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| AFC Tour Managers |
| Our tour managers and the upcoming tours they will be traveling with you on! |
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| Janet Arnold |
 Janet has been a tour director since 1999. She started her career as a local tour guide in San Diego, California. After becoming certified as an International Tour Manager, she began to lead tours throughout the U.S. and Canada. She has taken tour groups on trips through New England, the eastern seaboard, the National Parks of the western U.S., Copper Canyon, and on cruises in Alaska and through the Panama Canal. In the spring she is busy with student history tours in Los Angeles and San Diego counties and California.
Janet has completed coursework in Environmental Biology with an emphasis on the San Diego region. She also completed a course on current issues in environmental biology, focusing on global issues. This coursework has served her well as a tour guide in San Diego and the U.S.
Janet grew up in Delaware (the second smallest state in the nation). In a former life she was a registered nurse, specializing in children and premature infants. She spent most of her career as a traveling nurse, living in many places in the United States. Currently she resides with her husband Jim, in Santee, a small town outside of San Diego.
When Janet is not leading tours she is often off exploring on her own. She loves to travel and learn. Janet is a hiker, road biker and walker and has a great love for the outdoors. She and her husband built two 16 foot expedition kayaks. When they have time they can be found exploring the waterways of CA.
Janet has been folk dancing for over 30 years. She even taught period dance for seven years. Janet is also a water color artist. She has had several pieces of her artwork in gallery shows and has sold a few of her paintings. Art is very important in her life.
Janet is very people oriented. As a tour manager, she strives to make each tour special and unique for the guests traveling with her. She is flexible and creative and can find solutions to any unexpected change of plans that can happen on a trip.
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| Leslie Best |
 Leslie is a native of the Pacific Northwest and loves to travel. As she jokes, “I come by it naturally. Growing up, my family would pile in the car and happily go around the block if it meant we could ‘go’. We just had to see what was over the next hill.”
Now as an adult, Leslie is grateful for the travel opportunities 17 years as a Tour Manager have given her. Some of her favorite locations are Morocco for its ancient and exotic vibe, France for its culture of beauty, the cozy and quaint Martha’s Vineyard, any place with beaches and palm trees, and her own glorious, diverse home state of Washington.
When Leslie is not traveling she teaches school, paints in oils, hangs out with her delightful husband at their lake place, and attends to their very demanding cat.
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| Don Hartigan |
 I was born and raised in Chicago, where I return frequently to visit family or lead AFC's popular Week in Chicago tour. After graduating from Loyola University and attending the University of Chicago, I began a career as a community organizer and official of city government in Chicago. Then after spending six months traveling in 11 of the 13 South American countries, I moved to California. First living in Northern California for five years and then moving to San Diego, where I have happily lived in Pacific Beach for 29 years. After spending almost 20 years as supervisor or manager of several branches of state government, I attended the prestigious International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) and became certified as a tour manager in 1999. My approach to tour managing is that I believe every good tour has a theme and that people travel to learn as well as have a good time. Therefore, I aim to inform my passengers as well as make certain they have a jolly good time while I am doing it. Fun, food, information and a good hotel, as well as feeling secure and cared for, are the elements of a good travel experience. Come join me.
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| Chris McCool |
 Chris McCool has had the privilege over the past 35 years to lead tours to 105 countries and to all 50 states. He states, “I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the places I want to visit, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.” His AFC family of friends continues to grow each year as he shares the excitement and beauty of numerous AFC destinations with you. Chris leads AFC tours both domestically and abroad, and takes you to places that are off the beaten track, as well as well-known destinations. Come with Chris on an AFC tour and you’ll experience far more than the brochure promises. Chris has a BA in History, as well as a Masters in Education. If you love to learn, laugh and let the child that lives inside of you come out to play, take an AFC tour with Chris.
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| Steve Nakamoto |
 I was born and raised in Lynwood, CA. When I was 11, my family moved to Palos Verdes where I became an all-league high school basketball player. I went to college at San Diego State where I played on the basketball team and graduated with a degree in finance.
After college, I moved to Whittier in order to expand my family’s retail flower business. After selling the family business in 1990, I become a Dale Carnegie Instructor where I taught human relations and effective public speaking.
After becoming a certified tour director, I did my first tour with AFC to Branson in 1994. Over the past 16 years I’ve especially enjoyed my trips to New England, Savannah-Charleston, Chicago, Washington, New York, and the Canadian Rockies.
When I’m not touring, I surf, play beach volleyball, and promote the 3 award-winning books that I’ve written about relationships. I live in Huntington Beach - single with no children.
My success as a tour director can be traced to my 90 year-old Dad who always told me, “Treat everyone well.”
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| Gail Richards |
 I am Australian born, living overseas on a number of occasions, but always returning home. I have been in the Travel Industry as a Tour Director for 25 years, travelling the world showing visitors exciting and interesting sites. My interests are sport, theatre, hiking, surfing, outdoor activities, music and meeting people.
My role as a Tour Director is to plan an exciting, fun filled, informative and relaxed vacations. It gives me the opportunity to fulfill the dreams, hopes and expectations of travellers. I love to travel and enjoy sharing knowledge and lots of “local tips” and seeing the smiles, enthusiasm and sense of adventure shown by visitors who undertake some new activities that they would not have previously considered.
At present I am enjoying showing visitors the diverse beauty of Australia with its unique wildlife. The friendly “open” lifestyle of the Australian people gives the visitors who travel “Down Under” a very relaxed and comfortable ambiance, making this a wonderful destination to visit.
My greatest satisfaction is to see visitors have a lifetime experience. Look forward to meeting you.
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| Sheryl Russell |
 Born to a farming family in Kansas, she left, just like Dorothy, when the first opportunity presented itself following graduation from the University of Kansas with a Secondary Education Degree in Theatre and English Literature.
After two decades of professional work in retail and communications systems marketing and living in Dallas, New York City and the California Bay area, she “came home again” in a sense, moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico. There she found a cultural diversity, architectural style and historic richness that supported the next 20 years of tour directing work throughout the West.
Now working in most of the 48 states and Western Canada, Sheryl also supports non-profit organizations involved in resource and wildlife conservation and the preservation of rural family life and economic viability of farms and ranches in the West. Saving the earth is a big job and Sheryl firmly believes that there is a contribution each of us can make. So, while on tour with Sheryl look for the recycle bins!
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| Carol Walker |
 Carol Walker is our AFC Canadian tour director who loves the Canadian Rockies and the Far East (Eastern Canada, that is!). Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Carol learned enjoyed many family outings in the Mountains, before branching out and travelling to six continents and over 45 different countries. Travel is definitely a passion!
After graduating with a BA from the University of Calgary, Carol worked in both the Federal and Civic governments as well as the training industry. She taught communication courses across the whole of Canada and learned to love both the West and the East.
She has guided many of our AFC tours thru her own “backyard” and has been our tour director for Eastern Canada tours for the last 5 years.
Her boundless enthusiasm, caring nature, attention to detail and a genuine desire to provide her American passengers with a true Canadian experience have made her a popular tour director.
Carol is looking forward to sharing her love of Canada and her passion for Canadian history, geology, cuisine, language and culture with you as you enjoy your next vacation with AFC in Canada!
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| Anthony Wright |
 My family moved to the Bay Area from New Jersey in 1972. My mother, a magazine editor, had been hired by Billie Jean King to start “WomenSports” magazine, based in Palo Alto, CA. My father was assigned the duty of packing up the house in New Jersey, loading up the car and driving my brother, my Grandfather and me on a 7-day trip across the country to our new home in California. From my first sight of the Rocky Mountains to the wide open prairie of the Mid-West, from the barren desert landscape of the Southwest to the small towns and people we met along the way, from these moments I caught the travel bug.
We lived in the town of Belmont through my High School and Junior College years. I was accepted into San Diego State University in 1984 and studied Geologic Sciences and English Literature. I fell in love with San Diego and I committed myself to settling down in this area.
During my college years I began working as a Steward with Hornblower Party Yachts. I began to move up the ranks as my experience grew and career opportunities with Hornblower opened up. When I qualified, I took and passed the Coast Guard exam and became a Captain in 1990. I ran dinner cruise boats in San Diego Harbor and in Newport Harbor for about the next 10 years. On a particularly beautiful evening in 1992, I met the woman who would later become my wife when Denise Poirier brought her corporate group aboard the M/V Renown for a dinner cruise. As I had to operate the boat, I was a captive audience for Denise and we didn’t stop talking all night long. Today, after our 17 years of love and marriage, she still makes my life complete.
I transitioned into the travel industry first, by a two year internship as an Operations Manager at a local Destination Management Company, “The Meeting Manager” and then, by leading tours for AFC tours. My first tour in 1994 was a local one, “A Victorian Christmas at the Hotel Del Coronado”. I remember Denise coaching me and giving me some good Tour Manager tips. We had a full bus and a pretty tight itinerary, but the group had a ball and so did I. With AFC Tours, I have since traveled extensively throughout the US and Canada and have enjoyed the many challenges and rewards of the tour industry.
More recently, I have been primarily involved in corporate travel directing. The corporate market involves many different types of travel programs, from small, intimate groups of 40 or less to large conventions, some as large as 5000 people. From posh incentive trips in exotic destinations for top salespeople to training seminars for new hires. Sales meetings, new product launches, internal strategy meetings and trade shows are some of the different reasons that corporate groups gather. I enjoy the diversity of program types and the inherent challenges associated with each. Every project is unique and I get a fascinating look into the make-up of cutting edge, industry leading companies and their corporate cultures.
Denise and I now live in Hemet, CA and my hobbies include riding my 1986 Suzuki Cavalcade GV1400 touring bike on day trips through the Cuyamaca, San Jacks and San Bernardino mountain ranges. I love to spend the day with my wife at the beach flying a kite, riding bikes and reading a good book. I am a fanatical cook and luckily Denise and I share some very eclectic tastes. We love to experiment with different recipes when we’re home and enjoy having Denise’s mother, Ramona, over for dinner.
Since that first trip across country, the travel bug and I have become good friends. I cherish the memories of trips past and look forward to the challenges and adventure of future expeditions.
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| Denise Wright |
 I was born in the state of Connecticut with a true sense of adventure. I was, by most accounts, a somewhat wild and mischievous young girl. My mother still tells stories of my exploits, mostly about climbing trees too tall and getting into trouble with the boys in the neighborhood. Nothing serious or harmful, but I always liked to have fun.
Our family moved to Riverside, California in the 1960’s and I spent my summers at Dana Point, surfing with friends and enjoying the beach scene. I attended Fullerton College before marrying my first husband, a Naval Aviator, in 1967. We traveled around the country from base to base, from Florida to Texas and back to California. My two boys, Paul and Christian were born during this time and are now fine young men with families of their own.
Attending the International Travel Management Institute (ITMI) in 1983 opened up my career in the Tour Industry. I became a freelance Tour Manager and began traveling around the world. One of my first clients was AFC Tours, which Randy and Chris had started only a few years before. Today, twenty five years later, I can proudly say that I am the most seasoned TM at AFC Tours.
The journey has been educational, inspirational, humorous at times and always rewarding. It has taken me to the corners of the globe. Through my work in the corporate travel industry, I’ve been able to attend some wonderful events such as the Olympics, The Superbowl and the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and stay in some elegant properties.
My husband of 17 years, Anthony Wright, is also involved in the travel industry working primarily as a freelance Corporate Travel Director, but also as a Tour Manager with AFC. Our lives have been enriched by the travels that we have shared together. Many times over the years on these trips we have post-extended to spend time on our own exploring a new country, city or region.
But what I can never get enough of is touring the good old USA. I’ve been blessed to have escorted almost all of the tours Randy offers and it has given me a greater appreciation of the scope and beauty of this great country.
Anthony and I divide our time between our home in Hemet and a small flat in San Diego. We moved to Hemet from Julian 5 years ago to be closer to my aging parents. Now, my free time is spent caring for my 84 year old mother “Ramona” and her small dog, “Muffin”, spending time in the kitchen with my husband (who loves to cook) and taking long walks on the beach and bike rides through Balboa Park.
Life is good. My thirst for knowledge of this diverse land will never cease. In the years ahead, I plan to continue laughing, learning and enjoying all the adventures in travel to come.
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| Gary Carter |
 25 years of travel experience. Has worked for Maupintour for years. Gary knows how to make things happen and brings so many talents to the table as a tour manager. Lives in Lawrence, KS.
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| Lisa Pickel |
 12 years of travel experience. Lisa thrives on challenges and has a delightful sense of humor and positive attitude. She specializes in any of our California tour programs. Lives in San Diego.
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