Responsible Travel
Travel made your way ™
As travelers ourselves, we know that exploring responsibly is important, and we work hard to give back to the places and people that have inspired our company from the very start. Their success is our success. This philosophy is built into our vetting process for our overseas operations, where we have committed to working with sustainability-minded partners as often as possible in the destinations we offer.
We establish strong relationships with local destination management companies in the countries we offer. This means we strive to keep your money in the hands of those operators who support our commitment to giving back and providing you with a great adventure. Our partners are like-minded and often adhere to principles such as "leave no trace". They seek to minimize impact and aim to incorporate travel experiences that directly support the preservation of local habitats, wildlife, and communities. Many spearhead projects such as tree replanting efforts, well and waterhole construction projects, carbon off-setting initiatives, or have created foundations to teach local communities skills in business and conversation to preserve lands for tourism instead of exploitation.
Discover the impact your trip can make by exploring our operators' pages. See more details about our Operating Standards here. We take great pride in being a supportive partner in these ongoing projects. You may even have the opportunity to contribute to these initiatives during your journey, as we sometimes offer a day or two of volunteering. Feel free to inquire about the possibility of incorporating this into your trip! In the past, our additional activities have included volunteering through local connections or participating in local projects such as tree-planting. Together, let's create meaningful experiences and leave a positive mark on the places we visit.
In our early days, we created and administered a grassroots grant project, issuing grants to projects in the destinations that we visited. It felt great to give back to the places that hosted us and our travelers and by 2019, Adventure Life had granted $98,748. Those funds were used to support projects such as a women's cultural skills center in Cusco, building irrigation and wells in local villages we'd long visited, funding tree replanting efforts in the Sacred Valley, stocking science labs in a local community, and other educational projects. Find links to past projects here.
In 2023, we banded together with many other travel companies with a similar desire to fund grassroots projects in local communities by joining the Adventure Traveler’s Conservation Fund (ATCF). We are now able to make a bigger impact by supporting grants for projects that preserve habitats, wildlife, and cultures all over the world.
We are longtime active members of IGTOA (International Galapagos Tour Operators Association). As of 2023, Adventure Life and our travelers have together donated $227,620 over the years to help with everything from beach cleanups to policing against shark finning. Our company is a long-standing member with staff serving on the board of this conservation-focused organization that directly funds vital protection and education projects in the Galapagos. Learn more about IGTOA here.
We are also proud and active members of IAATO, International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, a self-governing body comprised of sustainability-minded operators aiming to preserve Antarctica for the enjoyment of generations to come. IAATO members draft self-imposed restrictions surrounding tourism activity in the region to ensure their members have "no more than a minor or transitory impact on the Antarctica environment".
Other past partnerships have also included Travelers Against Plastic (TAP) and Ecology Project International (EPI), as well as being a founding member of the Rainforest Alliance's TOPS (Tour Operators Promoting Sustainability), which has since transitioned to its certification organization for tour operators with Preferred By Nature. Our role in this groundbreaking campaign at the time was to educate and encourage our local partners and lodges to complete the rigorous Rainforest Alliance verification process and then to incentivize their commitment by promoting trips that utilize their services and lodging.
Conservation at home is as important as conservation in the field. Before becoming an entirely remote office, we promoted recycling in our office and sustainable commuting to work—winning our city-wide commuter challenge three years running. We continue to win even after switching to our remote lifestyle!
Embracing various forms of responsible travel, Adventure Life journeys with purpose. We invite you to explore our world with vigor and compassion, respect and wonder, and to fully understand how you can make an impact while you travel.
