Tonga RPCV Suellen Bowersock has managed to do what most of us only dream about: She has combined her talents with her passions and created a career she loves. Her company, Enchanted Lands Adventures and Tours, has been in business since 1997
Enchanted Lands takes you away
ROBIN PRIESTLEY, lamonitor@lamonitor.com, Monitor Staff Writer
Los Alamos resident Suellen Bowersock has managed to do what most of us only dream about: She has combined her talents with her passions and created a career she loves.
Bowersock's company, Enchanted Lands Adventures and Tours, has been in business since 1997.
"This is my baby," she said. "This was a blending of my interests, my background, my loves."
Bowersock said she has loved cycling since she was 14 years old.
"I've cycled for most of my life," she said. "It's my main passion.
Enchanted Lands began as a multi-day, luxury bicycle tour company. Bowersock came up with the idea of offering more than the typical golf or shopping pastimes that are associated with the southwest. Her interest in the southwest grew as she taught middle school social studies in Los Alamos.
"I learned the background for New Mexico, and I also took graduate courses in New Mexico geography," she said.
Bowersock said as a result of living in New Mexico she offers a more personal experience and has more background into what New Mexico is all about as opposed to other non-local bicycle tour companies.
"We travel these routes all the time and keep connected with different parts of the state's tourism," she said.
After the Cerro Grande fire, Bowersock had to change her ideas about the company and began hosting tours in Arizona and Utah, with Colorado already being a part of the tours.
"This gave us a broader base; we could tour in late fall and early spring," she said.
Bowersock's inspiration to lead cycle tours began when she toured Norway by herself on her bicycle. She fell in love with the beauty of the place and decided what she most wanted to do was to bring others to the same spot and share it with them.
"There was a surreal light, the sun was at the lowest point, and it was just so incredibly beautiful. I decided I wanted to bring people back with me to this beautiful place," she said.
Bowersock's Island Odysseys tours for 2005 include Corsica, Lofoten, Norway and the Tongan Islands.
Dec. 8-17, Bowersock is offering a multi-sport adventure of cycling, hiking, scuba diving, snorkeling, and sea kayaking in the Tongan Islands. She lived in the Tongan Islands while in the Peace Corps.
"I want to introduce people to a whole different culture," she said. "On how to relax- there are no cell phones, no TV, no schedules."
Bowersock said that waiting is probably the national pastime of the Tongan Islands.
"People are always waiting for the boats, and yet there is something to be learned from that," she said. "What is so important in life that you have to hurry?"
Bowersock's Island Odysseys tours go places that most tours don't go.
"These are for people who want to go to more unique places," she said. "I also try to focus on the most beautiful places in the world."
The Tongan Islands trip will have accommodations in hotels or guesthouses, and one or two nights camping on an uninhabited island.
"We will see the Southern Cross," Bowersock said. "There will be more stars than you've ever seen. There is no noise there and no light pollution."
Other than multi-day cycle trips and island odysseys, Enchanted Lands also has day trips that include hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
Bowersock said that every year she likes to do something new. Last year she added "Pedal for a Cure for Breast Cancer," an all-women cycle tour that donates half of the net proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She will host it again this summer. The tour will be July 19-23.
Another new trip last year was the Taos Cycling Camp which provides five days of hands-on experience developing old and new skills with other cyclists in northern New Mexico, including daily cycling with professional coaching and clinics.
For more information, call 661-8687.
