ABOUT OUTREMER
With a vision of faithful & authentic pilgrimage experiences offered at a price-point which aspiring pilgrims could actually afford, OUTREMER was conceived & developed through the Advent season of A.D. 2024, and launched on the Feast of the Epiphany; January 6th, A.D. 2025. The model of our business is simple; to collaborate with our extensive network of travel, tourism, & hospitality contacts around Europe, the Americas, & the globe to assemble world-class religious-travel itineraries, & offer them to our clients in the United States for the edification of their souls & the greater-glory of God. We are proudly based in New Orleans, Louisiana in the Faubourg Ste. Marie. Further, our company is proudly 100% Catholic-owned-&-operated. We consider our business to not-only be a means of providing for our material needs, but also as a way to enable those we serve to grow closer to God. We strongly believe this can be accomplished through experiencing the best fruits of Christian Culture, including fine-art, music, cuisine, language, architecture, & most importantly, the Holy Sacraments of the Church, instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ; which we, without exception, provide to all of our pilgrims.
OUTRE-MER is a French term that can be used to refer to far-away countries, be they in Africa, the Orient or America. It is a direct translation of the Latin ULTRA MARE, literally ‘across the sea’, which in its adjectival form, ULTRAMARINUS, also produced the English word ultramarine; the blue pigment derived from the mineral lapis lazuli which, in medieval times, was imported from Asia by-sea. Within a medieval context, Outremer also became a word used to refer to the Crusader States in the Holy Land & more specifically to the French settlements in the conquered territories of the Near or Middle East; the lands ‘across the sea’. Traditionally, the term is also used in French to refer to the historical & modern overseas territories of France, such as the French Antilles, Algeria, Tunisia, Indochina, Québec, & Louisiana. We believe these Franco-Catholic roots, steeped in Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, perfectly represent what we are seeking to offer to the world: Pious, authentic, & fruitful Pilgrimages & travel experiences to places of spiritual & historical importance.
The symbol of our company, this crest, is the ancestral coat-of-arms granted to the family of Mr. Thomer’s ancestors, the viscomital house of Santo Domingo, by King Felipe II of Spain at Valladolid on the 18th of May, A.D. 1577.
The heraldic description (blazon) is as follows:
“En el primer cuarto del escudo que tiene un fondo rojo hay tres castillos de plata, uno encima del otro. & en la otra mitad, de fondo azul, hay tres lirios de oro y una concha de plata.”
The silver castle on a red background represents the City of Burgos, the ancient home of the family, the three fleur-de-lis represent France, where the family relocated, & the scallop-shell represents the family’s devotion to pilgrimage, specifically Way of St. James. Considering this ancestral devotion, we have seen it fit to have this old crest represent OUTREMER in its mission of pilgrimage.
ABOUT OUTREMER’S STAFF
Ms. HANNAH TRUONG - Co-founder, Operations Directress, Accountant, &c.
Mr. WILLIAM THOMER - Co-founder, President, Webmaster, &c.
Ms. Hannah Truong was born & raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the daughter of Canto-Vietnamese & Catholic refugees who fled their home in Viet Nam following the Fall of Saigon. Ms. Truong attended the University of Tulsa where she served as the Sacristan for the University’s Newman Center, now known as Saint Philip Neri University Parish. After completing her B.A. in Chemistry, Ms. Truong briefly relocated to Naples, Florida, where she intended to complete an M.A. in Theology with Ave Maria University. Shortly after moving, she came to the conclusion that she wanted to work directly, rather than theoretically, towards ministering to the Church. She relocated back to Tulsa, & helped to expand the Catholic summer youth-program, Totus Tuus, to Florida. Afterwards, Hannah relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana to work in the Travel & Hospitality Industry. Soon enough, Ms. Truong felt a strong desire to direct her work more sincerely towards the greater glory of God, & to escape the grind of corporate life. She partnered with Mr. William Thomer over the Advent of A.D. 2024 with a vision to create & launch OUTREMER, which she now serves as the Directress of Operations, Accountant, & Customer-Support Agent.
Mr. William Thomer is a Creole & Catholic native to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, having been born in Gulfport, raised in Pascagoula, & sojourning in North-East Oklahoma for a decade following Hurricane Katrina before returning to the Gulf Coast, presently residing in New Orleans, Louisiana. A seasoned professional in the Logistics & Shipping industry, Mr. Thomer worked to expand & solidify J.B. Hunt’s Final-Mile delivery network in Louisiana, Arkansas, & Oklahoma. After finishing these projects, William accepted a position with Amazon.com to expand its operations in Louisiana, leading an Outbound Robotics team for the launch of Amazon’s first Robotic Fulfillment Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Following the successful construction, launch, and ramp-up of operations at this facility in Baton Rouge, & wanting to direct his labor towards something more impactful & fulfilling, Mr. Thomer resigned his position with Amazon to focus his attention entirely on building & launching OUTREMER in collaboration with Ms. Hannah Truong during the Advent season of A.D. 2024. He now serves as OUTREMER’s President & Webmaster in addition to assisting with day-to-day operation & scoping out new destinations to offer on Pilgrimage itineraries.
