Who is

I am Lola Reid Allin, an airline transport pilot and an internationally acclaimed photographer, author, educator, and keynote speaker from Canada. I have had the privilege of exploring more than 60 countries. My most recent adventures have taken me to the labyrinthine streets of ISTANBUL, MALTA’s remarkable HISTORY & CULTURE, NEPAL’S ROYAL CITIES, and a 14-day circuit trek in the HIMALAYAS around Manaslu, the EIGHTH tallest mountain in the world.

“I admit it. I’m addicted to slow travel.

I’ve done multi-day camel safaris in India, Tanzania, & Morocco and earned my Dog Mushers Certificate (Yukon). I’ve travelled extensively through 60+ countries and trekked in Spain, Scotland, Peru, Nepal, Chile, Canada, and with Guatemalans to El Mirador (128 km) & H’mong locals in North Vietnam.

I’ve summited North Africa’s tallest mountain (Morocco) and Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest freestanding mountain and trekked across Baffin Island.

I am a speaker with the Northern Lights Aero Foundation, Eastern Ontario 99s Education & Outreach Committee, & Women’s Travel Network.

Please contact me to arrange a presentation of my illustrated travel adventure talks.”

Guided by pilot, photographer and adventuerer Lola Reid Allin

 VIETNAM: The Dragon Reunified
Royal palaces. Buddhist temples. French colonial villas. Hideaway beaches. The world’s largest cave. During our exploration of Vietnam, we’ll trek terraced fields with Northern Hill Tribes, bump along the Chinese border on road trip with a former Viet Minh, luxuriate on a junk in Ha Long Bay, navigate Ha Noi’s historic district, walk the DMZ, shop Historic Hoi An’s market for cooking class, visit Hue’s Royal Palaces, and meander the Mekong.
Travel with Lola and discover Vietnam is so much more than rice paddy fields and conical-hatted farmers.

MOROCCO: Sea, Sand and Summit
Join Flygirl Lola on a trek through Morocco, a land of stunning contrasts and hidden jewels. Plunge into the labyrinthine alleys and mesmerizing markets of Marrakech, Casablanca, and Fes, a living medieval city. Venture into Chefchaouen, the once forbidden blue city. Summit Toubkal, North Africa’s tallest mountain. Visit Roman ruins. Travel by camel with Berbers for a multi-day camping safari into the Sahara.

INTO AFRICA: Kenya safari and gorilla trek
Feel East Africa seep into your soul as Lola’s photography captures the “Big Five”— lions, leopards, elephants, Cape buffalo, & rhinos — as her safari vehicle bumps through Kenya’s preserved parklands. Hang out with a baboon troop in the shadow of Mount Kenya. Sleep over with the Masai in a manyatta. Step into history at Karen Blixen’s house, immortalized in her 1937 memoir, Out of Africa. Follow legendary Dian Fossey’s footsteps to observe Mountain Gorillas, in Rwanda’s mist- shrouded Virunga Mountains.

CHILE: Explore Top to Bottom
Our adventure begins in the northern Antofagasta Region where Flygirl Lola leads us on a hike to the driest desert in the world. We’ll crunch across salt flats, marvel at ancient petroglyphs, and tread carefully through the Southern Hemisphere’s largest geyser field. Moving south, we’ll amble art-festooned laneways in Santiago and Valparaiso then sample Colchagua Valley wines. A flight south takes us to the hiking trails of Torres del Paine in Patagonia followed by a multi-day, small-boat cruise to the End of the World at Tierra Del Fuego where we’ll stroll with penguins and beavers.

BAFFIN ISLAND: Trek the Akshayuk Pass
Join Aviator Lola Reid Allin and her friends on her personally-narrated, photographic chronicle of their challenging 10-day, 98-km Arctic camping adventure. Trek through snow-covered mountain passes, up and down rocky moraines, and ford twenty-two rushing glacial rivers in Auyuittuq National Park, Nunavut, each carrying 55 lbs of supplies.

TANZANIA: Trek to the snows of Kilimanjaro & beyond
After a successful summit of Kilimanjaro (elevation 5895 metres/19,341’) —the roof of Africa— in more snow than the tallest freestanding mountain has received in 20 years, Lola travels to the Serengeti by airplane, which she gets to fly. After a fabulous 4-day safari, we fly to the exotic Spice Island of Zanzibar, a former Omani sultanate. 

NORTHERN LIGHTS AERO FOUNDATION
By recognizing and celebrating accomplished women in aviation and aerospace, NLAF’s mission is to attract women and inspire them to succeed in these non-traditional career sectors. NLAF encourages their ambitions by engaging in outreach, facilitating mentorships, & providing scholarship opportunities. Founded 2009 by several Ninety-Nines (International Organization of Women Pilots) from the First Canadian Chapter. Lola is a speaker for & chair of the NLAF   Speakers Bureau.

ENGLAND
A romp through English history, ancient and modern. Explore quaint villages, churches, castles, and dungeons. Learn about major historic sites as we travel from London to Hampton Court Palace, Stonehenge, & Hastings. Next, we’ll visit Bath Spa, Stratford, Bradford-on-Avon, and Warwick Castle then head north to the rolling hills of the Lakes District and Hadrian’s Wall, the boundary between Roman Britannia and unconquered Caledonia (Scotland) to the north.

SCOTLAND
Our adventure starts in the revitalized port city of Glasgow then the cobblestoned streets of Stirling. Actors enhance our Old Jail experience before we climb the hill to magnificent Stirling Castle. Next, we’ll explore Fort William and Glencoe, considered by some the prettiest highland glen, then hop on the Jacobite Steam Train Excursion for a “Hogwarts Experience” to the seaside village of Mallaig. After a short visit, we’re off on a five-day hike from Fort William to Inverness, passing four Lochs linked by the Caledonian Canal. We’ll end our journey poking around historic Urquhart Castle and rest our heads at 12thC Tulloch Castle.

AUSTRALIA
By car, boat, and airplane, visit Australia, the smallest of seven continents OR the largest ISLAND in the world (pick one because it can’t be both). Our adventure covers two of Australia’s six states from the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles in the south (Victoria) to ultra-modern Brisbane, the Great Barrier Reef, and humid Daintree National Park/Wet Tropics World Heritage Site in Queensland. We’ll finish with a visit to Darwin, before heading to the rugged and spectacular Uluru (Ayer’s Rock), Kata Tjuta, and Kakadu National Park, in the Northern Territory.

WORLD TOUR/WORLD COLOURS
~OR ~ Around the World in 60 Minutes
A brief glimpse of places rarely included on travel itineraries. Meet a few locals. Ride a steam train. See the world from a fresh perspective. DON’T expect to see the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, or five-star hotels.