Elise, Carla, Paul and Peter

Travel is the best way to get to know somebody. That and working in the same office for a while. I got to know four great people over the past ten days as we traveled up and down Chile on a press trip.

Carla Waldemar is a name I knew from my days back at Transitions Abroad. She is a seasoned travel writer, she has a wonderfully keen sense of humor and is very well read and adapts to whatever situation is before her. She runs seven miles every day, and appears to have a hollow leg where she puts the food that she is always in the mood for.

Elise Rana is the travel editor for TNT in London, and is a 29-year-old dynamo. She has the quick wit of a modern Brit, has been to just about every country we can think of, and loves horror movies.

Paul Shoul is a big fish in a small pond, Northampton, MA is his bailiwick. He is a pro shooter with a booming laugh, and he made us all crack up with his famous stories and sense of adventure and the absurd.

Peter Heller is a writer and adventurer who I got to know again, after a 25 year absense. With his walking sticks, pipe and cowboy hat, he cuts a dapper figure. He listens with an intensity that is engaging, and you can tell he loves his life.