Please Share!
Finding your passion and figuring out how to make a business out of it definitely takes some thought. When I initially started working on things and had no clue as to what I was doing, I thought I would only provide volunteer vacations as I mentioned in my earlier blog Dream Big and Opportunity will… Knock You Out. I didn’t really know what else I could provide. Since I was focusing only on volunteer work, I struggled in the beginning with whether or not I should cover all types of volunteer work or only work with animals. At the time this felt like a tricky decision because while my passion is animals that doesn’t mean that everyone’s is or that I don’t love and want to help children or anyone else for that matter. While I was in law school I volunteered with children in an after school program teaching them basic legal concepts, it was wonderful. I have a big heart and I figured my clients would want options. There were so many types of volunteer work I could include that would all be wonderful and extremely fulfilling endeavors. But it was nagging at me, the same way things nagged at me when I was working at my law firm…
I knew if I included all of these areas I wouldn’t be being true to myself or to my audience. I would be trying to be overly broad in order to reach more people instead of being true to my passion – the thing that wakes me up in the morning, that motivates my almost every decision, that makes me want to be a better person, to do better, to inspire, to educate, to nurture, to help, the thing that motivated me to start this business in the first place – my love of animals and passion for animal welfare. Does that make me a bad person? I don’t think so. Of course I care about children but my particular passion is animals. As Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, so elegantly articulated in his blog Doing Well by Doing Good “[w]e are all driven by different passions, but it is that pluralism of interests that, in the aggregate, creates a civil society.” We all have our particular passions that we pour our energies into and together our passions can unite and help the whole world.
I stood by this ideology because if I was going to give this business the start it deserves I needed to be totally honest and sincere with my clients and with myself. Once I made that decision, a whole world of possibilities opened up on how I can help people help animals while they travel. So to give you a general overview, here are the various types of services this company will provide you with (you can also check out our About YTT page):
- Trips abroad where you work with animal welfare organizations (that I have scouted out personally!) while mixing in sightseeing and adventure activities with nice hotel stays. We believe the best way to travel is to do a combination of volunteer work with sightseeing and pampering. Can’t be all work and no play right?! We’ll cater everything to your schedule, your budget and your travel preferences.
- Safari trips where you can see animal as they should be, in their natural environment.
- Trips to vegetarian/vegan resorts.
- Cruises where the focus is viewing wild animals or eating vegetarian/vegan cuisine.
- Travel arrangements for trips to farm sanctuaries.
- Assistance finding vegetarian/vegan restaurants while traveling.
- Travel arrangements for flying your pet within the United States.
- Vacations in the U.S. with your pet in pet friendly hotels.
- Assistance with steering clear of hotels that have wild animals on display.
- Guidance for finding animal friendly travel products – no animal testing, no leather!
- Last but not least, our blog for some animal advocacy and travel insights!
Can you dig it?!
So this type of travel may not be for everyone but I’m hoping I’ll have animal people on my side. And like me, animal people are a passionate bunch!! This company is therefore dedicated to all the animals of the world who have been dealt a heavy hand and to all the beautiful people who try to give them the lives they deserve.
We will officially be in business soon so stay tuned for updates and for the launch of our website. In the meantime, subscribe to our blog for all our animal/travel related musings and share it with your friends! Also we are now on facebook and twitter so click here & here to check us out!
I can’t wait to see sample of trips you are going to organize! Will you organize trips to Africa?
Thanks! We will have safari trips to Africa and will continually add new trips and destinations each year so stay tuned!