Why our collaboration with Intrepid Travel, gives us a unique edge - and you a better and safer trip!
All of our land arrangements are sub-contracted to Intrepid Travel, who are one of the best Adventure Travel and Small Group travel companies available. Intrepid were formed over 35 years ago by two Australian travellers and have since became one of the leaders in their industry and expanded around the World.
I first started working with Intrepid in 1998 and have been closely involved ever since. I was invited by one of the founders to lead a couple of photography tours for them in 2006, to Thailand and to India. This first photo tour of India set the bar really high, as it was when I met and first travelled with Chetan who is one of the most respected Intrepid Leaders worldwide. I have regularly worked with Chetan ever since, and can't imagine leading a trip to India without him.
After successfully running these two tours, I was invited to come up with my own series of tours, with the land arrangements provided by the newly formed Intrepid Travel Private Groups department. This work is now carried out through Intrepid's Tailor Made office in London.
The benefits of this collaboration are immense and varied. You will have arrangements that are meticulously organised by Intrepid's network of local offices around the World, by people who were born and live in the countries and regions that we are travelling in - but overseen by the leading name in the small group adventure travel industry.
We will also have the security of Intrepid's worldwide expertise and back-up in the unlikely event that anything should go wrong. his might be something that affects the trip - such as a natural disaster, or even some pillock starting a war in the Middle East that affects travel arrangements around the World.
The security extends to Intrepid 's comprehensive industry bonding. As these trips are run out of the UK Tailor Made office, this includes ABTA and ATOL bonding. UK travel industry protection is amongst the most stringent in the World, and as your booking is with Intrepid Travel, you will benefit from this full protection.
This also means that you are able to add your international flights to your booking, meaning that they are protected too - and also generally that you don't have to pay for the flights until the tour is officially confirmed and the full, final payment is due.
If your flight starts and finishes in the United Kingdom, then your entire trip can be protected by the UK ATOL certification – probably the best comprehensive travel protection available.
Travelling with Intrepid Travel is about far more than just safety though. Their stated Core Purpose - which they are prepared to validify through B Corp Certification - is to to create positive change through the joy of travel. The entire ethos of the company is to travel as morally and responsibly as possible.
Intrepid Travel itself is a carbon neutral company, and they are working hard to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of their trips.
On the ground, their Core Purpose affects how they travel too. Wherever possible Intrepid will book locally owned accomodation and transport providers, so that the benefits from your trip will go to local communities.
In 2002, Intrepid set up the Intrepid Foundation to try to put something back by supporting community led projects around the World, and we will often try to visit some of these community projects on our trips. This might be a restaurant, set up to train street kids or a shop that sells the work of amputees in Asia.
The biggest benefit from my collaboration with Intrepid Trevl though are the incredible local leaders that will accompany every trip. These are the best trained leaders in the industry, as it witnessed by the fact that other companies are continually trying to poach Intrepid leaders.
Even the leaders that aren't directly employed by Intrepid receive a comprehensive training and are expected to meet the company's exacting standards.
The Intrepid Leaders are there to make sure that the trips run smoothly, but more than that – they are the ambassadors for their country and for Intrepid. They are there to ease any culture shock that you might feel, and help you to get the very best out of your trip; showing you how to avoid any cultural offence and helping you to learn about a country and its culture.
Over the years I have worked with some of the very best leaders in Intrepid Travel. From the incomparable Chetan, who likes nothing better than joining in with Holi dancing (except copious cups of sweet Chai of course), to Min in Myanmar, Ant in Laos, Elias in Ethiopia and Muggie in Mongolia – who even helped us rescue to people out of a light aircraft crash!
It is these skilled and experienced leaders who put the theory of the Intrepid Core Purpose into practice, day after day, and who will help you to live that Core Purpose for yourself – to create positive change through the joy of travel.
Over the past 30 or so years Intrepid Travel have expanded to have offices with well-trained and experienced local leaders all over the World. This means that I can organise tours pretty much anywhere, safe in the knowledge that working with such an established and responsible company will ensure that you have the best travel experience and the most beneficial effect on the country you are traveling in.
