Why Mythic Travel?

There are many purposes to travel. The vast majority of traditional travel companies offer destination-oriented tours, where the site is the target. Mythic Travel believes that every destination has a story - beyond the facts - and offers travelers the sights, sounds and smells of Turkey by blending history, culture, food, spirituality, and myth into an Adventure Travel for your Mind.

Another advantage to theme-oriented, specialty tours is that travelers tend to be like-minded people with similar passions, rather than a group of heterogeneous people with different interests. Mythic Travel tours are always small in size, so individual needs can be met. Additionally, small groups enable travelers to dine at small, out-of-the-way restaurants - tasting real ethnic foods is a serious focus of Mythic Travel! -and stay at quaint, smaller hotels that cannot accommodate larger groups.

Mythic History

The story of Mythic Travel doesn't begin with the company's incorporation, but years earlier when founder and president Adrienne Momi began traveling to Europe as a, teacher, and informal tour guide. After living in Brno in the Czech Republic for two years while researching her doctoral dissertation in Mythological Studies, Dr. Momi's passion for culture and myth began to evolve into an idea far grander than leading the occasional tour group around Italy or Central Europe. She realized that many travelers wanted more than the conventional destination-oriented tours. They wanted to immerse themselves in the culture and the people - from the archeology, art, spirituality and daily life of the past, to the lifestyle, religion and architecture of the present. They wanted the myth and story behind the destination.

In 1988, Dr. Momi went to Turkey and met Rashid Ergener, Ph.D., a professor at Bosphorus University in Istanbul who was one of the tour's guides. Over the next decade, they developed a relationship based on their mutual scholarly interests in archeology and myth - and of course, love of Turkey - and in 1999, teamed together to create their first excursion, a tour to Turkey for the solar eclipse. The result was Mythic Travel.

The Turkey Adventure

Experiencing Turkey is a feast of culture and history that is incomparable. With Dr. Ergener's knowledge of Turkey's political and social culture, ancient sites, and heritage, and Dr. Momi's expertise and passion for myth and archeology, Mythic Travel was conceived as a collaborative effort between East and West. Drs Momi and Ergener's passion for the art, music, and chronicles of love and war, told through the rich stories and myths they share, enable travelers to feel Turkey and truly experience what makes this vibrant country such a land of contrasts.

Dr. Ergener resides in Istanbul and has been instrumental in developing relationships that enable Mythic Travel clients access to locations that are not available to independent travelers or other tour groups. Dr. Ergener is the founder and first president of the Turkish Friends of Çatal Höyük Society and a prime mover in the recent re-start of archeological excavations at the site. Mythic Travelers not only visit the non-public Çatal Höyük - the oldest known city-size settlement in the world - but they have an opportunity to meet with the site archeologists at this Neolithic "dig."
Additionally, the relationships that Drs. Ergener and Momi have forged with Turkish scholars and archeologists have opened other private doors. Mythic travelers have private access to the Roman terrace houses at Ephesus and other off-the-beaten-path locales that provide the backdrop to the stories of the Great Ones, from Hittites and Hellenes, to the Roman Conquerors and the Mighty Ottomans.

Biographies

Dr. Adrienne Momi has degrees in Mathematics from Washington University, St. Louis, MO (BS, MS) and Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA (MA, Ph.D.). She recently completed "Footprints at Tesetice-Kyjovice: 7500 years of sacred story." Dr, Momi worked as artist-in-residence from 2000-2005 at Çatal Höyük researching the mythic images created by that society.
A professional artist for more than 20 years, Adrienne has also taught art, humanities and mathematics at the university level and has lectured and conducted workshops internationally. Her art, scholarly writing and lectures focus on feminist issues of spirituality and religion and reflect her lifelong interest in mythology and archaeology. An experienced traveler, Adrienne believes that through contact with other cultures, we learn new things about ourselves.

Dr. Rashid Ergener has degrees in Economics from Yale (BA), Oxford (MA) and Istanbul (Ph.D.) Universities. He has been a professional tour guide for 20 years at the distinguished Bosphorus University in Istanbul. Founder and first president of the Turkish Friends of Çatal Höyük Society, Rashid was one of the primary forces in the move to re-start the excavation at Çatal Höyük. He is a student of the Great Goddess, and is proud to call himself a feminist. The author of Anatolia, Land of the Mother Goddess, Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Turkey and Flower's Names. Rashid's current research is on the economic activities of ancient temples. He has published numerous articles in journals and newspapers and has translated books into Turkish, including "Good Soldier Schweik." He is also a published poet. A professional tour guide for fifteen years, leading both general-interest and special-focus tours of Turkey, Rashid's pleasure is to present his home country to hundreds of visitors each year.