What is Legacy Travel and Why is It Important?

Travels with the Grandparents to The Beach

What is legacy travel you ask?

Legacy travel is the idea of investing in travel as a means of building relationships, creating rich memories, and providing for an enriched education. It is valuing experiences and memories as much, or more than, material items. It is the concept of investing in a monumental holiday that will enrich the lives of you, your loved ones, and others along the way. It is the idea that instead of simply leaving an inheritance of monetary value, you gift memory rich experiences that bring you closer together and provide for an education of significance outside of the classroom.

We travel for a variety of reasons, such as to see the beautiful place we have always dreamt of, to broaden our minds, to cultivate romance, to experience the thrill of adventure, to relax and to appease our curiosity. There is something about travel that touches the soul and awakens the senses. It is addicting for many of us and I believe most would say it brings us closer together while enriching our lives.

There is a purpose to our travels with different seasons and reasons for each. However, the one that excites me the most and to which we will focus the company, is the concept of Legacy Travel. 

This concept of Legacy Travel can, and often, includes charitable work. When I was fourteen years old my Father took me on a legacy vacation that forever changed my life and my view of the world. We traveled to Ghana with a medical missions team and also spent some time in London on the way back. I have experienced and planned a number of similar volunteer trips like this around the world to places such as India, Mexico, Argentina, China and Kenya. However, the charitable aspect of Legacy Travel does not necessarily have to include hands on volunteering. Legacy Travel can be as simple as partnering with an organization such as Pack for a Purpose in which you bring supplies to those in need, or choosing to stay in boutique hotels such as Gayana in Borneo that invests in marine biology research, or Sol y Luna in Peru which supports educational projects and creates jobs for the community. There are many hotels, resorts, and tour operators in luxury travel which have partnered with or even established foundations or trusts which aid the local community. These include examples such as Nihi Sumba Island, Como Hotels & Resorts, Teardrop Hotels, Wilderness Safaris, African Bush Camps and more. It is good thing to give back to the country that hosts you for your travels.

A number of years ago my family went through a difficult time when I lost my then husband followed by my sister losing one of her twin babies at birth. I will never forget sitting around the dinner table and talking about what really matters in life. It was then and there that my parents decided to invest in a bucket list vacation for our family. We spent two weeks in New Zealand and I will always carry the memories that we made close to heart. Though we did not participate in any volunteer work on this vacation, we spent valuable time together in awe of God's glorious creation while enjoying the peaceful nature and thrill of adventure that the country provides.

I had clients that came to me wanting to invest in an monumental vacation with their kids each year until the kids are grown and off to University. They are being purposeful in investing in not only time together, but in experiences that will positively impact the lives of their family. As a Financial Planner, my client understands the value of the investment he is making with this vacation. This year they will be traveling to Botswana where they will experience the joy of watching their children's faces while on an epic safari. In Cape Town we have arranged a unique educational experience of a private chat over tea with an ex warder and ex prisoner from Robben Island who were contemporaries of Nelson Mandela. They will stay in a five star hotel but will also pack supplies for those in need which will be distributed by the safari company we are working with. It is going on the holiday they have dreamt of while being purposeful in how it is done. Legacy travel is not just for families, but for individuals, couples, friends, and the corporate world as well.

We all leave a legacy behind and hopefully the legacy we leave is a fruitful one. The moments we live and how we live them end up creating our life and ultimately our legacy as well.

Purposeful Wanderings will continually scout out the best partners in both travel and charity in order to create the perfect itinerary for you, your loved ones, or your business. We are currently traveling the world to scout out and experience those whose ethos align with this concept and who are excelling at what they do.

Whos’s with us? Contact sarah@purposefulwanderings.com or john@purposefulwanderings.com to enquire.