Jean inherited her wanderlust and was fortunate to grow up in a family that valued travel and the experiences that came from taking the road less traveled.

In the early 1960s, her adventure-loving parents developed an affinity for Jamaica, a country whose cultural emphasis on love of family, celebration of friendship, and appreciation for food and drink, beckoned them back several times a year.

Jean’s first trip to Europe was in the mid-60s, and while Spain, Italy, France and England were wonderful, even then there was an unmistakable draw to the countries that saw little tourism. On their second trip, she and her parents spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe, behind the “Iron Curtain.” It was that love of the “back of beyond” that led her to join the travel industry in 1978 and to start Explorations in 1988.

Jean and her husband, Marc, traveled to destinations like Bhutan, Mongolia, Malaysia, Yemen, Papua New Guinea, the Seychelles, Kamchatka, and others long before most people were even sure where in the world these places were to be found. Her love of developing countries continues today, although those places that are “off the grid” are getting harder and harder to find.