Meet the Founder

A Life In Motion

Soon after, I found myself standing on a tarmac in Moscow, breathing in jet fumes. Rain, verging on ice, poured from a sky the exact shade of gray that permeated everything in the USSR. The Soviet Union was teetering on the brink of collapse. As far as career starts go, it was unexpected—and remarkable. This experience of putting foreign policy into practice was the best education I could have imagined.

As countries chased the dreams of freedom and democracy, I worked alongside human rights activists, political reformers, and civil servants committed to public trust and government accountability. Together, we designed and managed hundreds of policy dialogues, executive retreats, and professional development programs involving thousands of people.

The business realities on the ground in those early years? Crumbling infrastructure. Broken supply chains. A private sector that was still getting off the ground. Hospitality, which was so warmly offered at the individual level, was an industry in desperate need of investment.

The first global event I organized took place a few miles from the Kremlin. As circumstances would have it, the conference occurred just one month after the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. Assignments like those required no small measure of determination, diplomacy, and a network of resourceful people you could count on—no matter what.

Over the years, I worked in nearly 70 countries and lived for a while in quite a few. From the European cities of Prague, Budapest, and Belgrade to points east in Kyiv, Tbilisi, and Moscow, and farther afield in Cairo, Bangkok, and Jakarta. So much more than work deployments, these destinations were an opportunity to cultivate friendships, interests, and knowledge in unexpected places and in deeply rewarding ways.

From One Passion To Another

Every seasoned traveler has a place—or a few—that lingers in the mind and the soul. For me, that place is Central Europe. The cities of Berlin, Prague, Budapest, and Vienna are a rich tangle of East meets West. They speak to my lifelong fascination with early 20th-century history, politics, and espionage. In architecture, design, and fine arts. And in café culture, cabaret, and the decadent edge of fading empires.

After years of championing these destinations, researching, returning, and refining how I explored them, an idea took root. Why not formalize the endeavor? I stepped away from nonprofit executive leadership and redirected my creativity, regional expertise, and experience in international relations toward a new venture…

Welcome to The Traveler’s Triptych. I’m so glad you’re here.

At The Traveler’s Triptych, history isn’t just visited, it’s felt. Cafés are more than coffee stops; they’re cultural salons. Each journey is crafted for the intellectually curious and aesthetically attuned traveler. Someone who finds as much joy in a quiet museum corridor as in a late-night jazz club or a glass of perfectly aged Tokaji.

If you travel to be moved, to indulge thoughtfully, and to connect deeply with a place and its stories—you’re in the right hands.