Spencer
Wilderness Travel: Great! But Always Room for Improvement
We've taken five trips with Wilderness Travel (WT). That in itself is a review and recommendation. WT is great! But there's always room for improvement. Consider adding/planning more customized trips for those who want more flexibility than what is offered on fixed itineraries; eg. Raja Ampat offers nothing but snorkeling for 12 days. Must be other things to see and do. Trip leaders can make or break a trip. Keys to successful leadership are a passion for the place and subject matter with an equal measure of love for sharing it with the people/group on the trip. Some have it; others aren't as good at connecting with the people. Keep looking for great leaders and winnow out the ones that don't have their hearts in it.
Response from Wilderness TravelMay 14, 2019
Thank you so much for your review, Spencer! At Wilderness Travel we try to set a very high bar for ourselves, and feedback like yours helps us continue to push that bar higher. Your suggestion to add more customizable trips is a great one. We are constantly expanding our Private Journey collection where the trip, activities, and accommodations can be customized to meet the interests of the private group. When logistics allow, we are also adding more and more hiking trips where we are able to offer two daily options (longer and shorter hikes). We could not agree more about the importance of our Trip Leaders to our adventures! When people ask what sets our trips apart, we always start by speaking about our Trip Leaders, who are an incredible group of individuals. We have very high standards for the leaders we hire, and as you mentioned—we look not only for leaders with deep subject matter expertise, but also those who are also truly passionate about sharing their country and knowledge with our travelers. Thank you again for taking the time to give us such thoughtful feedback and helping us continue to strive for excellence! We appreciate it and hope to welcome you on trip #6 soon!