Elmer has always been an enthusiastic outdoorsman and adventurer. From playing and coaching tennis to captaining a 31 foot sailboat across the Atlantic to mountain climbing (Mt. Rainier, the Grand Teton, Monta Rosa, etc), he loves it all. He travels frequently across the U.S. and has trekked in India and Nepal.

He has recently retired from teaching Astronomy and Physics at Towson University for 38 years. Now he is woodworking, attending the symphony and looking forward to the next big trip.

Vikki has always called Baltimore, Maryland home. She loves living near the Chesapeake Bay where swimming and boating are part of the culture.

She has traveled several times in Europe and to India and Nepal. After traveling extensively throughout the US, often camping and hiking in the National Parks, she decided to join her husband, his sons and some new friends on a trip of a lifetime across China and Tibet.

She can now be found at home walking her greyhound or out campaigning for her favorite local politician.

Linda Heuman first tried yak butter tea in Dharamsala, India in the early nineties. "It's definitely an acquired taste," she admits. "But it's not always easy to avoid having to drink it. You want to be social." In the years since, she has lived and traveled in Tibetan refugee communities from Dharamsala, India to Kathmandu, Nepal. Dislike of the local brew notwithstanding, traveling to Tibet has long been a dream. "Whenever anyone found out I was a Tibetan Buddhist, they would ask, 'Have you been to Tibet?' It was getting embarassing."

Linda is a freelance writer and lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

For more about Linda check out:

Janet's desire to travel and explore other cultures was born at young age. "My grandparents immigrated to the US from the Netherlands. I was always interested in learning about the country from which they came and forever asking my grandmother to teach me how to say things in Dutch. I don't remember a time when I wasn't interested in learning about distant lands, culture, language." Having already traveled to Europe, South America and Asia, an opportunity to travel to a place as unique as Tibet couldn't be passed up. Now back home in Missoula, Montana Janet will continue with her studies of the Tibetan language as well as Tibetan Buddhist teachings.

Glenn Kreisel, a Software Entrepreneur, has been
living in Missoula, MT USA since 1995 with his wife Jen and daughter Wren. With my increasingly spare time I play with Wren, juggle with my friend Zandy, ride my bike in the mountains, travel and play classical guitar. One of the reasons for taking this trip was to see how my brother Ray spends his life and the joy he gets from living in Tibet, India and China. I truly understand the choices Ray has made. I feel drawn to Tibet and China. What an amazing trip with incredible people to travel with. A blast!

Ray was born in the USA. At a early age he developed a passion for both bicycling and travel. After traveling in North America, Central America and South America he found his way to Asia.

He has traveled and lived throughout the Himalaya since 1992. Ray has cycled more than 8000 miles (13,300 km) in the Himalaya on four different trips.

He is one of the few non-Tibetans to have completed the pilgrimages to Tsari, Lapchi and Kailash; the three most important pilgrimage sites in Tibet. He is most likely the only person to have done these three pilgrimages in Teva sandals.

For more on Ray's travels in the Himalaya go to: