Tonya is a member of Nat Hab's Adventure Concierge team. She grew up in the Denver area and developed a love for travel early on, a perk of being an only child tagging along on travels with Mom and Dad. Tonya attended the University of Colorado Boulder. Her love of travel was ignited even more during college when she spent 100 days sailing around the world with the Semester at Sea academic program. While sailing between destinations, she learned about each country’s culture, history, government, religion and traditions. Engaging with people from South America, Africa, India, and Asia expanded Tonya's perspective to recognize that while people may look, dress and speak differently, meaningful connections can be made through something as simple as a smile. If travel is Tonya’s first love, animals are a close second. During her  travels, Tonya seeks out opportunities to observe animals in their natural habitat. Memorable experiences include sitting beside penguins at Boulders Beach in South Africa, a Japanese macaque pulling her hair at Japan’s Watayama Monkey Park, and night snorkeling with graceful giant manta rays in Hawaii.