Sustainable Tourism: Episode 074

Diane Valenti loves to travel and is especially enthusiastic about philanthropic and sustainable travel. She is the founder of Llama Expeditions, which gives private guided trips to South America. These trips are for the young at heart who looking for life changing perspectives. Oh, and for her 9-5 corporate job, she consults with Fortune 500 companies to design learning experiences that help employees reach their potential at work. In 2008 Diane and her father took a trip to Machu Pichu to fulfill one of his bucket list items. It was a magical experience that really moved her. Diane decided she wanted to create these experiences for others. With each tour she makes a donation, and she also gives the opportunity for her guests to donate. She chooses the organizations who get her philanthropic attention by researching them at Idealist.  Diane wants to leave a trace…but the right kind of trace. This is not what some people call “voluntourism”.  These groups are not painting walls, only for the next group to repaint them.  (Yes this happens!) These are trips where you really get to know the people.  And you get to see that your donation makes a difference. And that's how you can participate in sustainable tourism.  It's Philanthropic tourism at it's best. Today's Freebie:  The Traveler's Guide to Changing the World which you can find by going to http://RockYourRetirement.com/Travel You can reach her at http://llamaexpeditions.com Special Thanks to: * Angie Strehlow who helps us get great guests that help us with our retirement lifestyle while keeping everything on track…and helps with these show notes! * Les Briney, my husband, and Danny Ozment of Emerald City Pro who edits the show and makes my guests and me sound terrific * Henry Shapiro, host of Retired Excited that airs on Fridays * YOU for telling your friends about the show, leaving comments below, and sharing episodes you really like on Facebook, and reviewing the show on iTunes This post about retirement and Retirement Lifestyle first appeared on http://RockYourRetirement.com