mike maxwell *.

Hi, I am Mike Maxwell. I designed the Greek Argosy tour, and I will be your tour leader in Greece.

Probably I'm a lot like you. One of my biggest pleasures in life comes from traveling to places that take me out of my ordinary existence and cause me to look at the world in a different way. These might be places of great natural beauty like the inner gorge of the Grand Canyon. Or they might be places where one can gain a deep feeling for the past like the battlefield at Gettysburg. Sometimes they are places where a person can become immersed in a fascinating and even disorienting culture like the Djamaa El Fna Square in Marrikech with its busy souks, snake charmers, and acrobats. These places enlarge and change us - for the better I think.

Often when I experience wonderful places like this, I have a compelling urge to share them with others: family, friends, and people I haven't met who are motivated like me to seek out great travel experiences. This urge to share the interesting and the enlightening may explain why I gravitated to work in journalism and education and why I have led groups of travelers on backpacking trips in the Grand Canyon, on wilderness canoe voyages in Utah, and on tours of Europe.

While I cherish my time in every country I've had the good fortune to visit, Greece is my favorite foreign destination because it has it all: .surpassing beauty, deep history, and a charming contemporary culture. When I'm in Greece, I feel as though I have come home in a sense - back to the source of our Western heritage that emerged from vague stirrings in the mythical past to give birth to our literature, our entertainment, our artistic sensibility, and even our form of government.

Now I am inviting others to visit some of the places I love best in Greece. Because I designed the itinerary and many of the informational resources for the Greek Argosy tour, no other tour is like this one. I'm leaving most of the logistical arrangements to ACIS because I know from first-hand experience that nobody is better at managing foreign educational travel. If you look forward to gaining new experiences, and maybe possess a little sense of adventure, I hope you will join us.

Contact Mike:
Email: contactsf@studentsfriend.com ....Phone: 970-739-8201.

*The hat
When an old and trusted friend saw this web page, he noted the prominence of my "travel" hat and asked, "What do you think that says about you?" I didn't know, but maybe something like, "My head gets cold or sunburned easily because I have no hair." I take this hat traveling with me because it can be mashed flat in my day pack, pulled out when needed, and still look reasonably presentable - a feat none of my other hats can accomplish. Now that I have given the matter more thought, I must admit this hat also makes me look carlessly jaunty and devastatingly handsome. (More travelers wearing the hat: click here.)

-Why is this tour called Greek Argosy?

-Journal entry: Thoughts aboard a ferry departing Piraeus, Greece

-Below are photos of some other travels with Mike

Mike, at upper right, led this group of students and parents to Greece in May 2001.

Mike with a group of hikers after finishing a rim-to-rim backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon in June 2007

Night approaches on a canoe trip to Utah's Green River organized by Mike in August 2009. Note the name of the canoe.