TrailFinders is a
"personal service" oriented international travel company dedicated
to providing reliable travel advice and assistance and the largest
selection of unusual international travel products available
anywhere including small-group journeys, walking and cycling
holidays, river and barge cruises, standard ocean cruises,
expedition cruises, cultural journeys, discount international air
tickets, insurance and much more.
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We're proud members of... |
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Our Company
From
humble beginnings in 1977, TrailFinders has served its clients
continuously for thirty years.
In May
2000 we decided that Westboro and TrailFinders were meant for each
other. We established our headquarters at the new location and
consolidated our other existing travel companies then operating in
the Byward Market, the Nepean/Merivale Road area and downtown.
Westboro
offers its residents, business owners and visitors a unique
environment where the neighbourhood blends harmoniously with small,
family-run businesses and without major franchise presence.
TrailFinders is a privately-owned travel company whose owners have
been world-travellers for more than 35 years. Our president has personal
experience in over 60 countries including some of the world's most
interesting ones. He is personally involved with the daily
operations of the company on a full-time basis.
Our
Canadian business partners have been part of the travel scene in
Canada for several decades and currently operate
successful travel businesses
with which we are affiliated.
Our staff is hand-selected, often from some of Ottawa's best travel companies
and are professionals who have visited many of the world's most
exotic places.
As well,
TrailFinders maintains close relationships with reputable and
reliable local and world-wide
companies that allow us to offer our clients the unique and
high-value travel products they have come to expect from us.
We
continue to follow our traditional approach of providing
personalized service to those who require the assistance of travel
planning professionals.
We
know where Luang Prabang is;
We know how to get you on a tour of North Korea;
We know what time of year is best to visit Floreana and
Svalbard;
We know which Asian airline has the best "Premium Economy"
and "Elite Class" Service;
We know how to find a great walking holiday in the Faroe Islands;
and,
We know how to arrange dinner with the Maharaja of Jodhpur.
Please
visit us soon.
We are
not affiliated with Trailfinders Ltd., a travel company with
headquarters in the United Kingdom.
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Our
Location
(for
a map click
here)
307A Richmond Road,
Ottawa ON Canada K1Z 6X3
We are
located in the vibrant 'Westboro' area of Ottawa, just a few blocks
west of the intersection of Island Park Drive and Richmond Road,
about two blocks east of Mountain Equipment Co-op or one block east
of the Newport Restaurant which is located at Churchill and
Richmond.
To reach us from the
Queensway take the Carling exit, proceed north on Kirkwood and west
on Richmond Road.
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Our
Office Hours
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Monday |
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9:00 to 17:00 |
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Tuesday |
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9:00 to 17:00 |
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Wednesday |
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9:00 to 17:00 |
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Thursday |
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9:00 to 17:00 |
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Friday |
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9:00 to 17:00 |
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Saturday |
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10:30 to 15:30 |
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Sundays
and holidays |
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Closed |
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Our
Staff
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Rick
Whiteford
Managing
Director |
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For over three decades Rick has lived, worked and travelled
internationally,
often in some of the world's most out-of-the-way spots. He spent almost five years in the Arabian
Peninsula visiting hundreds of towns and villages from the
Iraqi border to the empty quarter. He has worked in Alaska,
the continental US, the Caribbean, South America and Asia
and has been an avid visitor to more than 65 countries
world-wide on every continent. In the past 18 months alone, he's
travelled to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, New Zealand,
England, Wales, Norway, Svalbard, Germany, Turkey, Mali, Egypt and
Morocco - many of these several times. He has just returned from a Sahara Desert
excursion with several of our intrepid clients to Timbuktu.
In the following year he'll be found in Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore, India, Sabah & Sarawak (Borneo), Egypt, Turkey,
Mali, Chile and Argentina. To send him e-mail click
Rick. |
Checking out the ambulance
in Timbuktu |
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Miral
Mousa
Operations Manager |
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Miral was born in Amman
and grew up in Jordan and Egypt, frequently visiting the
West Bank. Her sense of adventure began at an early age
as she travelled to neighbouring countries in the Middle
East such as Turkey and Israel. Over the intervening years
she built up a solid base of travel experience in Mexico,
the US, various Caribbean Islands and England.
Since that
time she's continued to add to her list each year as part of our Private
Journeys team in Southeast and Southern Asia, gaining a
wealth of hands-on experience in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam,
Cambodia and Northern India. Most recently, as product
developer for many of our new journeys for the coming year,
she worked directly with our suppliers in Turkey, Chile and
Argentina. Over the next year she'll likely be found back in
Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Chile and Argentina. To send her e-mail
click
Miral. |
At the
famous
temples of Khajuraho
in Northern India |
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Lenore
Nilson
Special Travel Advisor |
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Lenore grew
up in Saskatchewan and lived in London, England and Montreal
before settling in Ottawa. She joined us in 1993 and has
travelled the world ever since. She's cycled in Australia,
New Zealand, China, Peru, Holland, Austria and Scandinavia;
rafted in the Yukon; canoed in Brazil; backpacked in
Thailand, Morocco, Malta, Syria and Jordan; trekked in
Nepal; camped and visited in the UK, Europe and North
America. She's also travelled extensively in the Caribbean,
Mexico, Costa Rica and Belize. Lenore has also led our
groups through Indochina as well as Ecuador and the
Galapagos Islands in the past few years. She has also found
time to make several visits to Southern Africa including
Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland prior to
leading our Private Journeys through that area. She's just
back from Mali via Southern Africa, Tanzania and Zanzibar. To send her e-mail click
Lenore. |
Hiking in the sand dunes of Namibia from the
Desert Express (in the background) |
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Janet MacPhee
Travel Consultant |
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Janet rejoins our team after taking a sabbatical in France and brushing up on her knowledge of
European food and wine. Some people know how to have a good
time!
She's an avid cyclist and a lover of the outdoors as you can
see from her picture.
Janet and Lenore work closely together as a team, providing
proof of the old adage that says "two heads are better than
one".
To send her e-mail click
Janet. |
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Erin Lafleur
Travel Consultant |
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Erin has been working in the
travel industry for the past six years and joined our team
late last year. She brings with her an
extensive experience with adventure travel, cruises, package
holidays, coach tours, all-inclusive package vacations,
international and domestic airfares as well as car rentals
and hotels to destinations worldwide.
During her time in Cuba she
especially loved visiting the markets and the beaches as
well as studying all the old architecture. She has also
travelled throughout Europe and her favourites so far are
Germany, France and Belgium. She has lots of family in
England so she has also toured extensively throughout the
United Kingdom.
She's just back from Turkey and is starting to think about
her next international journey. To send her e-mail click
Erin. |
Taking
a break in Europe |
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Jessica
Hepworth
Travel Consultant |
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Even though
Jess has returned to university you'll find her in our
office during the summer and occasionally during the week and on Saturdays
during the rest of the year doing
what she likes best - consulting with clients on their
travel plans. Jess joined us a few years ago after returning
from living in the South Pacific and took advantage of the
opportunities to keep on travelling! Her first working trip
with TrailFinders to scout out the transportation facilities
in Northern Europe took her to six countries in nine days
and just after getting back to the office she flew off to
the big apple for a weekend. Later the same year she headed
for Thailand and spent some time with the Palong tribe in
the North. After that she continued to cover a few far flung
North American destinations such as the Bahamas on short
weekends and spent time exploring Peru and Patagonia as well
as taking a sojourn in France. To send her e-mail
click
Jess. |
With a friend Downunder |
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Jay
McConnery
Travel Consultant |
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As our newest team member, Jay joins us with seven years
of solid experience in the travel industry where he was
primarily focused on travel management and consulting for a
collection of high-profile customers. He now brings that
expertise to TrailFinders and we're glad he's here! In his
spare time Jay enjoys live music, nature and travel. He has
traveled as an adventurer, extensively in the Caribbean and
Central America, and as a musician throughout North America.
Jay looks forward to bolstering his travel
experience in new destinations as part of
the dynamic TrailFinders team and in assisting with many
aspects of the upcoming Private Journeys. Jay will be
leading our group in Northern India in February. To send him e-mail
click
Jay. |
Zip lining with a friend in Costa Rica |
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Sandhya Patel
Tour Leader |
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"Sandy" was born in Kampala, Uganda and grew up in
Africa, England and finally Canada. Travelling is a
passion that started at an early age. She joined her
parents on their visits throughout Europe and Asia and
managed her very first trip to Egypt while heading to
England to attend school. Sandhya has been covering the
globe ever since with visits throughout much of Canada
as well as the US, Estonia, Holland, Finland, Austria,
Switzerland, India, Italy, Mexico, Cuba, China, Hong
Kong, Macau, Singapore, Bali, Komodo Island, Alaska,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Yukon, and
Japan. Whew! Sandhya will be putting all this travel
experience to work as she leads our February 2008
journey through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
For her, the most important aspects of any trip involve
experiencing the culture, interacting with the
people, enjoying the unique cuisine and taking in the
incredible sights at your fingertips.
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Feeling "at Home" in China |
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Alex Bissett
Tour Leader |
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Alex is a passionate traveller who for many years
has sought out fascinating and off-the-beaten-path
destinations around the world. He is a keen
photographer and offers courses in adventure travel
and photography through the Ottawa Board of
Education. This year he joins us as a tour leader
for our upcoming Private Journey to Ecuador,
Galapagos and Peru, and we're very happy to have him
along! Alex has travelled throughout India, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, most of Southeast Asia,
along the Silk Road in Central Asia from Uzbekistan
to Pakistan, on the Trans-Mongolian Railway through
China , Mongolia and Russia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mali,
Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and
most European countries. Central and South America
hold a special interest for him where he's visited
Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galapagos
Islands, Peru, Argentina and Chile including Easter
Island. Scenery, architecture, archaeology and
nature all interest him, but it is the living people
and their diverse cultures throughout the world that
hold his greatest fascination.
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Relaxing "off the beaten track"
in rural Cuba |
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Geoff Ford, Pat Gagnon and Linda Pressman
These fine
folks work closely with TrailFinders in Ottawa and Toronto as independent agents.
They have a very loyal
following of personal clients.
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Our Charity Partners
We provide funds and
supplies to the Khumu hill tribe school in the village of Houeisend
Kham in Northern Laos near the village of Pakbeng on the north shore
of the Mekong River. The gentle people of this small village are
unsupported by the Lao government. We visit this school
regularly and we continue to encourage our clients to
provide whatever assistance they can in the form of US Dollars,
school supplies or simply by purchasing TrailFinders travel products
and services. Part of every sale goes toward supporting these
wonderful people.
As well, we support
"Friends", an organization doing wonderful work with the street kids
of Cambodia, by continuing to patronize Friend's restaurant and
shop located in downtown Phnom Penh and encouraging our clients to do so as
well. This is a "feel-good" place - give it a try!
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