Catherine Faris is from California, where she spent most of her professional life as a senior administrator at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is married to Brian Faris, a designer, general contractor, and avid cyclist. They have three adult children who live and work in California (two in management positions with international companies).

Jacqueline Cofield is a multidisciplinary arts consultant, cultural entrepreneur, educator, and filmmaker with 20+ years international exposure. Cofield has traveled to nearly 50 countries, resided in seven, and is trilingual. She earned Masters degrees from both the University of Southern California and The City College of New York, and a bachelor's from NYU's Tisch School of the Art.

The word “tourist” has gained such a negative connotation that many phrases and alternatives are now widely used, such as world traveler and nomad. I like the word visitor because it implies that both the visited and the visitor have already established an understanding of mutual exchange.

I waited years to actually set foot in South Africa. An army of elephants couldn’t stifle my excitement when we touched down in Capetown and it was finally real. We had reached the land of penguins, Robben Island, Table Mountain, and endless adventure, and I was giddy with a child’s delight.