Meet the MissionaryPickup Staff

Carlos Fida
Carlos is celebrating his 30th year in the travel and tourism industry. Travel + Leisure Magazine's A-List ranks Carlos as one of the top travel agents in the U.S.

Before moving to the United States from his native Argentina, Carlos worked in the LDS Church Offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina as an assistant to the Area Supervisor with administrative responsibilities over Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

Carlos became a Certified Travel Counselor in 1984. He has traveled extensively within Latin America, Antarctica, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He is also a tour leader for LDS Travel Study. Carlos loves to read and is an accomplished landscape painter. He and his family now reside in Salt Lake City.

Douglas Wren
Doug is the co-founder of MissionaryPickup. A featured speaker at travel conventions and airline board meetings, he has also co-hosted several travel shows, broadcasting live to the United States from Machu Picchu, Chile's Atacama Desert and Iguazu Falls.

Doug served a mission in Salvador, Brazil. Since then, his travels have taken him throughout Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. When not traveling, Doug enjoys reading to his daughters, Kennede and Londyn.

Doug is recognized by Travel + Leisure's A List as one of the country's top travel agents.

Brett Steele
Brett re-joined the Missionary Pickup family as the Managing Director in 2006 after working with the company from 1997 until 2002, when he departed for graduate school.

Brett has traveled extensively in South and Central America and hopes to continue that trend. He served a mission in Recife, Brazil and spent a month living in Costa Rica as part of his undergraduate education. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from the University of Utah and a Juris Doctorate degree from The Gonzaga University School of Law. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, exercising, golfing in the summer, and skiing in the winter.

Marilin Cosio
Marilin Cosio is an expert in tour planning; for nine years, she managed accounts and trained staff for Peru's largest tour operator. There, Marilin served as senior manager on high profile US and European accounts. Later, she supervised the company's Western US and Canadian Inbound divisions.

Marilin earned a bachelors degree in agency administration at Lima's Centro de Formacion Turistica. She furthered her English language skills at the British Institute, and later served as an Executive Secretary for the Mexican Embassy in Peru. She has traveled throughout South America, North America and parts of East Africa. Marilin joined MissionaryPickup as a travel counselor in 2004.

Carol Alegre
Carol Alegre discovered her love of travel while touring Asia, Europe and Latin America with her university’s performing arts troupe. Originally from Cochabamba, Bolivia, Carol later earned a BA in Travel & Tourism and a master’s degree in Recreation Management and Youth Leadership.

Carol began selling travel in the US in 1996. Her recent travels have taken her to Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru.

Allison King
Allison's love for travel and culture has grown through study abroad in Europe, travel throughout North America, Brazil, and Argentina, where she lived for a year and a half. It was during her time as a missionary in Mendoza, Argentina that Allison discovered her passion for South America and the rich culture there.

Allison says that, "the things we learn through travel cannot be learned in any other way. There is no substitute to seeing and experiencing the world for yourself."

Allison now helps other people have incredible travel experiences in Central and South America as she continues to explore our world.

Andrew Taylor
A native of Utah, Andrew grew up in the outdoors where his passion for adventure was born. He first fell in love with Latin America at the age of 19, when he served as a missionary in Montevideo, Uruguay. Since then he has traveled to Venezuela, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and Panama. After graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in Organizational Communication and a minor in Spanish, Andrew moved to Costa Rica in search of whitewater as a river guide. During his time in Costa Rica, he fell in love with the beautiful people and the wide range of adventure activities the country has to offer, and he has been guiding trips there ever since.

His dream is to travel the world and aside from Latin America he has visited Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and Spain.

He says that, "travel and adventure help us get back to the pure and simple things of life, giving us valuable perspectives on our fast paced lives."