VACATIONS THAT MATTER
When you're looking for something meaningful in your travels.
There is something amazing that happens to a person’s soul when they experience a new part of the world, when they push themselves to do something a little bit scary, using the time to reconnect with loved ones or when they spend their time and money making a positive difference to the world. That’s what we mean at Synergistic Travels when we say Vacations that Matter.
Yes, the Fly & Flop (ie - fly into an all inclusive resort and your only plan is to flop into a chaise lounge by the pool staying there long enough to leave your butt print) is incredibly important and sometimes exactly what our soul needs, but maybe this year is the year you stretch a bit.
Maybe this is the year you make a conscious decision to vacation differently, decisions that make your vacation matter in a much bigger way.
Here are some examples:
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Overcoming Fear or Completing an Incredible Challenge Afraid of heights - heights are a lot less scary in a hot air balloon over an incredible landscape so gorgeous you completely forget you’re floating thousands of feet above the air. And when you land safely, you realize maybe heights aren’t that bad.
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Trekking the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu is 4 days of tough trekking managing terrain that was designed to halt enemies from attacking, back to back nights sleeping in a tent, and pressing on no matter the condition (rain, snow, sleet, hail, heat and rainforest). However, we promise you the confidence you feel when you arrive in ancient city and you realize what your body and mind accomplished to get you there will carry through into your life long after you leave Peru.
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You can choose to volunteer on vacation spending time at an animal sanctuary, doing beach clean up, building homes, teaching in schools, or for the scuba divers out there a coral restoration dive.
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Animal Species Conservation: Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is GREAT example of how tourism dollars are directly responsible for not only protecting the animal species but also giving a viable income to the local communities. There are multiple animal species conservation opportunities out there!
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How about spending some time at an animal sanctuary feeding and caring for your favorite specifies (don’t worry, we know how to tell the real sanctuaries from the fake ones). You get up close and personal with your favorite species and leaving knowing you made a positive impact too.
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Let’s talk about inspirational trips for the kids! Do you have a child that loves dinosaurs? How inspiring would it be to take her digging for real life dinosaur fossils showing her the path to be a Paleontologist.
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For the adults, are you suffering from burnout, unhealthy diet, and you know you need to make a change but not sure how to reset? How about a wellness resort with a custom track designed for your lifestyle goals. From cooking classes, personal training, mediation & yoga sessions, and meetings with wellness experts whose only goal is to give you the tools you need live a healthier life. You leave with a playbook that you helped create, ensuring greater long term success.
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Sometimes Vacations that Matter are simply choosing where to spend your money; from what destination you visit to where you are staying. We look for smaller resorts that actively engage and hire local the community instead of importing the team from other countries. We also love resorts who actively engage and support their communities in other ways. Did you know that some Africa lodges buy the area’s big game hunting permits preventing hunters from buying and ultimately killing the animals? That’s the kind of lodge we love to support. These lodges matter to their locals, even if it’s local wildlife.
At Synergistic Travels, we love booking all types of trips, but Vacations that Matter are our personal favorite. Cindy Jorgenson, our founder, loves to tell her personal story of trekking Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania years ago. She credits that vacation for increasing her confidence leading to multiple promotions, public speaking, navigating boardrooms, and many other successful business ventures - including leaving corporate America to start this agency.