Alaska Guide Eric Keely

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Guide: Eric Keely
Short Bio: Eric grew up in western Pennsylvania along the Allegheny River and Mountains. A majority of his childhood was spent outdoors from boating/canoeing trips with the family to mountain biking with friends all around his hometown of Oil City.

After graduation from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Eric followed his heart and passion to live at the beach and located himself on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There he worked in the radio business and service industry but always found time to take in what the area had to offer. He greatly enjoyed camping, biking and kayaking with friends. With great scenery and clean ocean air, Eric built up a love for running, completing his first two marathons in ’07 and ’08. It was also the place where he met his life-mate Nikki Lindsay (now Nikki Keely) as they both share a similar sense of humor and an enthusiasm for music, sports, traveling and the outdoors. They have proven to work wonderfully together and are very excited to have the opportunity to take our guests on wonderful adventures.

Trips Guided by Eric:

Eric's Guide Survey:

What’s your favorite vacation destination?
San Francisco. Great music, the 49ers, awesome redwood forests. Very close to Monterey and Carmel. B-e-a-utiful.

What’s your favorite hike?
Muir Woods. (the Badlands of South Dakota are a close 2nd)

What’s your favorite bike ride?
Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. Great beaches and a neat little town. Also Girdwood to Birdpoint - awesome views, lots of wildlife (eagles, salmon run, maybe a bear or moose) and you may catch the bore tide. Not to mention I get to sing my version of "Surfin Bird" to our clients: "Everybody's biked...the Gird to Bird...G-G-G-Gird, Gird, Gird....Gird to Bird"

What’s your favorite trip to guide?
The Kenai Fjords Tour in Alaska. Abundant wildlife, magnificent shoreline views and there is nothing like watching a calving glacier. It will take your breath away.

Why?
It is always changing, very abundant wildlife and is absolutely breathtaking regardless of the weather.

What is your favorite historical site, castle or museum?

Golden Gate Bridge. Take a walk across it and you get to see how huge this thing really is. Great view of the bay area.

What do you do that makes a guest’s vacation special?
Make them feel “at ease” and that they are in good hands. Also, I like to connect with my guests so that I’m not just your guide. A great sense of humor can go a long way.

Favorite Movie: Transformers

Favorite Book: The Secret; If everybody knew and used the power of positive thinking this world would be a better place.

Favorite Song: Can’t narrow that down. I LOVE all sorts of music. A top 100 list would still be extremely hard for me.

What is the most amazing experience you've had while guiding?
While on the Kenai Fjords Tour, a super pod of 20-25 orca swam right by the boat. It was a very foggy morning as they just suddenly appeared. Awesome and surreal experience.

When did you first catch the travel bug?
After hearing about and experiencing Nikki’s [Lindsay] past trips. What a fun and fulfilling line of work.

What is your favorite outdoor activity?
Another tough one. It would have to involve the beach. Either camping, running or just laying out on a beautiful summer day. There's nothing like the smell of salt water in the air.

What destination would you most like to visit?
The Hawaiian Islands. I've never been. Need I say more.

What are your hobbies?
Music is a huge part of my life. I love everything from listening, going to concerts or playing my guitar on the porch or in front of a crowd. I love sports, mainly football and college basketball. Running (ran the past two OBX marathons). Ran the '07 and '08 Outer Banks Marathons. Run the Nags Head Woods 5K every year. Watching the Simpsons with my wife!

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