Nicholas Kontis was born on one of the most breathtaking islands in the world, Santorini, Greece, and brought up in America's culture capital of San Francisco. Nick developed a passion for travel at a very young age, going back and forth between San Francisco and Athens, Greece during summer vacation. At age 12 he learned the meaning of travel immersion by staying in various relatives homes, sleeping on couches, and learn to bake bread. At age 19, Nick did his first Europe stomp, renting a car with two friends in Nice, France and later participating in the annual “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain, during the San Fermin Festival, where he came out unscathed.It would be an exploring trip around the world at age 24 that would end up being a life changing experience. Subsequent to travelling by car, train, plane, bike, boat and hitchhiking all through the globe, even saving a baby in Bangladesh. It was this trip of a lifetime that drove Nick to a long-lasting affection for travel as well as to a career in the travel industry.After returning to his native San Francisco with no job in sight, Nick proceeded to start the first successful travel agency in the United States specializing in discount around the world airfares.Nick has been featured as a guest speaker on both radio and television. He has been mentioned by Lonely Planet's Tony Wheeler as an airfare master, and often alluded to as the "father of around the world airfares." Arthur Frommer once said, "If Jules Verne were alive today he would use Nick Kontis to go around the world in 80 days." He is also a guest writer for USA Today and Huffington Post Travel, as well as numerous other travel publications. Maybe the greatest point of distinction for Nick is that numerous fellow travel writers and specialists in the field have referred to him as the inspiration for their decision to embark on careers in the industry. Nick's first book is titled, “Going Local – Experiences and Encounters on the Road.”Nicholas Kontis still calls San Francisco home, and spends the dominant part of his year travelling between his four home bases of San Francisco, The Napa Valley, Los Angeles and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.