Welcome to Do the Right Thing on Truth.Travel, our online forum to talk about all the things responsible travel. Today we present travel specialist, entrepreneur, and philanthropic travel expert Andrea Ross of Journey's Within. Andrea will be a regular blogger for Do the Right Thing so stay tuned for more posts from Southeast Asia. Don't miss Dinda Elliott's opening post on the thinking behind Do the Right Thing.
Anytime I give a talk or write a piece about philanthropic travel or philanthropy in general I like to start off by being very clear. I am not a bleeding heart, I don’t eat granola and I am not in the habit of hugging trees. I am a business woman, a traveler, and a mom and the value I put on philanthropy and traveling with a conscience come from my desire to be good at those roles; not from a stellar value system or an overdeveloped desire to save the world.
While I do feel that I have a “normal” commitment to helping others, I have had a more than average opportunity to do so, and for that I feel very fortunate. My husband and I moved to Southeast Asia seven years ago. We had previously traveled in the region and loved it, so after selling the house, the cars, and finding homes for the dogs, we moved to Cambodia and started Journeys Within Tour Company and B&B. Since we’re blogging on Truth.Travel, I have to be honest and say that we started the company to make money, and not necessarily to ‘make a difference’. We have had a successful seven years now with offices in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, but we have also achieved so much more. What we realized was that doing business wasn’t going to be enough. We had to do “good” business. Living and working in Cambodia we decided that “hiring local” just didn’t make enough impact; we wanted to really help and support the community that we were now a part of.
Anytime I give a talk or write a piece about philanthropic travel or philanthropy in general I like to start off by being very clear. I am not a bleeding heart, I don’t eat granola and I am not in the habit of hugging trees. I am a business woman, a traveler, and a mom and the value I put on philanthropy and traveling with a conscience come from my desire to be good at those roles; not from a stellar value system or an overdeveloped desire to save the world.
While I do feel that I have a “normal” commitment to helping others, I have had a more than average opportunity to do so, and for that I feel very fortunate. My husband and I moved to Southeast Asia seven years ago. We had previously traveled in the region and loved it, so after selling the house, the cars, and finding homes for the dogs, we moved to Cambodia and started Journeys Within Tour Company and B&B. Since we’re blogging on Truth.Travel, I have to be honest and say that we started the company to make money, and not necessarily to ‘make a difference’. We have had a successful seven years now with offices in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, but we have also achieved so much more. What we realized was that doing business wasn’t going to be enough. We had to do “good” business. Living and working in Cambodia we decided that “hiring local” just didn’t make enough impact; we wanted to really help and support the community that we were now a part of.
A lot of credit for the
community projects we started and our focus on philanthropic travel
needs to go to our guests. You as consumers really have the power to
change how travel companies impact the communities they work in! From
the beginning, our guests asked how they could help and what they could
do to make a difference. With this in mind we started Journeys Within Our Community
(JWOC), a 501c3 founded on the slogan, ‘See A Problem, Solve A
Problem’. Since starting JWOC we have done just that and with the help
and support of travelers and our guests, we have dramatically changed
lives. In 2008 we were thrilled to win the Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards
and in 2009, I was honored to be a judge. What I realized as I read
through the many applications was that what JWOC and our team are doing
to make a difference is starting to happen globally, and travel is
becoming a very powerful vehicle for change.
In the end, philanthropic travel just goes back to who I am. As a business woman, I can offer a unique experience to my guests, as well as support the communities I base my business around. As a traveler, I get to feel good about the impact I’m having and get an intimate invitation into the lives of those I’m helping. And as a mom, I hope that I am showing my children the power that they have to change the world while leading by example.
I am thrilled that Truth.Travel is embracing this new ideal…that travelers truly can make a difference. In the coming weeks I hope to give you practical tips, success stories of when it’s worked, as well as talk about some of the pitfalls and issues surrounding this new trend. I look forward to your questions, your comments and your concerns and I hope that we can take this new idea of “good” travel, to just being how we travel!
In the end, philanthropic travel just goes back to who I am. As a business woman, I can offer a unique experience to my guests, as well as support the communities I base my business around. As a traveler, I get to feel good about the impact I’m having and get an intimate invitation into the lives of those I’m helping. And as a mom, I hope that I am showing my children the power that they have to change the world while leading by example.
I am thrilled that Truth.Travel is embracing this new ideal…that travelers truly can make a difference. In the coming weeks I hope to give you practical tips, success stories of when it’s worked, as well as talk about some of the pitfalls and issues surrounding this new trend. I look forward to your questions, your comments and your concerns and I hope that we can take this new idea of “good” travel, to just being how we travel!
I was in the midst of doing research for the Resources section of my recently launched social network, www.myadventures.com, when I came across Journeys-within in AFAR magazine. Your site then lead me to this blog and your message, which I found very inspiring. In developing a list of adventure vendors I'm trying to limit the entries to small operators. No big travel companies. I only want those who are looking for customers "who have left the beaten path" as part of the motto for the Chicago Adventurers Club goes. I very much like your site and your philosophy and hope you don't mind my adding your URL to my Resources list. I'm in the midst of revising the old one so it may not be posted for a while...but it wlll be there one of these days!