Carrie
Carrie grew up in Iowa and then Ohio as a shy band geek/theater nerd. While attending Hofstra University in New York, her love for film and interest in world cultures blossomed simultaneously. At Hofstra she wrote/directed/edited/screwed around on several student films and interned at Jigsaw Productions for Oscar-winning documentary director Alex Gibney. In 2007 she traveled to Kenya to volunteer at an orphanage for the summer and later made the documentary Mzungu about her experience. After graduating in 2008 with a BA in Film Studies and Production, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. During her Peace Corps stint she learned to speak Swahili, plant permaculture gardens, endure long and torturous bus rides, go nine days without bathing, and enjoy warm beer. She expects that all these skills will come in handy in South America (except Swahili). Her wide range of interests include reading, couchsurfing, Broadway, cooking and baking, snowboarding, music, microbrews, hiking, photography, chocolate, and ice cream. A few of her student films can be found here.
Zach
Zach grew up in a small country town in northwest Ohio. As a child he enjoyed music and studied piano privately from the age of 6. During his early teens, Zach traveled through mid-west America and Ontario playing hockey. After graduating from high school, Zach moved to Columbus and attended The Ohio State University studying aerospace engineering. At the beginning of 2009 Carrie and Zach crossed paths for the first time and the two hit it off instantly, but Carrie was already headed to Africa so their time together was short. At this point, Zach also need to escape the city so he left to live near the wild in northern Arizona. He spent much of his time reading and relaxing away from the hustle of the city. When Carrie returned from Africa, Zach returned to Ohio to meet up with her and the two left from there to California and spent the rest of the summer traveling the United States. After a trip through the east coast and couchsurfing through eastern Canada, the two eventually moved to Arizona to spend the next year working, saving money, and learning Spanish for what is the be one of their many adventures together.
Melissa
