Ali is Chairman of the board, but rarely forgets to remind us that he founded the UK's first ever Northern Lights holiday brand. Behind his self-promoting braggadocio is a genuine pride that The Aurora Zone has been responsible for helping thousands of people tick the Northern Lights off their bucket list.
Ali's love affair with Northern Scandinavia began many, many years ago on a trip to Finnish Lapland.
"The descending plane broke through the cloud and all I could see was snow-covered fells, forests and lakes, it was like arriving on a different planet and I loved it before I'd even got off the plane."
He soon learned that there was far more to the "Frozen North" than just stunning snow-covered landscapes.
"I was taken on an 80km snowmobile safari and it was the greatest thing I'd ever experienced. We saw reindeer; we visited a Sámi village and enjoyed salmon that had been slow cooked over an open fire as we sat in a traditional Sámi kota (teepee)."
On that occasion he didn't see the Northern Lights but a text from a colleague arriving at Kirkenes Airport in Norway a few weeks later alerted him to the wonder what was to become the basis of The Aurora Zone.
"Just walked out of Kirkenes Airport and the Northern Lights are absolutely covering the sky. Unbelievable!"
And so, a seed was sewn and a few years later that seed became the UK's only dedicated Northern Lights holiday company. It's funny where life takes you and people often suggest that Ali is a lucky man to do everything he does. Maybe there is some luck involved but as he never tires of pointing out,
"It's not luck, I made this happen. I sat down with a piece of paper and wrote down what I wanted to do with my life. Travel, activities and experiences were the top three items and so I created something that would allow me to do the three things I love most.
It's a great life but all too short and I believe we must make the absolute most of our time here. I'm doing that and I hope that we are helping others do exactly the same."
When he's not at work (increasingly so these days as he is very proud of himself on pulling together such an amazing team to run the company), Ali has become one of the ranks of MAMILs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) who cycle along the UK's poorly surfaced roads in ever increasing numbers.
Ali's greatest love however is his family, and he will always ensure that neither work nor cycling will detract from the time he spends with wife Kate, kids Daisy and Archie.
Favourite Experiences
• Sitting in front of a blazing fire at the Hotel Nellim in Finnish Lapland and hearing the owner Jouko run through the front door shouting, "Ali! If you've never seen the Northern Lights, you had better come outside NOW!!"
• Winning "Best Small Holiday Company (adult only) with The Aurora Zone at the British Travel Awards
• Running into a wilderness cabin and urging his children to come outside and see the Northern Lights dance over Lake Inari. "Na!" replied his daughter who was eight years old at the time "we've already seen them." At that moment, he thought to himself, "I am such a fortunate human being but I do hope my kids appreciate this stuff when they are older"
• In many years of working in Northern Scandinavia Ali has met so many wonderful, warm and fascinating people and some of them have become great friends. Two of those friends are based in Luosto, Finland and on a recent trip there, Jukka and Juha-Pekka (J-P) took him on an overnight snowmobile safari. They drove for much of the afternoon before arriving at their base for the night, Jukka's wilderness cabin. Once the fire was burning, Jukka prepared a delicious meal of pan-fried reindeer steaks while he and J-P went down to the stream, broke the ice and collected water to get the sauna up and running. They ate, they shared an excellent bottle of red wine and then they hit the sauna. Ali occasionally popped his head outside to glance skywards to see if the Aurora was coming out to play but it really didn't matter because he was in a place he loved and was in the company of great friends and in Ali's opinion, you couldn't ask for more than that.
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