Our Team
Meet the AdventureWomen Team
Judi Wineland
Owner
Judi discovered her passion for adventure travel in 1969 while taking part in a USO tour that traveled to Vietnam. In 1978 she invested $300, rented a converted bathroom in Harvard Square, and founded Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). In 1981, she and Rick Thomson, her now-husband, co-founded Thomson Safaris. They later founded Thomson Treks, Thomson Family Adventures, Thomson Collection. Judi also helped found and serves as a Director for Focus on Tanzanian Communities (FoTZC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works on education, women’s empowerment, water, and health projects in northern Tanzania.
Judi’s passion for international travel and her many years as a female pioneer in the male-dominated adventure travel industry has given her the perfect insight to give AdventureWomen travelers the exceptional, active experiences that they have come to expect!
Nicole Wineland-Thomson
Owner
Nicole has been traveling the world her entire life, and with a mother like Judi Wineland, it’s no wonder! She has been to Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Nepal, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Iceland, Vietnam, and many other amazing places. She has a sharp eye for unique experiences for women and continues to search the world for her next adventure.
Erica Landerson
Owner
Erica began traveling the globe with her parents, pioneers in adventure travel. She has visited nearly a quarter of the countries in the world. She has twice climbed Kilimanjaro and Ol Doinyo Lengai, and spent two weeks orienteering in the Arrigetch Peaks with four women. She has also traveled to Pakistan as an environmental ambassador, where she was one of six people to climb and summit an unnamed peak. She has traveled to many other exotic destinations, including Egypt, Japan, Morocco, and Indonesia. Her experiences traveling as a woman on rigorous, exotic adventures have helped shape who she is today.
Paige Davis
President
Paige developed a taste for travel at the age of 16 during a five-week teen tour of Europe. A few years later, she took a break from her classwork at Brown University to study in Australia, backpacking on her own and with friends during school holidays. Some of her favorite travel adventures have been with her older sister, who is also an avid and adventurous traveler. She deeply believes in the power of travel to bring groups of women together for deep, meaningful, and impactful conversations.
Emily Vaden
Director of Sales
Emily developed a keen sense of wanderlust at a young age, and she felt that to understand the world truly, you must go out and experience it. Yet it wasn’t until her first international experience studying abroad in Paris that she fell in love with traveling. Since then, Emily has traveled to over 20 countries, including Hungary, Greece, Morocco, Russia, and India. Some of her favorite travel memories are backpacking through Europe, teaching soccer to young girls in Brazil, snorkeling off the coast of Zanzibar, hiking in the Tatra Mountains in Poland, and meeting and connecting with local women from different backgrounds throughout her journeys. In 2009, Emily’s passion for international travel inspired her to complete a master’s degree in International Development, which allowed her to spend a summer working with women entrepreneurs in Tanzania. Emily specializes in helping guests find the right adventure and looks forward to helping you plan your next trip!
Amanda Walkins
Senior Destination Expert
Amanda wholeheartedly believes in travel as a force for good. She has worked in the travel industry since 2013, starting with running a SCUBA shop in Roatan, Honduras, and has since managed an international marketing agency for tour operators, led customer success at a travel tech company, and worked in influencer marketing and events with a global women’s travel community. Originally from the Boston area, Amanda recently returned after a decade abroad living in Honduras, Scotland, Ireland, Malta, and Spain. Her favorite adventures (so far) include a solo 100-day cross-country road trip, swimming with whale sharks in Roatan, canoeing alongside pink river dolphins in the Amazon, running a marathon in Jamaica, and hiking in the gorgeous hills of Scotland and mind-boggling landscapes of the US Southwest. She’s passionate about helping women of all backgrounds experience their own unforgettable adventures!
Lily Shein
Destination Expert
Lily attributes her endless desire for adventure and travel to her childhood. She moved to Paris at the age of 7, with her family. There, she had the opportunity to explore a different culture, learn a new language, and travel to many new places. Her mother is from Northern Germany, and Lily spent many summers exploring the region her mother grew up in and learned to speak German as well. Since her youth, Lily has been fortunate to venture to many parts of the world. Her most memorable trips include exploring in Tunisia, volunteering on a goat farm in Portugal, visiting a cat café in Tokyo, and trying delicious foods in Mexico City. She understands firsthand how life-changing travel can be and is excited to help other women experience the wonders of the world!
Mary Jacey
Lead Adventure Manager
Mary’s passion for travel started at age 12 when her family moved to the Middle East, living as ex-pats for several years. The experience opened her eyes to the world, traveling extensively with her family exploring new countries, encountering different cultures, and meeting people. Enjoying the experience and learning of new cultures is what excites Mary the most. Her travels worldwide have taken her to over 20 countries with memorable experiences that include a camel ride to the Pyramids in Egypt, rug shopping in Istanbul, a wedding in India, zip-lining in Costa Rica, and living with family in France for a year during college. Raising an adventurous family offered Mary the opportunity to explore domestic US travel. Favorite family trips include Alaska, ski trips to Utah and California, and exploring the many National Parks the US offers.
Gail McCullagh
Adventure Manager
Gail’s adventurous spirit took hold when she shouldered her first backpack at the age of 8. Raised on Cape Cod, summer vacations with her family meant getting as far away from tourist-packed beaches as possible and embarking on ever-more remote backpacking trips – eventually even to the wilds of Alaska. Gail learned at an early age that exploring nature and pushing comfort zones strengthens bonds and solidifies relationships. For years she instructed experiential outdoor leadership workshops for adults and worked with at-risk urban youth introducing many of them to hiking and camping for the first time. Some of Gail’s most enduring friendships are the crew of women who surrounded her in her 20s and shared her passion for the outdoors. Studying abroad and exploring Europe by rail sparked a love for travel, but the real introduction to global adventure came when Gail moved overseas to work in international development. Fly fishing in Mongolia, hiking around mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan, and skiing in the mountains of Kosovo, she loved living and working around the globe. Gail now resides in Cambridge, still braves the tourists on Cape Cod, and is so lucky to work with fellow adventurers at AdventureWomen!
Jennifer Jeffrey
Adventure Manager
Jennifer’s curiosity and excitement to explore the world and experience diverse cultures dates back as long as she can remember. Jennifer has made it a lifelong practice to say ‘Yes’ to every opportunity that came her way which would push her beyond the comfort of the familiar, and broaden her scope of understanding through travel – from participating in a French exchange program in high school, to exploring Europe by rail with friends in her 20s, to traveling solo for a month throughout East Africa in her 30s. Having visited 17 countries and stepped foot on four continents, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the place that captures Jennifer’s heart like no other. Jennifer believes deeply that travel, and the human connections made along the way, change a person in ways that ripple out when they return home, so person-by-person, we can create a more connected, compassionate, inclusive world. Jennifer is delighted to be able to support women adventurers on their own journeys of growth and evolution.
Cara Ferragamo Murray
Digital Marketing Director
Active travel has always been a part of Cara’s life. Some of her favorite experiences have been biking through the Dordogne region of France, hiking in the rainforest of St. Lucia, and kayaking through the waterways of Cape Cod. As a seasoned marketer with over 25 years of experience, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to spread the word about AdventureWomen so that even more women can experience the delights of transformational travel and cultural enrichment. Before joining AdventureWomen, Cara worked in leadership development, online education, and providing access to workforce skills to underserved populations and young adults. She is a founding member of Impact Global Education and Winterline Global Education, and helped relaunch Thinking Beyond Borders and Cross-Cultural Solutions.
Elly Reid
Senior Marketing Coordinator
Raised at the intersection of oceans, lakes, and mountains, Elly’s love for adventure and the outdoors began at a young age hiking, skiing, and sailing around Seattle, Washington. While attending Gonzaga University, she was fortunate to spend a semester in Florence, Italy. This pivotal experience sparked a passion for international travel, enhanced by friendships formed while hiking in Cinque Terre, skiing in the Dolomites, and biking through the hills of Siena. She then pursued solo travel in Israel, where she lived in Jerusalem for a summer in a women’s learning program. Elly formed genuine connections with the local community, bolstering her understanding of a place with such a deep history. Elly is thrilled to leverage her expertise to empower women in connecting with local cultures and surroundings. As she settles into the East Coast, she continues to enjoy hiking, skiing, and boating, while embracing new experiences.
Mona Kelly
Director of Product Development
Mona Kelly is a dynamic professional with a proven track record in operations management across diverse industries. With an international background and a penchant for exploration, Mona’s journey has taken her to 24 countries and led her to reside on 3 continents and in 6 different countries. Originally from France, Mona’s upbringing was shaped by the rich cultures of Morocco, Burkina Faso, and her home country. Since settling in the Boston area in 2010, she has embraced life as a soccer mom, sharing her passion for the sport with her son. A true testament to her adventurous spirit, Mona’s son has even dared her to step outside her comfort zone by embarking on a bungee jumping challenge. Her role as an Operations Manager at AdventureWomen perfectly aligns with her love for adventure and her desire to empower and inspire others to explore the world around them.
Emma Smyth
Operations Associate
Emma started traveling at a young age, spending time in Mexico and Ireland visiting family. She took her first big trip at 17, spending a summer living with a family in northern Spain. Over the years, her passion for travel has only grown stronger, fueled by a deep appreciation for new cultures, meaningful connections and unforgettable experiences. Her most recent adventures include watching a Shakespeare production in London, hiking in Greece, and whale watching in Mexico. She is especially passionate about helping fellow adventurous women step outside their comfort zones and experience the joy of exploring the world. With a thoughtful, detail-oriented approach, she is dedicated to crafting trips that are not only seamless and well-organized, but also enriching, empowering and truly unforgettable.
