Travel has been an important part of my entire life.
As a young boy, I traveled back and forth across the United States with my mother, primarily by bus. However I also recall two or three times traveling across Canada by rail.
My first European trip dates back to 1961, when I embarked upon my inaugural trip by jet aircraft. It was also my first trip across the Atlantic to meet relatives in Finland and to visit St. Petersburg, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and England. (My parents wore suits — my mother had a gardenia on her lapel for the occasion.)
A few years later I studied for a year in Freiburg in Breisgau, a charming university city in Germany’s Black Forest. Joining the travel industry in 1973, I’ve planned travel and hosted small groups of travelers to every continent.
Currently my wife and I host 6-8 international journeys each year and plan vacation travel for countless others. Favorite spots? A good safari ranks at the top (we’ve been to 30 different camps in Africa), we enjoy travel to many destinations, Europe, Asia (including India), South America and the South Pacific.
Our goal with each journey is to go behind the scenes of a country so that instead of just looking at the sights, we gain understanding of a country’s traditions, beliefs and opinions.
Paul Niskanen
Paul has been selected by Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of its top 129 travel specialists in North America each year since 2000. He has also been named to Travel + Leisure magazine’s “A-List” of travel specialists each year since 2005.
