Russia is a “strange, alluring, enthralling, wonderful world,” in the words of author Nikolai Gogol. The domed Orthodox churches, world-renowned museums, high culture and down-to-earth street life make up a whole that is at once well-bred and wild, huge and intimate, formal and free-wheeling. You need an insider to help you make sense of it all. And who better to be your guide than Douglas Grimes, the man who founded MIR in 1986? In the past 30 years, he’s been to Russia more than 100 times. Here are Doug’s 5 tips on how to travel like an insider in Moscow... Read More
Postcard from Doug: 2015, the Year in Review
At this time of year, Annie and I can’t help but pause to reflect on why we do what we do, and why this company was started almost 30 years ago. Peace through travel was the impetus to our start and remains a cornerstone of our business today. Today, more than ever, that message resonates with tremendous relevance. We will hold this in our thoughts as we move into the future. We celebrate our amazing and intrepid travelers for being so open to discovering our fascinating off-the-beaten-path part of the world. We feel privileged to be asked to design one-of-a-kind personalized journeys, and to assist so many in making their travel dreams come true. Read More
Founder’s Five Favorites: Russia Collection Special Offer
I’ve been traveling to Russia for the last 30 years, and there’s simply no place that is as complex and rewarding. From the Russian Far East and Siberia to the West, Russia offers an amazingly diverse range of experiences, and the people are not just hospitable, they're wonderfully deep and soulful. It’s the largest country on earth, and though I’ve crisscrossed its great landscapes more times than I can count, I never tire of returning to Russia. Here are five of my favorite MIR Russia tours. Book your spot on one of these select departures of the Founder’s Five in 2016 by December 31, 2015 and save $300. Read More
What To Know Before You Go: Kazakhstan
Nearly five times the size of France, surprising Kazakhstan lays claim to soaring mountains, boundless steppe and abundant natural wildlife, attracting attention from adventure-seekers and European elite (like Prince Harry). Enjoy MIR’s Insider Tips on Travel to Unconventional Destinations: MIR founder and president Doug Grimes shares a collection of his insider’s tips on what to see, do, and eat in Kazakhstan. Read More
What To Know Before You Go: Siberia’s Lake Baikal and Buryatia Region (VIDEO)
MIR’s Insider Tips on Travel to Unconventional Destinations: MIR founder and president Doug Grimes shares a collection of his insider’s tips on what to see, do, and eat in the heart and soul of Siberia – the Lake Baikal and Buryatia region. Read More
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