Growing up in a Navy family, Valerie lived in a different state every year of her life from Alaska to Hawaii, from east coast to west. The love of travel and experiencing new and interesting places was simply a way of life in her family.

While attending Georgia State University in Atlanta, Valerie happened upon a rare opportunity to join the crew of a small charter airline that was then owned by the Atlanta Travel Club. When the plane was not chartered, the crew traveled with the travel club members all over Europe, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The charter flights often led to even more fascinating adventures, from returning members of the Royal Family back to Saudi Arabia to reuniting Portuguese families in the Azores.

Deciding it was time to settle down to a more routine schedule, Valerie spent the next ten years on the ground working for Swissair and British Airways in Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Taking full advantage of her travel benefits with the airlines, Valerie and her husband Michael spent their free time traveling to the most beautiful places in the world to pursue their passions of backpacking, hiking, skiing and bicycling. It was during these travels that they fell in love with Colorado, the ideal spot for all of these activities.

Valerie joined the air department at Natural Habitat Adventures in 1998. It has been the perfect fit, combining her airline experience with her love of nature and travel.