About Us

Ben Harney is the youngest of his family, made up of four Moms and a Dad. His awesome three older sisters are the best examples, and his parents are the most supportive people he knows. Born and raised in Rochester, MN Ben spent his youth joining as many sports as possible and enjoying the woods behind his house.

Ben is on course to graduate this May as a Management major with Math and Environmental Studies minors. He’s the president of PALS (a big brother/sister organization that pairs up with local youth), the VP of Finance for Believing and Achieving (an afterschool youth mentoring program), involved with the Frisbee team, and several intramural sports. In his spare time, Ben likes to explore the local trails by hiking and riding his mountain bike.

Because his sisters studied abroad, Ben has been fortunate enough to visit and fall in love with Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru. He has dreamed of creating his own journey in South America and is extremely excited to experience as many sights and cultures as possible.

Aside from his worldly travels, the highlight of Ben's summers (since college) has been his backpacking adventures in Colorado. He feels excited to continue adventuring on this trip and hopes to embrace the thrill of the outdoors, maintain his passion for giving back to every community he’s a part of, and return with a more complete view of the world. With his Management major and financial knowledge, Ben is a big asset for planning the trip expenditures and revenues. In addition, his travel experience should help the group know what to expect in several South American regions.

Kai Ashland was born and raised in the beautiful, small, western Wisconsin town of Ettrick Wi. His parents, John and Sarah Ashland still reside there along with the love his life, yellow lab, Annie. The family member farthest away, older sister Kaari, is a teacher in none other than Ashland Wisconsin.

From a young age on, traveling has been instilled into Kai as an essential part of life. Growing up, his family would load up the caravan with enough food and gear for a few weeks and would head west with no other goal than to see the Pacific. These trips, alongside multiple trips into the Boundary Waters, have made Kai feel at home on the go.  Since high school he has been to Australia with his Father and London England with a Luther College class.

Kai attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he studied English and History. Being heavily involved with the school’s rugby team challenged and satisfied his thirst for excitement while also allowing him to meet Jonathan and Ben! More pertinent to the trip was Kai's involvement with Luther College's Habitat for Humanity which kept Kai busy in school, as well as the community of Decorah. Through the HfH trips, he was able to travel to San Antonio Texas, Santa Fe, New Mexico and hopefully Colombia, South Carolina this spring!

Outside of college, Kai has spent several summers as a camp counselor at Luther Park Bible Camp and most recently a summer in Pilot Point Alaska as a commercial salmon fisherman. Spending summers at bible camp taught Kai the value of tight-knit community, the power of positive thinking, selfless giving and the contagious freedom of outdoor play. He is passionate about the outdoors and sharing that love with others.

Coming along on this trip means the opportunity to explore the world and to satisfy a life long curiosity for adventure. Coupling the skills learned as a traveler, camper, student leader, counselor and volunteer, will all play a major role throughout this journey and the rest of his life, where ever that trail will lead!

             

Jonathan Williams, is from Iowa City, Iowa. He has an older sister that teaches English in China, and supportive parents, both of which work as lead pastors for Methodist churches. He is completing his senior year at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he is receiving a major in Environmental Science accompanied by a minor in Biology. Jonathan’s time in Decorah was spent exploring hiking and biking trails, discovering caves, tubing the Upper-Iowa River, playing rugby, visiting the Sugar Bowl,  and taking classes in a field of study he is extremely passionate about.

As much as Jonathan enjoys the Midwest, he has spent his past two summers in Colorado, working as a white water rafting guide, on the Arkansas River, for American Adventure Expeditions. Taking multiple trips a day on class three-four whitewater has added up to over a thousand miles on water. He learned how to better interact with people in stressful situations and create teamwork amongst his paddle-rafting crews. Beyond enhancing interpersonal skills, rafting opened his eyes to adventure based experience and education. Rafting contributed a skillset to Jonathan’s already established outdoor experience.

During the spring of his junior year at Luther, he chose to study abroad in India for a semester through the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLs). Jonathan, his 10 classmates, and two instructors spent 43 days back-packing the Himalayas, 10 days rafting on the Kali River, and additionally, 10 days of homestay in a small village. Each of these sections was interspersed with classwork on cultural studies, ecology, environmental science, and the NOLs leadership curriculum.  He also received a wilderness first responder certificate through NOLs, upgrading his urban Emergency Medical Technician certification to a Wilderness EMT.

Jonathan brings passion and the experience of travel in remote wilderness, and urban settings. He knows what it feels like to be months into training and stay determined with an ability to motivate those around him, and most importantly, motivate himself. Furthermore, Jonathan wants to satisfy a worldly curiosity for culture and beauty, and has discovered some of life’s best moments occur when physical discomfort and mental fatigue are their greatest. Be it cooking beneath a tarp after seven days of rain and hail on a backpacking trip, or playing cards outside a tea shop in India with fingers so cold they can barely move, he manages to stay positive. It is certain Jonathan contributes much to the expedition that will contribute to its success.