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Home/Our Experts/Asia/Maria C. Spitman
Maria C Spitman
Asia
Indian Ocean

Maria C. Spitman

I picked up the taste for adventure at nine years old, visiting my relatives in Sicily for the first time. When I later qualified as a teacher, I knew I'd be living abroad. I spent years in South Korea and then England, immersed in both cultures and wandering across Asia and Europe at every opportunity. One brimming passport later, I retired my teacher's hat, entered the travel industry professionally, and have never looked back.

In Korea, you do everything with two hands to show respect. Handing a cashier your money? Topping up your friend's drink? Being handed a towel at the gym? Two hands! The "short form" is physically handing it over with one hand, having your other hand touch your forearm.

"Jobs fill your pockets, but adventures fill your soul." - Jaime Lyn

On my first visit to Naples, we were heading from the museum to the castle, where I found myself chatting with our taxi driver while stuck in traffic, using the little Italian I knew. He found out that I am Sicilian just from my accent, and he offered to take us on his own tour of Naples, absolutely free. We thought it might be a scam, but what followed was the best four-hour tour of the area I could have asked for. Fontanelle Cemetery, the best cafe for espresso and sfogliatelle, and Castel Ovo, just to name a few. We wound up driving down the coast to Sorrento at sunset, where he invited us for dinner with his family. Regrettably, we had the evening train to Rome already booked, so we had to decline. Everything about that experience, including small gestures like his refusal of our offer of gas money at the end of the day, showed me just how much love locals have for their home and how warm they are in wanting to share its beauty with visitors. This memory stays with me to this day. has stayed with me years later.

Some of Maria's Favourite Places

01

Phuket

Aerial view of Big Buddha viewpoint at sunset on Phuket with a view of the water and coast below
02

Killarney

Scenic view of Gap of Dunloe
03

Rome

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
04

Yorkshire Moors and Dales

Steam train crossing the Viaduct
05

Seoul

Sunset view of Seoul City Skyline, South Korea
06

Bali

Famous temple with morning mists over the Danau Beratan lake
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I booked this trip to Adelaide with Goway, after using them before when we explored the 'big' sites of Australia. This time, we went to Adelaide to go to three of the top wine growing areas for wine tastings. We were a small group of 4 people. It was made better as the vendor used Small Batch Wine Tours for all of our excursions. They were fantastic making us the only travelers on these tours. Matthew, the owner, even adjusted our wineries on the last day to go to different place. This place totally marked off everything we were looking for in wine. Ended up buying a couple of bottles. Between Goway setting it up and Small Batch Wine Tours running the actual tours we had a beautiful and seamless trip. not applicable
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Land Package booked was for Bora Bora. The Goway Agent priced out 3 different resorts in the same area. Before making a final decision, she even obtained the menus at the Resort so the clients could decide if they wanted to purchase the 1/2 board meal package. With extreme patience, the agent obtained answers to all of our questions. It was so nice to have this package inclusive of all taxes and resort fees and to have a local agent meet the clients upon their arrival in PPT. EMD
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Our trip to Asia was fantastic! From the beginning of registration, working with Ameet Duggal, to the actual trip, the service Goway provided was outstanding! Ameet was great to work with. He was kind, professional and answered all my questions whenever they arose. Our guides in all four locations (Hong Kong, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Siem Reap) were all exceptional. All were very well informed, spoke English very well, had a great sense of humor, were always on time, and paid attention to all the details so as to make our trip absolutely problem free and enjoyable. We were picked up at all locations at the airport, and returned there, in a punctual manner. The drivers were great, especially Bros in Siem Reap. All had lots of water for us because is was pretty hot everywhere we went. Food was wonderful and all the sites we visited were interesting and beautiful. I was especially impressed with how our guides knew how and when to navigate certain sites to avoid large crowds. They situated our visits so we would avoid the intense heat. All in all, I would definitely consider doing another independent tour with Goway. I would also recommend your services to anyone who wished to travel abroad, especially to Asia! Jamie Ferbezar
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The organization for this trip was outstanding, everything went really smoothly. Really nice hotels and great tours and guides. GoWay chose beautiful places for me to see and things to do, jet boat rides, a cruise on Milford Sound, numerous beautiful hikes. I don't think I could have planned all this alone. Great job! BrianBrian Allen
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From the moment of first inquiry in December 2024 to our arrival back home, Amanda and the Goway team were so helpful. I had many communications with Amanda up to and during our trip and she made sure to get back to me quickly and with answers. We were a group of 5 siblings and 3 spouses. We had airport transfers, domestic flights within Argentina and Chile, van transport between Argentina and Chile, hotels, tours, guides and drivers, all of which were wonderful, apart from one guide, who was switched out after our request for a change. Having pick-ups at the airport with my name very visible was a welcome sight, especially after a long flight. I would like to give a special shout out to our guides Coti (in El Calafate) and Pablo (in Santiago) for exceptional guidance and knowledge of the area. They really made those tours fabulous. All eight of us were so happy with Goway and Amanda for the level of service and communication. All the hotels were very nice, with the Pullman El Bosque being outstanding in Santiago. I would highly recommend using Goway travel and Amanda in particular for South America. Susan
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