Nardia waved good bye to Australia in 1994 – setting off with a pack on her back to explore Europe for a year or two. The backpack has been swapped for a carryall with wheels, and the houseshare with 15 backpackers upgraded to 3-bed family semi, but 20 years later she is still here.

In that time her travels have taken her throughout Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, North and East Africa, Russia, South East Asia and most recently the Indian sub-continent visiting Sri Lanka and Kashmir in Northern India.

After working in various sales and marketing roles from over-landing, corporate travel and escorted touring companies, Nardia joined Wild Frontiers in the summer of 2007 for a three month stint with the ‘possibility of extending’. She is now one of our longest serving members of staff and works in marketing and business development.

Q: Favourite City:
A: Melbourne – absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Q: Favourite country:
A: Sri Lanka or Guatemala or Borneo. Oh and I love Italy.

Q: Favourite meal:
A: For me memorable meals or drink are all about where you enjoyed them, from standing on the street eating falafel in Jerusalem to enjoying a gin and tonic on the veranda of a traditional houseboat on Kashmir’s Dal Lake.

Q: Most memorable journey:
A: Backpacking overland from Poland to Egypt taking a variety of local trains, river boats, overnight buses, ‘deck class’ ferry and squeezed into the back of a shared local taxi for an 8-hour ride across the Sinai Desert (with Egyptian music blaring all the way).

Q: Next on must-see list:
A: Ethiopia, Iran and more of India.