Member Spotlight: Larry Laba

Each month at San Francisco Travel Massive, we profile a community member in our latest newsletter. This month, we meet Larry Laba, founder of Soar 2 Adventure and Russian River Adventures.

How did you begin to work in the travel industry?

In the early 1990’s I created and developed the SOAR Inflatable canoe, and established ourselves in the Outdoor Recreation and Paddlesports industries.  SOARs are so portable and are easy to travel with, whether it’s on a road trip or flying internationally.  I started renting our SOAR canoes on the Russian River and offering small group adventures to Costa Rica. We now have itineraries to Nicaragua and Panama, too.  We use rivers as a means of discovering countries!

Why rivers?

Rivers have a vast bio-diversity and a unique cultural aspect that is less travelled.

What does your current role entail?

I am very lucky to have a profession where people come to me for a cool adventure, whether it’s the purchase of a long-dreamed of SOAR canoe, a day trip on the Russian River where our guests often see great bird and wildlife, to easy adventure trips in the tropics.

What benefits have come from attending Travel Massive meet-ups?

I meet some very talented people with fantastic ideas and tremendous energy to expose new people to the world of travel.

What changes do you hope to see in the travel industry?

I know it’s a long shot, but I would like for the cost of air travel to decrease so that more people can experience new cultures.  Travel opens people’s eyes and eventually their minds.

If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?

Actually tomorrow I am leaving for Costa Rica for 3 weeks. The first two weeks will be spent guiding a group, and the last week I will be exploring some unknown rivers in northern Costa Rica. If I had to choose a dream trip it would be Bali for a few months.

Stephanie Uniacke is the co-chapter leader of San Francisco Travel Massive. When she is not organizing meet ups in her city she blogs over at Just Cherished, proving you can still have travel adventures with a 9-5 lifestyle. Follow Stephanie on Travel Massive.