About Ambrose Bittner
About the Author: Ambrose Bittner
Ambrose Bittner is the founder and CEO of Red Lantern Journeys, a tour operator focused on arranging tours and treks for small independent groups traveling to Asia. He is an intrepid world traveler, having visited roughly 40 countries on 6 continents. He has been traveling in Asia since 1988 when he took his first trip to Japan to visit friends, followed 2 years later by a backpacking trip around the world. Dozens of trips to Asia later, just some of his experiences have included:
- Founding of the Mt. Rainier Climb for Himalaya Children
- Backpacking around the world for one year in 1990
- Bicycling around Hokkaido in Japan in 1996
- Being married in New Delhi with a Hindu wedding ceremony in 1997
- Attempting to climb Mt. Everest from Tibet in 2005
- Cruising on the luxurious Road to Mandalay on the Irrawaddy River, Burma (Myanmar) in 2004
- Snorkling the triplet islands of Koh Nang Yuan in Thailand, in 1990
- Rock climbing the limestone cliffs of Railay Beach in Krabi, Thailand
- Cruising on a traditional Vietnamese Junk in Halong Bay, Vietnam in 2004
- Exploring tribal villages in Orissa, India and being the first westerner that had visited the area since the 1940s
- Visting Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1990, one year after the massacres.
- Returning to Beijing in 2004 as an MBA student on a study tour and seeing a completely different country
- Trekking and climbing in Nepal in 1990, 1996, 2000, and 2005
- Developing Terelj National Park in Mongolia as a rock climbing recreation area by training staff and bringing climbing equipment from the US.
Ambrose believes in responsible tourism from all sides, including the tourists and the companies, hotels, and local communities that service them. He is on the board of the Mitrata Nepal Foundation for Children, a US-based 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting the children of the Mitrata Orphanage in Kathmandu. He understands that not everyone benefits from tourism and that tourism can cause many problems in developing countries. In many Asian countries, it is disadvantaged women and children that suffer the most from societies inequities and they are the ones that can benefit society the most when given support and education. Towards that end, Ambrose co-founded 3 Summits for Nepal’s Children and founded the Climb for Himalaya Children, a benefit climb of Mt. Rainier to raise money and support for the Mitrata Orphanage.
Originally an engineer with a degree in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University, Ambrose worked at the Boeing Company for 8 years mainly in a fiber optic research and development group. Always up for a bit of adventure, he went to Japan for two years on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program and taught English at a Japanese high school. After returning to Seattle, Ambrose led the product development team as a founding member of AdvanceOnline, an internet company that delivered web-based training focused on occupational safety and health topics. That company was sold in 2002 to a Texas company at which time Ambrose returned to school to get an MBA from the University of Washington. Upon graduation in 2004, he founded Red Lantern Journeys.
Ambrose is an avid rock and mountain climber, having attempted Mt. Everest in 2005 and with a first ascent of Cerro Tillman in Patagonia in 1997. He was the head instructor of the Boeing Employees’ Alpine Society’s Intermediate Climbing Class in 2006 and 2007, and continues to climb and teach mountaineering classes.