How to Make an Impact
Why “Impact” Travel Is Needed Now More Than Ever
There is a significant difference between a traditional vacation and the type of travel that makes a difference in the world. While a relaxing week away is sometimes just what is needed, there is something special about a trip that takes you out of your routine and leaves a lasting impression for a lifetime.
We call this type of travel “Impact” because it has three essential effects on the experience in that it:
Encourages connection over consumption
Fosters cultural awareness
Offers a unique chance to give back in a way that creates a ripple effect in the future.
Connection Over Consumption
The typical vacation focuses on the individual experience, indulgence, and pure relaxation. It involves consuming as much food, sights, and sounds as you can pack into a week away. While this can be wonderful at the moment, once it’s over, it can leave a sense of emptiness that creates a longing for the next time, often before you’re even home.
There is a more sustainable way to experience a vacation that feels satisfying for months or years. It’s the kind of travel that focuses on connecting with local communities and environments. It doesn't remove the indulgences of the food and sights, but rather, they are heightened by the connection you experience with the people and their way of life. This is what we consider “real” travel: meeting locals, sharing a traditional meal, and understanding their ecosystems in a way that fosters mutual respect and understanding of their culture.
Promotes Cultural Awareness
Getting out of your comfort zone, routine, and way of life can be a profoundly enlivening experience. Seeing the world through others' eyes helps us develop as more conscientious individuals who view the world as a greater whole rather than a place of self-serving consumption.
Impact travel offers a deep immersion into the cultures, traditions, and daily lives of the people and places we visit. We find that this cultivates awareness, empathy, and diversity in our thinking and actions toward others. Nothing quite brings home cultural awareness, like sharing a traditional meal with people who have been cooking the same way for thousands of years. Or when you join with a community to understand their deepest needs and bring in life-sustaining resources such as fresh water or a new school building, that will leave a lasting impact for generations.
Giving to Empower Communities
Participating in an Impact Adventure Tour means you make an immediate and significant impact during your time away. That’s because we focus on sustainable development and community-led initiatives. This is our goal, no matter the project or country. Whether we focus on environmental conservation projects, business development, education, or much-needed infrastructure for basic needs, you are making a positive impact in the lives of the people you meet.
This intentional and reciprocal relationship between the traveler and the community members moves tourism away from the individual experience and ensures that it benefits everyone involved. You work alongside local organizations and community leaders. You collaborate with organizers and other motivated and giving people. Your work becomes magnified through this team effort, and it becomes gratifying to watch the transformation of individual lives and the greater community it impacts.
We put a great deal of time and intention into our adventures to create a meaningful vacation and, more importantly, leave a legacy for both you as a traveler and the local communities with whom we collaborate. There is no shortage of work to be done and a limitless capacity to make an impact as we build the connections for a healthier world tomorrow. You can be a part of this impact. Your participation is needed now more than ever.
