The seeds for Ahdina’s love of other cultures and travel were planted early when, as a child living in South Africa, she was baptized by a Zulu congregation in her parent’s garden in Johannesburg—something that was technically not permitted at that time due to Apartheid. Later she would study Cultural Anthropology and Russian Language at Emory University, in Atlanta but moved to Santa Fe after graduating in search of a place that reminded her of the big skies and beautiful landscapes of Southern Africa. Coming full circle, she now lives part time in the beautiful Western Cape, South Africa with her husband, photographer and writer Marc Romanelli, and two children Philomena and Redford.

In New Mexico Ahdina headed down the path of event production, overseeing all of the details on several prominent events. The co-founders of the now famous International Folk Art Market invited her to be a part of the team that would produce the inaugural outdoor festival, and she ended up serving as its only staff person for the first two years. As the Market grew, her role transitioned into one that facilitated export opportunities and capacity-building programs for international folk artists.

She didn’t know it then, but all of this, combined with her world travels (including three months in Bali, Indonesia with her family while her daughter attended The Green School) would set her up perfectly for what was next, and in 2015 the stars aligned to allow Ahdina to join BJ Adventures full time.

Now you’ll find her gracefully connecting the dots for clients so that they can focus on fulfilling travel experiences, all while helping to manage the many moving parts of BJ Adventures. A client once said BJ Adventures is the custodian of people’s dreams, and Ahdina can’t imagine a higher honor.