About Nick

Nicholas Kontis was born in Greece on one of the world’s most breathtakingly beautiful islands, Santorini. He was brought up in the cultural capital of the Americas, San Francisco. From a very young age, he developed a passion for travel, shuttling between his California home and Athens during summer vacations. At age 12, he discovered the meaning of travel immersion, sleeping on couches in various relatives’ homes and learning to bake his own bread.

At age 19, Nick did his first European stomp. He rented a car with two friends in Nice, France, and later participated in the annual “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain, where he emerged unscathed.

But it was a two-month trip to the Greek Islands at age 24 that truly changed his life. On idyllic Ios, he met a Swedish couple who swayed him to forfeit his return ticket home to embark on the journey of a lifetime. In the months that followed, he crossed the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, traversed Southeast Asia, traveled overland across Australia from Darwin to Sydney, and made his way through the South Pacific—traveling the globe by train, plane, bicycle, boat, and thumb (hitchhiking). He even saved a baby in Bangladesh that was left on a bus. Later, he traversed Africa from Nairobi to Cape Town. Nick embraced a lifelong affection for travel.

Upon returning to San Francisco with no job prospects in sight, Nick launched the first successful travel agency in the United States that specialized in discount, around-the-world airfares. Before long, he had been featured on Arthur Frommer’s travel TV show and Peter Greenberg’s radio show … from Istanbul. Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler called him the “father of around-the-world airfares.”

Today, Nick is an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, speaker, and entrepreneur who writes for numerous travel publications. He is proud that many fellow writers and travel specialists cite him as an inspiration in their decisions to pursue careers in the travel industry.

Nick’s first book is titled: “Going Local – Experiences and Encounters on the Road.” In 2025, a second edition was published on Amazon. He remains proud of his Greek heritage and San Francisco upbringing, while calling San Blas and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, home, and now keeping his California home in the Napa Valley.

Currently, Nick is an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, author, and speaker. His writing and photography have been featured in USA Today, World Footprints, MSN, Huffington Post, Napa Valley Register, Epoch Times, Forbes Travel Guides, Port Hole Cruise, Quirky Cruise, All Things Cruise, Travel Weekly, Jax Fax Travel Marketing, Go Nomad, Just Luxe, World Traveler Magazine, Luxe Getaways, Fare Portal, Luxe Beat Magazine, and more.