Carol Keskitalo, Co-owner Breakaway Adventures
Carol Keskitalo, co-owner of Breakaway Adventures, has been exploring the world since she was a child. With a parent in the military, Carol lived in Spain, the Philippines and the U.S. and traveled to many countries, growing up with an interest and attraction to the beauty of different cultures.
Carol attended the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor's degree in medical technology also holds an MBA from Averett College in Virginia. After 20 years of working in sales and marketing in the medical diagnostic/biotech industry, Carol decided to pursue her dream of becoming an entrepreneur as co-owner of Breakaway Adventures, a company her husband, Michael Carson, had started several years earlier. An avid biker and fan of adventure travel, it was the perfect fit.
Carol brings a wealth of knowledge regarding sales and marketing from her previous jobs to the company and has helped Breakaway Adventures successfully grow and expand into self-guided and independent adventure travel. She focuses largely on marketing the company, as well as customer service, one of the company's strong points. Breakaway Adventures has been known to do everything from arranging a yoga class on a barging vacation to securing soccer tickets to the World Cup for its customers.
Carol is the mother of four and lives with her husband and two young sons in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
| Michael Carson, Co-owner Breakaway Adventures
A native of Montreal Quebec, Canada, Michael Carson has been backpacking the world since he was 18. After graduating from the University of Ottawa with a bachelor's degree in political science, Michael was truly able to indulge his passion for travel combined with his love of hiking and cycling. Not only did he backpack and hike through southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe, he spent three years living and working in Hong Kong and one year in Israel where he worked on a Kibbutz.
In 1987, Michael opened Breakaway Adventures to give people a more authentic and intimate look at the countries they visited, an experience he had enjoyed during his travels. Initially, the company specialized in longer-stay trekking and hiking trips in India and Nepal. In 1997, however, when he married his wife, Carol Keskitalo, and the two expanded the company to the United States. They eventually added cycling, walking and barging tours through some 30 countries throughout the world, growing the business into the success it is today.
While Michael assists in all aspects of running the company, he focuses on the development and selection of tours. The couple regularly travel to Europe to check out new programs, test routes, sample cuisine and review accommodations to make sure each and every tour offered to their customers meets their expectations. Michael also manages the technology side of the business, including the company's Web presence and Internet marketing.
The father of young twin boys, Michael is looking forward to taking them on their first hiking trip to Nepal. He and his family live in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
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In addition to walking tours, browse related adventure travel and active vacations such as archaeological tours, cultural tours, educational travel, martial arts camps, photography tours, and wine tours.
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