Ellie M.

Travel Designer

Even before I could walk, I was off on adventures. If ever my parents let me out of their sight for a moment I would crawl off, only to be discovered scaling a wall, right behind my older brother, now a successful climber.



I was a child of the wilderness; more often to be found in the forest, building tree-houses and dens to spend the night in, or in the marshland looking for frogs, or building a raft to race down the river.
As soon as I was old enough to travel, I was gone every summer; backpacking across Europe with a hammock for six months, living with Berbers in the mountains of Morocco and motorbike rides in Northern Vietnam. I had experienced life in 26 different countries long before I hit 30.
Then I became a qualified teacher, and gradually the travelling around countries became living in other countries. I taught English as a second language for over six years in Vietnam, Laos and Haiti. It was exactly what I had been looking for because, for me, it was not enough to see a place, I wanted to know it, inside and out.



I had been teaching and gathering languages, cultural knowledge and experiences. Then I went to Bukit Lawang, a small Indonesian village at the gateway to the Gunung Leuser National Park and something changed; I never wanted to leave. The wilderness, the dense jungle, the gushing rivers; I felt instantly at home. With my Indonesian fiance, Teson, we created our own sustainable trekking and tour business. We wanted a business that made a difference. And that’s what we now have! This means that, not only can we provide incredible holiday experiences for travellers, but we can also share our success with others. Our goal is to employ local people and create opportunities for the whole community; we believe that, through tourism, we can help protect and preserve the jungle and its unique wildlife.