Andrea Ross
CEO

With British parents, Andrea grew up in England listening to stories of colonial Africa and the Far East. At the age of eight she took her first solo trip to Australia to visit her aunt and she hasn't stopped traveling since.

In 2003 Andrea moved with her business partner Brandon to Cambodia where they started Journeys Within Tour Company and Boutique Hotel. In the last eight years Andrea has also set up offices in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, as well as the lovely Truckee California office.

Andrea has been on the Wendy Perrin Travel Specialist List for the last five years and takes her role as a regional expert seriously. She splits her time between the US and Southeast Asia and travels extensively to make sure the guides, drivers and hotels used by Journeys Within are up to standard. She loves to find new and unique trips, hotels and experiences for her guests.

Since starting the tour company Andrea has focused on philanthropic travel and the idea that travel can change the world and she is a volunteer executive director for Journeys Within Our Community, a non-profit organization she and Brandon founded in 2005.

Andrea has two children who are great travelers and go wherever Mom goes! When in the US Andrea continues to travel, speaking at clubs and schools, promoting Philanthropic Travel and fundraising for JWOC.

Brandon Ross
President, Cambodia

Brandon is an explorer through and through. After completing a BA in Political Science and working as an accountant, Brandon answered the call to travel. He has explored England, Italy, Germany, France, Central America, the Caribbean, Southern Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the South Pacific, China and Japan.

A real people person, Brandon judges most of his travel experiences by those he meets, warming to countries with open and friendly people. Our staff all joke that Brandon was Khmer in his last life as he fits into the Cambodia lifestyle and culture easily. A “professional” kickboxer in Cambodia he is often recognized and he trains daily with the Siem Reap kickboxing club.

Brandon was the driving force behind founding Journeys Within Our Community in 2005 and is now volunteer executive director, overseeing the projects and helping guide the direction and mission of the program. Brandon lives in Cambodia for most of the year, only venturing to the US for a month or two each summer. As the manager of the Journeys Within Boutique Hotel, Brandon is always available to chat and his perspective and stories on Southeast Asia are fantastic. Brandon also runs the yearly Mekong Experience and has led the tour from China to Vietnam five times, regaling each group with interesting history and entertaining stories.

Dudley Nigg
Chief Financial Officer

Dudley was born in Newcastle, England and raised in Malawi, Central Africa. Whilst in Africa Dudley started his career in finance as a Qualified Charter Accountant (CPA equivalent). He continued to grow within the finance industry and was transferred to London. He was offered the opportunity to transfer to California and was appointed Executive Vice President of Midland bank.

Dudley continued to excel in the banking field, being named EVP of Wells Fargo Bank. While working for Wells Fargo, Dudley was the first to introduce and implement internet banking. Because of this achievement, he was named Banker of the Year by American Banker and was identified as one of the 15 most influential people in commercialization of the internet by Business Week.

After retiring from Wells Fargo, Dudley circumnavigated the world in his sailboat “Happy Now.” He also was our first tour leader with Brandon on the Journeys Within Mekong Experience and continued to lead the trip for two years. He now works out of our Truckee address, but spends one month a year in Southeast Asia also keeping our finances there ship-shape! We are very honored and pleased to have Dudley on the team.

April O'Connell-Cole
US Director of Operations and Tours

From the moment she received her driver's license April was a self proclaimed “weekend warrior.” Spending the weekdays at school or work, then heading out for spontaneous travel adventures on the weekends. Whether a road trip to Mexico felt right or a short flight to visit family or an undiscovered landmark, April was always out and about!

After having her first child April discovered that spontaneity wasn't as easy anymore, but that didn't stop her love of travel – she just became an expert at planning things out in advance and learning how to have a smooth and fun trip with a little one in tow. She realized what an enriching experience family travel is, and loves sharing philanthropic adventures with her husband and two children.

April runs our California office and puts together amazing tours for Journeys Within travelers as well as keeping the office running as smooth as…Thai silk! April also volunteers for Journeys Within Our Community and has a passion for philanthropic travel and is great at involving guests in the JWOC projects in Southeast Asia.

She and her family have traveled throughout Southeast Asia, experiencing the countries and their cultures first hand. With this personal experience as well as her passion for travel and culture, April is excited to be planning your unique and memorable Journeys Within tour!

Kate Tyler
Group Tour Consultant/Ticketing Liaison

An intrepid traveler from the age of 19, Kate's first trip out of the USA was to the African continent. Since then she has completed her BS in Business, made a few trips in Europe, backpacked Southeast Asia for 3 months, and lived in South Africa.

Upon resettling in the US, much to the happiness of her family and US friends, she connected with Journeys Within and found a shared passion for the history, culture and people of Southeast Asia. In her spare time Kate is an Ashtanga vinyasa yoga instructor, rock climber, and an avid reader.

Philippa Nigg
Mekong Tour Consultant

After retiring and sailing around the world for five years Philippa has decided to return to work, helping our clients book the trips of their dreams. Philippa grew up in Southern Africa, raised children in England and the States and has traveled to over 30 countries. She brings a wealth of knowledge about travel and Southeast Asia and we're thrilled to have her on the team.

Anna Baldwin
Operations Manager/Tour Consultant

With intrepid parents of her own, Anna has been lucky enough to travel from a young age. This love of travel has developed over the years as Anna has spent time working and travelling abroad in a number of different countries, from the desert cities in Jordan to the snow-capped mountains in Kyrgyzstan.

Having studied Russian at Leeds University in the UK, her first big move was to the wondrous city of Moscow, the capital of a land famous for its harsh winters, vast landscapes, tumultuous history, and of course, vodka! There Anna split her time between teaching English and working with a variety of Russian charities in and around Moscow.

With a strong background in the travel industry, Anna has previously worked as an Operations Manager for a tour company based in London, running numerous tours throughout Southeast Asia and Central Asia. By joining Journeys Within, she is now fulfilling a life-long dream of living in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Based in Cambodia, Anna helps with the smooth running of Journeys Within tours on the ground, as well as supporting the company’s continuous efforts to maintain and develop quality tours with an emphasis on philanthropic travel.

Narla Phay
Director, Cambodia

Narla grew up in Banteay Mean Chey province 150 km from Siem Reap. The oldest in his family he came to study tourism and hospitality management at Build Bright University in Siem Reap. When Brandon had to visit the tourism police to help some guests who had lost their tickets he met Narla and immediately invited him to come and work at Journeys Within.

After coming to work at the Journeys Within Boutique Hotel as a front desk manager Narla applied for a JWOC scholarship and was admitted to the program. A tireless advocate for helping the Cambodian people Narla graduated from university and now works for both JWOC and the tour company. He works around the clock and still manages to always be smiling. Narla has a great heart and truly enjoys life, we feel really lucky to have him on the team. Brandon goes so far as to call him the fourth love of his life!

Nicole Long
Director, Laos

Nicole’s ultimate wish came true when she made the move to South East Asia in 2008 to work for Journeys Within Tour Company.  Nicole fell in love with the region after traveling to Thailand a few years before and wanted to return to explore more while working for a socially responsible tour company. As fate would have it, she met Andrea through a journalist friend and found exactly what she was looking for with Journeys Within Tour Company and their sister organization, Journeys Within Our Community.

Nicole could not be happier working and living in the beautiful and enchanting Luang Prabang as Lao’s Country Director. Having the opportunity to absorb the culture and show the beauty of the country and its people to other travelers, while giving back to the community is a dream come true. She likes to point out that on a regular basis guests wish they had spent more time in Laos and even she has to pinch herself on a regular basis to remind herself that it’s true, she’s living the dream!

Houmphaeng “Phaeng” Phommaly
Tour Manager, Laos

Phaeng was born in Xieng Nguene district about 50 kilometers south of Luang Prabang. He grew up there until he was 4 years old then his family moved to Moung Ngoi district which is far north of Luang Prabang. While he was studying there he became interested in tourism because Muong Ngoi is a frequently traveled tourist destination.

After Phaeng finished high school, he decided to focus his studies in Tourism. He moved to Luang Prabang City famous for being a World Heritage site and studied English for Tourism at Pasabandith College. While attending college he used to work at few famous hotels such as Villa Santi and La Residence Phou Vao. After he graduated from Pasabandith College, he was hired as a tour manager to open and run Journeys Within Tour Company Laos in Luang Prabang.

Phaeng is not only Journeys Within Laos Right hand man, but the left hand as well. He is a warm, caring and always smiling young man who has the ability to make everything fun, even work.

Dar Le
Journeys Within Liaison, Myanmar (Burma)

Born in central Burma into a public servants family in a difficult political and economical environment, Dar Le has overcome great struggles to be the successful and proud Burmese woman she is today. At a very young age she moved to Malaysia to get valuable work experience and earn money sorely needed by her family. Here she experienced foreign culture, learned the English language and discovered the opportunities available in the travel industry.

When she went back to Burma, now known as Myanmar, she took the first opportunity to work within the tourism industry. Whilst working she managed to achieve her Bachelors degree and also helped her two younger sisters to attend university. Dar Le's success in the travel industry has developed her passion to present Burma's culture, history, nature and people to the world.

She is the reason Journeys Within offers tours to Burma as a few years ago she convinced Andrea and Brandon to take their first trip to this amazing country, she has now become a friend. With her infectious smile and positive attitude as well as her strong work ethic Dar Le is a wonderful example of what makes Myanmar so special.

Linda Chhay
Booking Director

Linda grew up in Siem Reap town. She graduated in 2004 in Tourism and Hospitality Management in Phnom Penh. We like to joke that Linda can see the matrix because she picks up computer programs so quickly! She tells us that university was the first time she touched a computer which makes her skill that much more impressive.

Linda lives with her husband and three children in Siem Reap. Linda's only flaw as far as we can tell is her driving, she has been known to take an hour just to back out of the Journeys Within driveway! Luckily she has a great sense of humor about it and never lets Brandon's teasing get to her, in fact she can often give as good as she gets.

Sreyleak Ouk
Booking and Ticketing Manager

Having spent most of her younger years in Phnom Penh, Sreyleak eventually moved back to her birth place of Siem Reap to be nearer to her family and friends. She grew up with the dream of working in an office where she would get the opportunity to meet interesting people and work with different cultures. This led her to study Tourism and Hospitality Management at the Angkor City Institute, giving her the chance to share her passion for her country and help people to experience the wonders of Cambodia.

After university, Sreyleak began work at one of the top hotels in Siem Reap, the wonderful FCC, where she worked as Tour Coordinator, organizing interesting and exciting tours for the hotel’s guests.
Sreyleak heard about Journeys Within through Linda and the two friends work away together…often some very long hours!  Being a mother to her beautiful son, who is affectionately known as Win Win, obviously tires her out as Sreyleak tells us one of her favorite things to do is sleep! However, we secretly know that her love of Karaoke might have something to do with it....

Kanika Peou
Accounts Manager

Although she was born in Siem Reap, Kanika spent most of her younger years growing up with her two brothers in Battambang Province, where her father worked as a doctor. With a mind for numbers, Kanika quickly moved back to Siem Reap where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Build Bright University, as well as brushing up her English language skills at the Australian Centre for Education (ACE) here in Siem Reap. These qualifications combined with Kanika’s wonderful smile make her a huge asset to the company. When Kanika isn’t calmly trying to sort out our accounts, she likes to stay active and spend time with her friends in and around Siem Reap.