JOURNEYS grew from our gratifying experiences in the Peace Corps and as teachers, conservation workers and travelers in Nepal in the early 1970’s. We learned how inspirational and satisfying culturally-respectful and environmentally-sensitive travel can be. After returning to graduate school at the University of Michigan, we longed to revisit the Himalayas. We sat in our student apartment and typed up (on a typewriter!) a one-page flyer inviting "curious, hearty souls" to join us on a "Journey to Nepal." We were clear about what we wanted to do: we hoped to share a place that we knew and loved with others who were open and eager for new adventures. We didn’t label this ecotourism, or sustainable travel or responsible tourism. We only knew that we wanted our travel group to be small enough not to overwhelm the experience, we wanted to interact directly and respectfully with local people and natural environments, and, rather than drain local resources, we believed we should make a contribution to their preservation. We were committed to the idea that local people and communities must tangibly benefit from this idea which came to be called ecotravel and ecotourism. We made this concept work and JOURNEYS today is an ongoing experiment and celebration of more than 30 years of ecotourism evolution in action.



Now there are many more people working with us and many more destinations in our tour portfolio. Comparing this website with our initial one-page flyer, we are stunned by the distance we have traveled and the constancy of our goals. Our growth has been steady but gradual. We added new trip destinations only after we knew them well and had established personal relationships with the people who would be operating our programs. We have a personal feeling for each trip on this website and in our catalog. Many of our staff around the world have worked with us since our first experiences in their home areas. We continue to enjoy the process of developing new trips and personalizing each departure for the interests of the participants.