Charlotte aims high

Charlotte started at Wilderness Expertise in October 2016 as an Assistant Expedition Manager.

I joined the company at a point in the expedition cycle that involves doing a lot of work on the itineraries and I’ve really enjoyed doing in-depth research into the countries our teams are visiting to find out more about the culture, history, sights and activities available. It’s my job to know all the nitty-gritty details of what it will be like for the team when they visit to help guide and facilitate the best experience possible, and it’s been really rewarding to develop the itineraries and see them come to life.

As the expedition departures draw near, I’m already looking forward to meeting the teams at the airport on their return, to find out what they learnt, what they most enjoyed, and what they will take from the expedition into their future endeavours.

I’ve previously worked in a variety of events and logistics positions across the education and charity sector, and this experience has definitely come in useful in my role at WE as there are a lot of tasks to manage simultaneously. It’s been an exciting few months and the team in the office, as well as our freelance Leaders based across the country, have been really supportive in helping me find my feet.

Alongside my office skills and experiences, personal experience of travel and expeditions was significant in my choice to join Wilderness Expertise. I’m a great believer in the power of expeditions in personal development, having experienced this first hand when travelling and volunteering in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011. Since then I’ve continued to push myself in new directions, most recently these have had a physical focus and include Stand Up Paddleboarding across Scotland and climbing Kilimanjaro. I’m now training to go from novice sailor to ocean-racer to take part in a leg of the Clipper Round the World Sailing Race – a steep learning curve! I’m eager to discover new strengths – and weaknesses – that this experience will no doubt uncover in me, and I hope the students taking part in our expeditions will feel the same excitement about their trips.