About the Founder

I grew up in Ankara, went to high school and college in Istanbul, and later returned to Ankara to earn a degree in Spanish Language and Literature. Turkey has always been my home — not a destination I studied from afar, but a country I know through its streets, its people, its seasons, and its silences.

My career in travel began the way many good things do: out of necessity. While studying, I took a job as a tour guide in Antalya to pay the bills. I never really left the industry. What started as a summer job became a calling. I discovered that I loved nothing more than standing at an ancient site — a Roman theater, a Byzantine church, a Hittite monument — and watching the moment it clicked for someone. When a traveler finally saw what they were standing in.

For nearly a decade, I led cultural programs for Grand Circle Travel and Overseas Adventure Travel guiding groups of 16 to 30 North American travelers through Turkey and Greece on three-week journeys. I lectured on Hittite, Greek, Roman, Ottoman, and Byzantine history at the very sites where that history unfolded. I was consistently ranked in the Top 3 Program Directors out of 150 across Turkey and Greece — not because I memorized the textbooks, but because I made the stories come alive.

After earning my MBA from Babson College in Boston, I brought that operational expertise back to the travel world. I served as Director of Product Marketing at Grand Circle Travel, then as Director of Marketing and Sales at Rentvillas.com, before founding NiceaTrip.com — my own destination management company — where I designed over 150 customized itineraries in Turkey, Greece, and the Near East for clients including National Geographic Expeditions, Smithsonian Journeys, and Ivy League alumni associations.

Over thirty years, I have worked with thousands of American travelers. I understand what you are hoping to feel when you stand at Ephesus or walk the walls of Istanbul. I understand the questions you will ask, the things that will move you, and the details that most tours rush past. I also speak the language, know the vendors, and have the relationships on the ground that make the difference between a good trip and an unforgettable one.

I now live in Lake Wylie, South Carolina — which is where NiceaTrip was born. I wanted to bring everything I had learned over three decades directly to travelers, without a big company in the middle. Small groups. Personal attention. The kind of expertise that only comes from a lifetime of showing people a place you genuinely love.