Birgit Aikman

Birgit grew up in Germany and initially studied English, French and Spanish. Her interest in people and culture led her to travel extensively in Europe and Asia. Now she has seen most Continents and Oceania and still follows her passion - people's cultures. Anthropology, her studied field gives her a thorough understanding of subtle differences in people’s beliefs, way of life and cultural traditions. She volunteered in a building project in Sri Lanka to give back to the people she lived with and learnt from.

For over 25 years she has worked in the tourism industry, specializing in ships and cultural study tours in her field. During that time, Birgit has led well over 100 study tours through Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the Pacific realm.  Apart from anthropology, she loves natural science, especially flora and fauna, as well as history, contemporary subjects and more. You can often find her investigating plants, animals, or new cultures. In her spare time, she regularly takes off on excursions on her bike to explore new places. Hiking through forests and up (small) mountains, Yoga and a love for the Australian Outback are her passions. Birgit enjoys people, especially friendly ones and looks forward to welcome everyone. She still lives in Auckland in her chosen home country New Zealand.