Liz Anderson

After teaching in Japan after university I decided to travel across Asia, overland to the UK to visit the places that I had studied during my degree which focused on Russian history. My research led me to Sundowners Overland and I spent many hours planning my route back in detail. I had little idea then that my desire to explore regions I had long read and dreamt about would change the course of my life. After that trip my fascination for the region grew and I returned to Sundowners Overland to travel our routes extensively - accompanying our journeys as a Tour Leader, for hands on liaison with current partners and to research and source new routes and local partners. This remains key to my role today and I consider it essential in ensuring that we are delivering the best possible experiences to our clients. 

Today I enjoy that our destinations are constantly evolving and changing; there is always another border to open or a region to explore and sharing those experiences with our team and clients remains an important part of what I do today. Listening to the stories that have inspired our clients to travel and, on their return, the anecdotes from the road are what make each and every one of group journeys and independent adventures special and unique. These stories also continue to convince me that through travel to our destinations, and by taking the time to interact and engage with both the people and the environment of our destinations presents an opportunity to experience something new and have a whole lot of fun on the way in some still relatively unknown and unexplored regions. 

Sundowners Overland is also constantly evolving as we have created new journeys to meet the ever changing needs of our clients, be it through our Vodkatrain programme aimed at 18-35 year olds, breaking new ground in the creation of our Premium journeys or through our Freedom Tours which provide just the right combination of sightseeing and time to explore our destinations. I feel that we have an option that should cater for everyone be they young or old, with only a couple of weeks to spare or for those who are planning more protracted globetrotting. I am constantly amazed by what draws people to our regions, be it special interest groups, honeymooners or travel enthusiasts; being able to adapt our itineraries to meet all our clients’ needs is what I believe our team do best.