Staff Profile

Name: Jorlann Miranda
Title: Customer Relations Coordinator Co-ordinator
Countries Visited: NZ, Singapore, Philippines, USA, England, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? London for 1 year and lived in NZ when I was in High School
Favourite places you've visited? Prague, Barcelona, Paris and Florence!
Most memorable travel experience? Walking around in the streets of Rome and the Vatican, people watching in the middle of New York’s Times Square, walking up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, queuing up at Wimbledon for 6 hours!! Also seeing Stonehenge for the first time was breathtaking!
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas? Give everything a go and have no fears!

Staff Profile

Name: Bree Yates
Title: Customer Relations Coordinator
Countries Visited: United States of America (8 states and counting), United Kingdom, France, Japan.
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? California, United States of America. Lived there once for 4 months, loved it so much went back for another 4 months!
Favourite places you've visited? Japan, San Francisco
Most memorable travel experience? Road tripping from Colorado to California, driving on the wrong side of the road. Working on the ski fields in California and seeing the sunrise over the lake and the mountain every morning! Attending a traditional Scottish Burns Night, haggis....not as bad as I thought! I could go on forever....so many good things happen to you when you travel!
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas? Take every opportunity to have fun and see the place your visiting, as you never know when or if you will be visiting again!

Staff Profile

Name: Lisa Alexander
Title: Senior Program Coordinator
Countries Visited: Vietnam, Thailand, United States, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey, England, Scotland, Ireland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Netherlands, Croatia, Switzerland, Austria.
Where have you lived overseas and for how long?
Dublin, Ireland for 12 months and Venice, Italy for 2 months working in a pizzeria!
Favourite places you’ve visited? New York, Las Vegas, Cappadocia in Turkey and Munich- got to love those beer halls!
Worst place you’ve visited?
Nowhere, thankfully all my travel experiences have been major drama free!
Most memorable travel experience?Snorkelling off Koh Phi Phi in Thailand in the most beautiful clear water and suddenly finding myself surrounded by ‘Nemo’ clownfish, visiting a primary school in rural North Vietnam to teach children English, meeting people from all over the world over a stein of yummy German beer in the beer halls of Munich and also seeing things like the Colosseum and the Statue of Liberty for the first time is an amazing feeling Ill never forget!
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas? Throw away any fears or inhibitions you may have at home and live for the moment! You will never regret it!

Staff Profile

Name: Peter Doran
Title: Senior Program Coordinator
Countries Visited: Scotland, England, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Holland, Switzerland, Slovenia, Singapore, Indonesia, Fiji, New Zealand
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? Scotland for 2 and a half years, Ireland for 1 year, England for 6 months
Favourite places you've visited? Cape Tribulation (Far North Queensland) Venice, Scottish Highlands, Lake Bled in Slovenia
Worst place you’ve visited? Alicante and Benedorm, London (or parts of)
Most memorable travel experience? Being knee deep in a river of tomatoes at Tomato Fest in Spain. Or being chased by bulls in the Bull Run at Pampalona
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas? Always be open to new experiences and cultures.

 

Staff Profile

Name: Luke Dore
Title: Marketing & Relations Coordinator
Countries Visited: USA, Mexico, UK, Ireland and Thailand
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? Vail, Colorado USA- 5 months, London UK- 5 months
Favourite places you've visited? Grand Canyon (and I thought Ayers Rock was big!), Puerto Escondido (the 'Mexican Pipeline') and road tripping through Southern Ireland
Most memorable travel experience? Comparing Hasselhoff impersonations with friends along the California coast
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas? Everything you may have heard before or seen in photos goes out the window when you are in a new environment. There is no substitute for experiencing the real thing.

 

Staff Profile

Name: Fran Russo
Title: Digital Content & Public Relations Coordinator
Countries Visited: Malaysia, India, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Malta, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Singapore, Philippines, Japan and Thailand
Lived Overseas: Italy (Florence)
Favourite places you've visited?: Boracay Island in the Philippines, India, Turkey and the UK!
Worst place visited?: None so far!
Most Memorable Travel Experience: Almost falling down a massive mountain while trekking the foot hills of the Himalayas, India! Living in Italy and becoming a true local in Florence and swimming in the Blue Lagoon in Fethiye, Turkey.
Most valuable lesson: Stay positive as a backpacker because the experience will blow your mind!!

 

Staff Profile

Name: Linda Janes
Title: Employment Coordinator
Countries Visited: USA, New Caledonia, Canada, Fiji.
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? I was in USA for 3 months. The first 2 months on Summer Camp USA and then backpacking for 1 month in California.
Favourite places you've visited? New York City was amazing, it’s very busy and the shopping is great. The Islands of New Caledonia were also very beautiful and relaxing.
Most memorable travel experience? Summer Camp USA was the best by far I met so many people and friends that I will keep for life. All my experiences there were amazing, different and can't be spoken for unless experienced.
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas?
Be careful and don't trust just anyone! Everyone can cope on their own when travelling - so don’t be afraid!

 

 

Staff Profile

Name: Tennille Balaz
Title:Marketing Manager
Countries Visited: Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, USA, England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Malta, Japan, UAE, Thailand.
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? London, UK for two years.
Favourite places you've visited?
Cuba and New York!
Worst place visited? Iquique, Chile and Catania, Italy.
Most memorable travel experience? Camping on the sand dunes in Huacachina, Peru, Going to Graceland in Memphis, Buying illegal bananas in Cuba, Living it up in New York, Rio Carnival in Brazil and meeting Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, to name just a few!!
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas?
Always be open to new people and opportunities, and never take anything for granted!

 

 

Staff Profile

Name: Brad Holland
Title:General Manager
Countries Visited: US, South Africa, New Zealand, Spain, France, Fiji, Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Morocco, Gibraltar, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, UK, Canada, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Italy, Sweden.
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? US (on & off for 8 years), UK ( 2 yrs ), A cruise ship in the Mediterranean (3 months), South Africa (3 months).
Favourite places you've visited?
Arches National Park, Moab Utah; the fjords of Norway.
Most memorable travel experience? There’s so many! Celebrating Halloween in Las Vegas while dressed up as Elvis ; hiking on NZ’s Franz Josef Glacier at dawn; working with underprivileged kids in South Africa; roasting marshmallows around a campfire with good friends in the northwoods of Wisconsin while watching both the Northern Lights and a meteor shower overhead.
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas?
The old saying goes that ‘travel broadens the mind’, but travel does more than that, it enriches your spirit.

 

 

Staff Profile

Name: Sariah Pena
Title: Program Coordinator
Countries Visited: United States of America (20 states and hopefully more!) Central America-El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Fiji
Where have you lived overseas and for how long? Lived 12 months in one of the most exciting, scariest yet thrilling places in the world, New York City! 3 months in Central America
Favourite places you've visited? New York was amazing!! From Brooklyn to Queens! Crossing the plains from Nevada to Utah, driving from Philadelphia to New Jersey and almost hitting a deer! Boston stole my heart and Viva Las Vegas!
Most memorable travel experience? Dancing a night away in Salt Lake city, navigating my way through the snow in my heels across busy Manhattan, eating pizza in Boston, getting a cold in Washington D.C, watching the Miami heat play the New York Nicks at Madison Square Garden!
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from living and working overseas?
Life can change at an instant, make the most of every opportunity and live with no regrets. Most importantly be grateful for what have, as in some cases the grass isn’t always greener on the other side!