Local guide leads adventure travel Of Global Interest customizes international trips
Ann Arbor News
Thursday, August 09, 2007
BY PETE BIGELOW
News Sports Writer

The view from atop the Khumbu Glacier was spectacular. The sleep atop it was far less memorable.

"You could hear the ice cracking and moving all night,'' said Ann Arbor resident Heather O'Neal, recalling a recent night at the base camp of Mount Everest. "It was kind of miserable, actually.''

But she has no regrets about the experience. In fact, she'll return soon.

O'Neal runs Of Global Interest, an Ann Arbor-based adventure travel company. She has taken clients to locations as varied as Spain, Peru and Hungary. But her specialty is Nepal.

On a trip this summer, she guided six clients to base camp. The group shared a dining tent with a film crew documenting a Himalayan rescue clinic, mingled with climbers descending from the Everest summit and trekked around the Khumbu Glacier, near the start of the Everest hike.

"The trek to get there is rocky and hard,'' she said. "But as you get up on the glacier, it's like walking through a museum of ice sculptures.''

O'Neal, who started her business seven years ago, does not restrict her expeditions to Everest junkies. Although most of her clients are active, the itinerary and pace of the trips are entirely up to them.

Rather than offer a predetermined schedule, she customizes her trips based on their wishes. It's the opposite approach of most tour companies. But it helps Of Global Interest serve international travelers who want something beyond a rote tour from the window of a bus.

"We get on the trail and learn what makes Nepal tick,'' O'Neal said. "We meet the people and understand their lives, and have a meaningful experience.''

She keeps the sizes of her groups small - six or less. The small number helps attract independent-minded travelers, albeit ones who feel a little uneasy traveling in foreign places alone.

It also helps deliver the authentic experience her clients desire - a true interaction with another culture.

"There's something important to seeing and experiencing that,'' O'Neal said. "Here in America, we are so privileged. We tend to think the whole world lives like this. Actually, this is not normal, and it's important to really see how other people live.''

Pete Bigelow can be reached at pbigelow@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6817.

Upcoming Nepal trips

Here is information on two trips in 2008 to Nepal with Of Global Interest that have room for more travelers:

# April 1-21. Includes a hike to the top of Kalapathar for views of Mount Everest and other peaks, and sightseeing in Thailand.

# April 26-May 17. Includes a trip to the Khumbu Glacier and a possible stop at the Taj Mahal in India.

# Other dates are available upon request.