Staff at Discover the World

Brought up on a farm in the west of Iceland and one of the founders of 'Icelandic Farm Holidays', Addy spent her summers with people from different parts of the world, fuelling an interest in travel and exploring new destinations. After working in various hotels in Iceland, she studied Travel & Tourism at the Iceland School of Tourism where she graduated in 1997. Addy has lived in Germany and Italy and moved to the UK in 2000 where she has worked for Discover the World since 2001 as a travel consultant with focus on trips to Iceland and Greenland. Addy has travelled extensively throughout Europe, Greenland and Iceland and is an experienced rider of the pure bred Icelandic horse.

Addy’s Top Travel Experiences:

• Riding on the sandy beaches of Snaefellsness, with the sea on one side and mountains on the other and the magical Snaefellsjokull in front of you.
• The perfect stillness of sitting on the shores of the Icefjord in West Greenland, where as far as one can see there is nothing but icebergs.
• Riding snowmobiles at night through the forests of Lapland searching for the northern lights.
   

Email beverley@discover-the-world.co.uk 

Beverley's strong customer service ethic comes from years of experience across multiple areas of the travel industry. She began her globetrotting career as a British Caledonian girl, followed by an impressive 20 years as a member of British Airways' long-haul cabin crew. Her feet are now decidedly on terra firma, and she joined Discover the World having developed further skills at a corporate events company specialising in outdoor activities.  Brought up in Zambia, her family moved to Europe in her early teens, and she continues to hold great affection for Africa.

Beverley’s Top Travel Experiences:  

• Seeing the Northern Lights from the flight deck of a 747 - numerous times!
• Standing on the Kerid crater watching the sun go down
• Spending three months working on community projects in Botswana, including building a sanctuary and caring for grumpy Rhinos!
• A memorable two-week canoe trip on the Okovango Delta
• Climbing Borneo's Mount Kinabalu
• A dawn dive with hammer head sharks in the Maldives
• Swimming with wild dolphins in New Zealand
• Visiting Musandam in Oman
• Travelling through the Swat Valley (via the Khyber Pass) in Pakistan, all on local transport!
• Canoeing the Zambezi River
• Exploring North Queensland's Daintree Forest
• I love Reykjavik City - seeing Harpa; the new concert hall which is next to the old fishing port, with the traditional streets and colourful buildings in the background.

Clive has a passion for Iceland like no one else! Living in Epsom, Surrey, Clive enjoys marathon running, diving, guitar making and travelling. Clive has four children, who also love to visit Iceland and a chocolate Labrador called Sam who prefers to stay at home! Here’s a little bit more about the man who gave us Discover the World…

In 1972 Clive lived and worked in the North West Iceland village of Flateyri. He worked for a year in a fish factory and on fishing boats during which time he managed to explore a lot of the country. This was enough to start a love affair with Iceland that would last for life!

In 1973 Clive returned home and started working for Scantours as their Iceland expert. This was one of only two company's which sold holidays to Iceland at the time and was also responsible for Denmark and Finland.

In 1976 he joined Twickenham Travel (Twickers World) to launch their first Iceland programme, which he designed and managed. Within 18 months TT were the largest Iceland operator in the UK, and significantly raised the profile of Iceland as a tourist destination.

In 1980 Clive became Director of new operator, Sonicworld, which became market leader to Iceland within two years. He continued designing and innovating new ways of seeing Iceland.

Clive founded Arctic Experience in 1983 with Mark Leaney, and within two years it became market leader to Iceland. In 1988 the pair co-founded Discover the World, with zoologist and author Mark Carwardine. The company started off specialising in unique wildlife holidays around the world and pioneered many new holiday concepts. Later programmes to New Zealand, Antarctica and Lapland were added. Both Arctic Experience and Discover the World operated side by side as sister companies for many years, bringing many new travel experiences to the UK public.

In 2001 both companies were amalgamated under the Discover the World name and since then the company has gone from strength to strength.

Over the years Clive Has visited over 50 countries and lived in Iceland and New Zealand. Clive’s passion for Iceland remains unrivalled by anyone! 

Clive's Top Travel Experiences so far: 

• Seeing the northern lights in Iceland for the first time ever!
• Watching a vent spewing out lava as Krafla volcano erupted
• Travelling by boat to New Zealand and back when he was 5
• Working in deep sea fishing boats off Iceland... and later really getting to know the place and discovering its hidden secrets
• Exploring the vastness of Canada and Alaska
• Scuba diving in Oman and Iceland
• Getting out and about on safari in Namibia
• Sailing around remote parts of Spitsbergen
• Whale watching in the Azores
• Swimming with dolphins and sharks in the Bahamas
• Blasting through the tundra on a snowmobile in Lapland
• Mushing a dog team in Greenland

Dan has travelled to a variety of destinations including Greenland, Morocco, Oman, Thailand, Australia, USA, Bahamas and much of mainland Europe including Swedish Lapland. He has travelled throughout Iceland and New Zealand extensively. Before joining Discover the World, Dan completed his degree in geography at the University of Newcastle, and worked in various sales management and recruitment roles. He has been working at Discover the World since 2007 and is currently completing a part time MBA at the University of Bath.

Dan’s Top Travel Experiences:

• A snowmobile ride across the Icelandic Myrdalsjokull Icecap, to then stand 200 metres away from the erupting Eyjafjallajokull. One of the most exciting experiences of my life!
• Watching the northern lights whilst in a geothermal heated hot tub in Iceland.
• Diving with Mako sharks off coast of Kaikoura, New Zealand.
• Driving through the Icelandic Highlands on a clear day in a super jeep; seeing Europe’s largest wet desert, amongst picturesque snow capped mountains, volcanoes, lava fields, hot springs, magnificent waterfalls, glaciers and stunning birdlife.
• An adrenaline-filled 40 second free fall during a sky dive over Taupo, New Zealand
• Watching Green turtles lay eggs on the sandy shores of Oman.
• Watching the sun set in the Moroccan Sahara Desert.

Email darren@discover-the-world.co.uk

Darren has worked with the educational travel market for almost 20 years. Originally working with overseas groups arriving in the UK on study tours, then more recently overseeing sport and adventure groups for one of the country's largest school group operators. He has travelled extensively in Asia and Eastern Europe and spent many periods of time working overseas with British school groups as resort manager in countries such as Italy, Austria and Canada.

Darren’s Top Travel Experiences

• Travelling across Eastern Europe by train
• Travelling 2,500 miles from Cancun to Mexico City by bus
• Taking a rail journey across Java from Jakarta to Surabaya in Indonesia
• Exploring the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur
• Visiting the National Chinese Museum in Taiwan
• Skiing in Austria as often as possible 
• Family camping in Dorset

Richard is involved in developing itineraries and writing field study worksheets for Discover the World's science and biology programmes. Richard is subject leader for Biology and a Learning Development Manager at a college in the north east. He has taught AS/A2 biology and human biology for 16 years, and also A level chemistry.

Richard has won countless awards from regional to European level for his teaching. He was awarded Chartered Science Teacher status in 2007 and was appointed MBE in 2010's New Year’s Honours List for services to science communication.

Richard's top travel experiences:

• Admiring the sheer power of Gullfoss, a breathtaking waterfall in Iceland.
• Discovering the power of geothermal energy and technology used to harness the propagation of bananas in Iceland using a geothermally heated greenhouse.
• Swimming in the warm waters of Lake Windermere during one unusually hot summer in the UK.
• Listening to the cricket chorus in Menorca.

Jan has almost 20 years of working in the travel industry with a focus on student and youth travel. She joined Discover The World this year and brings with her extensive world wide travel experiences of Africa, Asia, USA, South America, Australia and much of Europe.

Jan’s Top Travel Experiences:

• Snorkelling in the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef
• Mountain walking and white water rafting in the French Alps
• Hiking on the Solheimajokull glacier, Iceland
• Walking safari in South Africa and running from a charging warthog!
• Flying over the Angel Falls in Venezuela
• Hiking up and into Vesuvius
• Crossing the Arctic Circle and experiencing the midnight sun and the Saltstraumen Maelstrom in Norway
 

Email katherine@discover-the-world.co.uk

Katherine’s passions for travel and adventure sports have fuelled a varied travel industry career so far. Katherine has lived in the French Alps, Honduras, Costa Rica and Malta, working as a tour guide and sports instructor. She has worked with school groups in both inbound and outbound tour operations, in the UK and abroad. She has travelled extensively in Europe, the southern states of America, Brazil and across all of Central America – in particular Costa Rica where she spent a year managing an eco-tour and marine conservation centre.

Katherine’s Top Travel Experiences:  

• Seeing a giant Leatherback sea turtle laying its eggs on a Costa Rican beach by moonlight
• Taking and sharing photographs with a group of villagers in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains who had never seen a camera before 
• Piranha fishing in the Amazon 
• Rafting the grade V rapids on Costa Rica’s famous Pacuare River 
• The warm reception at the Vatnsholt farmhouse in Iceland after a cold but exhilarating day ice climbing on Solheimajokull Glacier 
• Climbing the continuously erupting Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala and toasting marshmallows over its lava 
• Diving at Silfra, Iceland, in the rift valley between Eurasia and North America 
• Experiencing vibrant Salvador in Brazil in the weeks leading up to Carnival 
• Making a television appearance in Honduras

Lorraine started her career in travel many moons ago. She joined Discover the World in 2006 as manager of the Schools Programme. Lorraine has travelled extensively to the USA, Canada, Argentina, Singapore, Hong Kong, France and Namibia and since being at Discover the World has fallen in love with Iceland, Morocco, Oman, Jordan, Lapland and New Zealand. In 2008 she achieved a school girl dream of seeing a polar bear when she escorted a group on our Around Spitsbergen voyage.

Lorraine’s Top Travel Experiences:

• Seeing the northern lights for the first time, and sharing this with 30 very lucky students on a school trip to Iceland.
• Watching a majestic polar bear on a Spitsbergen voyage.
• Flying to the Franz Josef glacier by helicopter.
• Spending a wonderful night on Milford Sound in New Zealand.
   

Mark has worked in the travel business for 27 years and is one of the founders of Discover the World with Clive Stacey. Previously, he worked as an accountant and auditor.

Passions include travelling, tennis, golf, boating and skiing and he has travelled extensively to many of the destinations we feature and many more besides, some of the more exotic being Sierra Leone, Senegal, Botswana, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Costs Rica.

Top travel experiences:

• River rafting on the Pacuare River, Costs Rica
• Husky sledging and staying in the Ice Hotel, Lapland
• Visiting Canima (Angel Falls) in Venezuela
• Kayaking in the mangroves, Bahamas Outer Islands
• Encountering Polar Bears in Wager Bay, North West Territories of Canada
• Driving the Skelton Coast in Namibia
• Off roading in Iceland
• Skiing – anywhere!

Discover the World’s expert knowledge and passion for educational visits is reflected in our specially researched itineraries and field study worksheets. We work closely with Simon to ensure they remain engaging and inspiring and achieve optimum learning outcomes in accordance with the curriculum.

As well as being our advisor Simon is a Head of Geography and Assistant Master and has written several mainstream geography textbooks, most recently the AQA GCSE A text for Nelson Thornes and the Exploring Geography KS3 series for Hodder Education. He has organised and run school field trips to a variety of destinations including Northern Ireland, Iceland and the French Alps. He is widely travelled and in recent years has visited Canada, the USA, the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, Jordan and Morocco.

Simon’s Top Travel Experiences:

• Southern coast of Iceland looking south to Antarctica is always an invigorating experience as the waves crash on the cliffs and sweep up the black sand
• Mount St Helens – the incredible scale of destruction as indicated by trees being ripped apart or laid flat on the ground by the volcanic blast. The awesome power of nature!
• Jordan – the incredible friendliness of local people, always keen to invite you into their homes to share mint tea. A very humbling experience. 

Trudi has travelled to many countries throughout Europe, including Iceland, and has further journeyed to the USA, Australia, Canada, and the Far East. She has also both lived and worked in New Zealand, Austria, Italy, Tunisia, France and Switzerland. Trudi is passionate about travel and has been in the industry for over 30 years in everything from sales and product, in resort and currently in operations.

Trudi’s Top Travel Experiences:

• Jumping off Toviere Mountain in Tignes, France, in a hang glider.
• Skiing under the Matterhorn Mountain first thing in the morning with no-one around, no tracks, just a sea of cloud beneath me.
• Enjoying the power and beauty of the Gullfoss waterfall in Iceland.
• Watching her children’s faces as they visited Lapland with huskies, reindeer, Father Christmas and snow in the dark velvet night skies with only torches to light the way.