For the sixth year running, Joan Weber, Director and Co-Founder of JOURNEYS International, has won the Top Travel Specialist Award for Family Travel: International Adventure and Eco-travel. Joan, a former teacher in the United States and Nepal, has an extensive history in planning family travel. Since the time her children were toddlers, about 20 years ago, Joan and her husband, Will, have been trekking their children across the world to learn about new destinations, cultures and adventures. She has taken this knowledge and has helped plan over 300 annual family trips.
“One of the many reasons we have won this award for the last six years is that we have learned from our own family travel experiences and have applied these ideas to our trips. We have learned that good planning does not mean over-scheduling. There need to be spaces of time for discovery and serendipity. We know that parents enjoy our trips when their kids are happy, and we know that kids are happy when they rest, eat well, and participate in engaging activities which stimulate their curiosity,” states Joan Weber.
For the second year running, Will Weber, Director and Co-Founder of JOURNEYS International, has won Top Travel Specialist. This year he received the Top Travel Specialist for Community Based Tourism. As an ecotourism pioneer and a former Peace Corps volunteer, Will has developed programs throughout the world where travelers can stay in private quarters adjacent to a village family’s home, accompany them to the market, learn their craft, join them for meals and more.
“Through JOURNEYS I have been instrumental in helping local communities in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Latin America develop a capacity for hosting American tourists. I have served as a consultant to US/AID in this capacity in the Pacific and Guyana. Our company offers high quality community-based tourism in 20 countries. We support financially, through our charitable, non-profit Earth Preservation Fund, numerous incipient programs around the world with an expectation they may grow in capability to host high end travelers in acceptable standards. Most of our trips throughout the world feature opportunities to add extensions or create whole personalized itineraries based in community-hosted environments, if the main trip utilizes more conventional accommodations. This is not just a matter of responding to a growing market for such travel opportunities but rather a long-term philosophical commitment to building cross-cultural strategies for sustaining local communities, cultures and environments,” states Will Weber.
For more information on JOURNEYS family, community-based, or other types of adventure travel go to www.journeys.travel.
About JOURNEYS International:
JOURNEYS International of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was recently chosen by National Geographic Traveler magazine as one of the Ten “Best Outfitters on Earth.” JOURNEYS International has specialized in ecotourism since 1978. They offer the best nature tours, safaris, treks, adventure travel, family and cultural trips on earth. Whether it is called an eco-vacation, adventure travel, ecotravel, ecotour, sustainable travel, or responsible travel, for 30 years they have been creating ecologically sensitive and culturally responsible travel to exotic destinations around the world. Specialty ecotrips include women’s tours, Kilimanjaro climbs, exploration cruises, festival trips, student group trips, and cross-cultural and wildlife safaris. For more information about this trip or other JOURNEYS trips visit www.journeys.travel or contact JOURNEYS at 800-255-8735.