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Let’s talk about Laos for a second.. as it’s a bit more controversial than you might think.

We ran our first Laos women only trekking trip a couple of months ago.

It was incredible. In one area, our group was the FIRST EVER group of Western travellers to pass through.

Some people have had concerns about this.

Western companies don’t always bring good. They bring rubbish and cultural disruption.

This is why in some corners, people thought it was controversial that we were going.

There’s a bit of an image of Western travel companies that they think they’re doing a lot of good, but often are not doing as much as they think.

Sustainable tourism practices were barely on anyone’s radar 30 years ago, and we can see how much certain places have suffered - Pattaya, Kuta come to mind.

This is why for Laos especially - but ALL places that have less Western exposure - we follow a series of protocols when it comes to how we work with local villagers.

Firstly, we always make sure to have a local partner on the ground who has a relationship and connection to the place.

Second, the local villagers receive training about what they should expect and how they should prepare.

Third, we make sure our economic impact is positive. If you put too much money into an area - yes, this is a thing - you can cause people to leave behind traditional ways of life to chase a buck. Nice in the short term, but because travel has ups and downs, this can cause long term destruction of a viable culture.

It’s a true balance that needs to be struck because the funds we provide can help to..

- Fund improvements to sanitary conditions
- Pay for medical bills
- Improve farming equipment

Or even just to cover the odds and ends of life.

It’s impossible to do perfectly, but with some mindfulness it’s possible to do this very well.

And we’ll keep monitoring our impact on Laos in the mean time. ...

These ladies have just taken off on our remote village trek in northern Laos! Very excited and looking forward to seeing more photos from this trip...🪴 ...