Matt's connection with Bhutan dates back to his youth, long before it became his home. Upon moving to Bhutan in 2010, his early work involved providing systems and optimization guidance. In 2013, he founded MyBhutan to allow select guests to journey deeper into Bhutan, and built Bhutan Payments, the first international payment gateway supporting Bhutanese merchants. Before Bhutan, he worked as a systems consultant engineer at Accenture. He holds degrees in engineering and economics from Columbia University and the College of the Holy Cross. Matt and his companies have founded, funded, and incubated a number of nonprofit initiatives alongside the communities who ultimately steward them — among them a historic preservation effort with the Central Monastic Body to document, digitize, and archive Bhutan's sacred relics and artwork; an afforestation project to build community forests; the introduction of baseball and its establishment as Bhutan's 17th national sport; and the creation of The Explorers Club Bhutan Chapter, which he chairs, with the aim of cultivating local talent for science and exploration. He also serves as the U.S. State Department Warden of Bhutan. An avid explorer, Matt has trekked across Bhutan's high-altitude glacial ranges, crossed its dense southern jungles,...
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What Guests Said
I bring home a sense of awe, wonder, and privilege from our visit to your homeland. Your itinerary gave us wide and honest exposure to the breadth and wealth of your land’s history, institutions, geography, values, and people. Importantly, Tshepak and Sonam provided generous and consistent support together with most pleasant demeanors; we knew we could absolutely count on each of them to be looking out for every care and need…and a step ahead of us besides. Your arrangements for special meetings with lamas, the home of Aurn Karma, Dasho Dorji, and Karma Toeb further added to our experience together with time at Sangwa Camp, forest bathing, witnessing the festival and outdoor luncheons. All introduced individuals were interesting and kind.
Thank you for offering and managing a lifetime experience. Matthew R. DeSantis
MyBhutan is for intrepid travelers who want to experience the Land of the Thunder Dragon at a deeper level. With a team of local insiders in Thimphu and foreigners who share deep affinity for Bhutan, they're unique: they grok the culture as only natives can while also understanding what outsiders really want to see. Founder Matthew R. DeSantis is a great guy who loves Bhutan and never stopped exploring it during the time I wrote for MyBhutan, whether hopping up to the Nomad Festival in Gasa to photograph yak herders or trekking to Haa's far western border with Sikkim. His spirit of adventure carries over to the tours MyBhutan puts together and means that a trip with them will never be ordinary.
There is a Portuguese word "saudade” that means "a longing for a place you may get to but will probably never go." That perfectly describes my 40-year relationship with Bhutan, but thanks to Matthew R. DeSantis and "MyBhutan" I finally got there. This is one of those rare countries that fully meets your expectations: the landscape, the people, the cultural values (gross national happiness index, environmentalism, Buddhism). Could not recommend MyBhutan more for their ability to create a trip tailored to our needs. And our trip designer and Gyembo were invaluable guides throughout our two-week stay.
Matthew's Journey Map
