GLOBE SPOTS - Key Persons

In times gone by it was necessary to join the army for travel and adventure. Andre is so glad times have changed! After extensive travel in South East Asia over recent years, Andre has almost completed a journey from Melbourne, Australia right across to Central Europe without the assistance of flight. About the picture: After traveling for extended periods, a lot of what should seem amazing begins to feel a little mundane. Such is the extent of this fatigue that you begin opting for a day watching movies on your laptop over checking out, let's say, The Forbidden Palace in Beijing. And then you'll travel somewhere or see something that is just so amazing that you can't take your eyes off it (except of course to have a picture taken!!). For me that was Mt. Everest. It is such a grand sight that you can't help but be overcome by the experience. It also means that you don't need to force a smile for the photo!! > Places by Andre

Charlie has always had a passion for travelling and has been doing so ever since finishing school. He grew up living between California and Hawaii. He worked in Borneo for a year and a half and was able to travel throughout Southeast Asia. He has travelled through Central America, and is planning to continue his travelling soon. About the picture: After spending 8 months working in Borneo, I had always been looking for nocturnal primates, with no luck of finding them. Finally made a little luck for myself and managed to see two Western tarsiers and a Slow loris in 4 days. I feel like this picture dipicts my delightment on finding this furry little guy > Places by Charlie > Charlie's personal website

Chris a.k.a starcruza left Australia in 2005 on little more than a whim to earn some strong English pounds before setting off into the unknown. Over 7 years later he has found a way to work and travel his way around the globe, usually in Ski Fields, Bars and Super Yachts which has taken him to some of the most exotic destinations around the world. Chris is an avid photographer and it's highly unlikely you'll ever catch him without a camera on his person, be that jumping out of planes, underwater, in the snow or hanging off things. With his lust for adrenalin you can be sure to hear of all the "extreme" activities on offer in any destination. About the picture: This photo was taken in Gocek, Turkey as my crew shot for the website of a newly launched Super Yacht that I worked on for 2 years. The launch date was continually stretched out by the manufacturing company, leaving us an ever shrinking period of time to prepare the boat for the boss who was obviously very keen to play with his new 56 metre sail toy. We spent most of that summer cruising around Turkey and enduring the crazy heat, sometimes over 45 degrees. I was the bosun onboard the boat, meaning that I carried out all maintenance and repair work on the boat's exterior including up the 60 and 45 metre masts. > Places by Chris

Ed has travelled to 50 countries and lived in six, much of that in attempts to satisfy his fascination with wild places and their inhabitants, particularly tribal and nomadic people. For the last few years he has got stuck exploring the vastness of the former Soviet Union, with an emphasis on Siberia, the Far East, the Arctic and Central Asia. At the moment he is teaching English in Moscow in between leading trips to the nomadic Nenets reindeer herders of Arctic Siberia's Yamal Peninsula (Yamal Peninsula Travel). About the picture: This picture was taken after I'd spent six hours outdoors in -40 °C on the Yamal Peninsula photographing a Nenets brigade which was preparing to move camp. Despite multiple layers of reindeer fur clothing, I couldn't imagine it being possible to feel any colder until, on a more recent trip, I had to travel for eight hours by snowmobile in the same temperature! > Places by Ed > Ed's personal website

When not travelling Heidi is probably planning some trip or dreaming about the next time she will be hitting the road. Some trips are "professional" as a tour guide but she does try to take out enough time per year to (re)discover places, just as a traveller. Heidi has a weak spot for travelling to special events such as Carnaval in Brazil. About the picture: Whenever I guide a trip to Madagascar we go on a day excursion to Nosy Tanikely, close to Nosy Be. A full lunch is always included with tons of delicious seafood. Most people don't have the patience for the crab so I end up finishing every piece of crab, taking my time and making a big mess. Luckily the sea is just a stone's throw away to clean up! > Places by Heidi

Marie-Eve doesn't travel as much as she would like to. But to trick her brain into thinking she does a lot more, she is an active behind-the-scene collaborator on Globe Spots. A language enthusiast, she makes a point of honour to try to learn as much of the local dialect as she can when she gets to a new place, even if it's just for a few days. Among the languages she attempted to master (some with much more success than others): Romanian, English, Kinyarwanda, French, Russian, Papiamento, Armenian, Québec Sign Language, Serbian, Dublin Core, JavaScript and Klingon. About the picture: On the northwestern tip of Grande Comore island, in the Comoros, is a little untapped paradise between Trou du Prophète and Mitsamiouli. While walking from pristine (and deserted) beach to even more pristine (yet still deserted) beach, we stumbled upon a battered hotel. When asked if they had anything to drink, the only employee on site started by saying no, but then said he could offer coconut water, to which we happily agreed since it was the only hotel or restaurant in the area. As we sat on the patio, we heard cracking sounds a few metres away just to discover the same employee climbing a tall palm tree to pick our coconuts. It was my first time drinking coconut water directly from the coconut. And it was the freshest, for sure. > Places by Marie-Eve

Vibe is working as Chief of Events at a bank, but is originally educated as an anthropologist. Vibe is, furthermore, a member of The Travellers' Club of Denmark, and when she is not nurturing her structural fascist tendencies at work, she engages in her passion for travel photography going on safari in Kenya, trekking in the Himalayas, shooting musk oxen in the wilderness of Greenland, and on adventurous travels to places like The Amazon, The Galapagos Islands, Tibet, India, Patagonia, Iceland, old French Indochina, and the many wonders of the world. About the picture: This picture is taken in a small cheap alley street restaurant in downtown Beijing, China. I wanted to try eating something unusual and my guide found this donkey restaurant, where every course on the menu involved donkey meat. Skipped the donkey penis and went for a donkey sandwich instead…. > Places by Vibe > Vibe's personal website