312 Giving Back When We Travel

Dec 5, 2023

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The statistics tell us so: more and more of us want to give back and do good when we travel. This is heartening, right? Now we just have to start figuring out the best ways to contribute to the places we visit, in genuinely useful ways - and some of these are described in this episode.

First up, I chat with Roger Smith of Echidna Walkabout who gives a good overview of giving back, and shares his wisdom from a tour operator perspective. I wish every tour operator thought like Roger!

Next, I speak to Meg Jerrard and Mar Pages, two hardworking women I've known for many years, who now run small group tours under their Solo Female Travelers Club brand. Through this work, they've been giving back in Tanzania, and explain the story of Glory Thobias, who runs the Tanzanian Women Guides Foundation and trains female porters and guides to work in the lucrative tourism industry at Mount Kilimanjaro.

Finally, I talk to Peter Baines, founder of Hands Across the Water, a company offering cycling tours of Thailand with a very important giving back purpose, aided by compulsory fundraising for the tour participants. It's a great model that's proven vital for helping some at-risk groups of children in Thailand.

Links:

Roger Smith - Echidna Walkabout - https://echidnawalkabout.com.au/
Meg Jerrard and Mar Pages - Solo Female Travelers Club - https://www.solofemaletravelers.club/
Glory’s Tanzanian Women Guides Foundation -https://tanzaniawomenguidesfoundation.org/
Peter Baines - Hands Across the Water - https://www.handsacrossthewater.org.au/
The Perils of Giving Back - JoAnna Haugen - https://rootedstorytelling.com/social-impact/tourism-travel-giving-back/
Carolyn Beasley’s Australian Geographic article on Travel for Good - https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/travel/2023/08/travel-for-good/
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/312

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