Latest / The Wild Woman Within: Recover from Burnout & Achieve True Work-Life Balance Through Feminine Energy / 24| What If Your Next Vacation Changed Someone Else's Life?

Transcript

24| What If Your Next Vacation Changed Someone Else's Life? · The Wild Woman Within: Recover from Burnout & Achieve True Work-Life Balance Through Feminine Energy

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: all right hey there welcome back to the fits and project i'm your host rachel fitzpatrick and today i have christopher hill with hands up holiday welcome christopher to the fits and project
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Rachel.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's great to be here.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: What I love about Christopher is this is the first time I've actually given a podcast or done a podcast without knowing somebody a little bit personally.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: So this is kind of a turn of events for me, which is amazing.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: But it's one of these things that I would call like a stretch goal within project management for me is learning about something new that I never knew existed.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Before I met you and then also how amazing this gift is that you have to give to the world and I cannot wait to dive into your hands up holiday.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: So really, I appreciate you being able to be here and getting into this with me.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: my pleasure
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: that would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself and what is the hands up holiday.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I am living here in New Zealand these days.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was born here, but I've spent quite a bit of time overseas as well.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I live here with my wife and two young boys, aged 12 and 14, and our family dog, Zola.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and i my what is handsome holidays is connected with my with who i am really it's uh it's my third baby i guess you could say um and i got the idea for it on a trip that i took down to south africa back in 2002 and at that point i've been working in finance in london england for six years and on that trip i In addition to going on safari and exploring all that Cape Town and the wine lands and the garden route and so on have to offer, I also helped to build a house for a family in one of the township slum areas just outside of Cape Town.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And this...
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: just enriched the whole travel experience for me in two really significant ways.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: One, it added a new dimension to travel in terms of actually being able to interact with local people and gain insights into their lives and share a story with them.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: and that really contrasted with all the travel that i've done leading up to that after university and before starting work in london i i traveled through uh australia africa and europe and a bit of the us and whilst whilst that trip was incredible it kind of only scratched the surface and didn't um uncover really the the true gems of a country which is its people and and so by actually Working alongside the local people, I actually got that other dimension, got to go a bit deeper and was blown away by that interactions that I had there.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then secondly, it just felt great to actually make a difference in the lives of the family that we were helping alongside.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so I got thinking, well, you know, I've learned some good business skills.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't I put into something I find a bit more, meaningful and fulfilling and make it easy for others to have similar experiences to what I had just had in South Africa.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: So you are providing with your Hands Up Holiday these meaningful relationships with travel.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: And is service-based, would you say?
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Or is luxury-based?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: What would you say is
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: more?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, great question.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the concept really is that it is still a vacation for people.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so typically, a trip can be, say, eight days and of that two to three days is the service component and then the rest of the time is leisure activities that are customized for for each client and yes it is luxury um the luxury runs throughout so including the both the service component and the and the leisure activities tends to be at the at the luxury end i mean every trip is is individually curated and customized for each client but but that's the the audience that we're going for is is that is that high end yeah
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: so when you were going in your trip back in 2002 and you were initially taking other trips you've traveled you're well traveled around all the places like pretty would you say around the world or like local like what was your travel experience like before that trip
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so before that trip, I mean, pretty, I mean, definitely above average, having gone through, you know, Australia, a lot of Eastern and Southern Africa, and then covering a lot of Europe as well.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, pretty extensive for 20, I must have been about 22 then, yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: That is pretty cool, yeah.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: I knew people at 22, they would backpack Europe, so it's almost the same without the service part of them doing service but mainly just to see things but I really find this interesting with yours because it's like you're going and seeing stuff now you're doing this action and then you got into the work of building the house for that community and learning people who live there and was that like a switch of a flip or a flip of a switch I will say that wrong every single time But I mean, for you and like how you felt as a 22 year old man and you're young at that point, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you get in to that intuition of like, this feels good for all the 22 year olds out there?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you know, like, this is what you were meant to do?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, it was a light bulb moment, the flip of the switch.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to articulate, really.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's more of an inner sense of this is it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I should be doing.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: But as I say, it's more like...
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: a realization then that's something really it's not tangible it's it's it's it is more as i say an inner thing um and and realization and awareness is probably the right words to use um just a sense of yeah uh uh this is this is my fit
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: So this is very much about like being in the business of yourself.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just the thing here.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm hearing that from you right now is that, you know, you came into your world and as you knew it, you had just had gone through university.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: You just had lived your life and you were just out there and doing your own personal travels.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then you got into this and you went into this trip and you're like so confident in yourself, like you've got this.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: and this is something that now you want to be able to provide your experience all of the six years you did within finance and all of the things that led up to this like you know synchronicities like this life you know I love that and now you're providing this experience for families between that moment and today and having this what was life like building it like what What was it for you building this
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: out?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but it's, I think, the dream, really.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think, you know, most, many slash most people enjoy travel.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so to be able to make a living out of it is an incredible blessing.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, it was, it was a, you know, it definitely, you know, all startups involve risk.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, it was definitely definitely a calculated risk and a measured risk because I didn't have a family you know that I was providing for at that point didn't have a mortgage to that I needed to pay off and I had enough, I guess, confidence in my abilities that if it all did turn south, then I could just go back into finance if needed to.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, you know, setting it up was basically you know two years of traveling the world and building relationships with different travel communities and and partners so you know as i say it was it was a dream um and and you know just really thrilled that it worked out.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: But there was certainly no certainty that it would, especially because this was a unique concept of trips that combine luxury with luxury.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: vacation with giving back you know hadn't been done before but but then I mean that in hindsight helped because that you know when we were launching it was publicity which really got us a big head start and so you know having something novel definitely helps so you know, we were, you know, very fortunate, even, you know, in the early days of getting coverage in, on CNN, on Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Travel and Leisure magazine.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, within a couple of years, we won the Travel and Leisure, like, I can't remember the name, but like the World Saver Award And so these things were just gold for us.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that was what a time that you were growing.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: You were being born at the same time as social media and the Internet.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you didn't really have that.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, true.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: So you mentioning like these magazines and CNN and getting these awards, like that's not even the goal for most startups these days.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: The goal is just to be as loud as possible on social media.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And you went about it like you landed these great opportunities.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: And when you were doing that, were these people like, this guy's out of his mind?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Or were they like, this is the best idea I've ever heard.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me more.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, mostly the latter.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's an amazing idea.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: When I first heard of it myself, I was like, of course.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, why would this not happen?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: you're right.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: How did that, I'm sure that was some challenging moments or maybe it was natural for you going in that route because, you know, the world didn't know anything else at that time.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like transitioning into the internet and being in today's now and then through COVID and now into AI?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like what that's like?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: What's
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: your path?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, we were obviously, you know, even, you know, 2006 and so on, the internet was around and we would, we've always been internet focused and that's absolutely helped us with reaching a global audience.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: And really importantly, an American audience because when I launched and launched it up in the UK, in London, and that was the market I knew really was the UK, but it was Americans that were booking with us.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that really only came about through the internet and through that publicity that we got, which really more or less came still through through the internet.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so to answer those other questions, social media, yeah, it is...
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: and will continue to be an important source of, well, way to generate awareness, especially for us, you know, Facebook and Instagram are the main platforms that we do use.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then COVID really smashed us as it did every travel company.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the sheer fact of not being able to travel for two years really puts a damper on a travel business.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so for that period of time, I had to, yeah, put travel to the side and look for other ways that I could provide for the family.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really thrilled that we've got through that now.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then AI, that's an interesting one.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: hand on heart, we're probably a bit behind the curve on AI.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, for me, it's really important to keep the personal touch.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: And like I handle every, absolutely every inquiry that comes through personally and would never want to hand it off to AI in terms of the...
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I feel the same way.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, as a yoga teacher and as someone who will be developing courses and somebody who I'm a project executive, like there are things that, yes, AI could touch and take over for sure, you know, probably make my life easier.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Let's be honest.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: But the personal touch that human generator is something that will never be taken out, right?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what's really
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: cool
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: and unique about yours.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: taken away from the community, but maybe amplifying them.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: What is your platform with that part?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, quite a lot to unpack there.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive me if I forget aspects of it.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: But in essence, the lens that I look through is firstly, vacation destination so it's going to be you know thailand or costa rica and not Iraq or Sudan in terms of, you know, is this destination somewhere that people want to go to and are safe to go to?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then drilling down into the particular destination, it's always been a case of going with...
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: without, actually, without preconceptions of what should be done in a particular community.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so going with questions, starting with asking, first of all, would you like assistance from outsiders?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then if the answer to that is yes, then it's asking the community, what would that look like for you?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's up to us to to offer it to our clients.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: And there's not really much more of a lens than that, other than because we Actually, there are two other aspects.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: One, because we mostly focus on families, we really do try to seek out projects that are family-friendly, ones where children can actually contribute.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so that screens out a fair few, fair few projects for sure.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then secondly as well, because it is still a vacation for people and the service component is two or three days, then it has to be something that that's suitable within a short timeframe.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: And because there are a lot of organizations that love to have volunteers, but they have a minimum of say three weeks or three months or whatever the case may be.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so those ones, unfortunately, aren't a good fit for our particular model.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: But it's probably worth mentioning in this context that what we use is something that I describe as a philanthropy volunteering model.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is that it's the funds that our clients bring, which is the main benefit.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: And actually, those funds enable us to employ local people to do most of the work on a project and and such that let's say it's building a house um most of that work is done before our clients get to the destination and so that there is sort of and this is where it's art slash science um just to judge it so that there's enough work in those two or three days so that the project can be completed with the family's assistance.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so then the benefit that our clients get is they get that interaction that I mentioned on the trip that I had in those two or three days and that great feeling of seeing the completed project and handing it over to the family if it's a house.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's our model really.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Was there another part to the, to your questions that I left out there?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't know.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that was awesome and I'm just like in awe about it.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm now I'm thinking about other things.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks for rolling with me.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: But this is so unique and so cool.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Literally have, I've just never heard of anything like it before.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I love how you've broken it down where, you know, It's almost like it's such a creative spin.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, it's the art to science ratio of like getting it done right up until the point where you know it can at least be done in two or three days with some extra hands.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that so much because, you know, you go on mission trips, for example, and you're in with mission trips and churches for like maybe 20 people who get to do all of this stuff in a week's time.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: span but you're just bringing soul families that get to come and have this experience with a community for community also the philanthropic volunteer is that what you said
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: yeah
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: yeah and that is such a neat term to use and a neat concept because i don't know about you i know like what i've discovered with like depression or feeling bad about yourself one of the best ways to come combated is through gratitude, but gratitude to get back.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you get to go on these gorgeous trips and have such an experience and then also give back.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: I can only imagine how full people's hearts are when they leave, you know, from travel and giving.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: What are your reviews like?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, raving.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: I
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: yeah do you want me to find someone I'll read some out
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: well you actually walk through the whole process with the person and that's the humanizing part of it right are you traveling with them every time too no
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: no that would be a little weird I think if I was sort of taking along with with each family
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: yeah I'll be here if you need me over here I'll fill my own house yeah
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: yeah but it's important to say that you know part of our sort of holistic approach is that i don't go but we do employ local guides um that will be with that with the family throughout and and so that's as i say important from our philosophical perspective in terms of you know providing local employment but also the clients benefit from you know having that insight and knowledge as well.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, particularly in, you know, for almost all of our clients, where they're going is an unknown destination.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so to have someone who is a local and can say, you know, this is the best spot to eat, or, you know, don't go there, or, you know, this is how you bargain in the markets in Marrakesh, wherever it is, it's invaluable.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's cool.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: I wish somebody had taught me how to bargain when I went to the Dominican Republic and it was just like me and my friend and we were riding around on a scooter.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was not one of the smartest things I've ever done, but we went to this local market and we walked down one way and things were like reasonably cheap.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then we come back the same way and they're like double the price.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what just happened?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like what is going on?
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: And we didn't buy anything from this marketplace but I'm like they're just making stuff up over here like they're just making up prices for these things but yeah so and transportation went the exact same way I'm like we're riding on a scooter and that's 50 American dollars did I just what what is going on but anyway yeah that's probably amazing that you offer that and you've got people down there that are able to help and navigate Now, do you come across any language barriers or what are your barriers that you experience the most?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there are language barriers, but those are, again, overcome by having the local bilingual guides as well.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 25:42
  UNKNOWN: Awesome.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also, you know, amazing.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there are, you know, can be situations, particularly, you know, let's say on the service component where, you know, guide can't be in all places at once and so someone may have to try and communicate with someone who doesn't speak the same language but it is really incredible you know using sign language and and and the right uh gestures to actually be able to you know form a bond or you know actually the level of communication you can do without um speaking the same language can be quite remarkable sometimes
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: You would probably get more with immersion in, in the actual culture.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know I went to Mexico a couple of years ago and I am not a great Spanish.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: I know like the basics, like the very slim basics, but by the time we left and I was only there for five days, like I could understand full sentences being spoken.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, look at me.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: really impressive.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: I took a few classes.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: It was just coming back to me.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, but I feel like, yeah, when you're in the full culture, that kind of like negates itself and you just figure it out.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you do.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: So what are the motivations?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: So what do families come to you and they want to get the most out for their trip?
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: What do they tell you?
• 27:18
  UNKNOWN: Yeah.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's been a common theme from when we launched.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: At that point, when I launched Hands Up Holidays back in 2006, families weren't on my radar at all.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: It was actually the segment that I had in mind was, I guess, people like myself at the time, sort of young professionals, 25 to 35-year-olds.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: cash rich, time poor, who wanted to have a great vacation, but also to make a difference.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we were getting bookings from there.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: But what really blew me away was the number of families that were booking with us and out of the US.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I just, as I say, it just didn't occur to me that families would want to be traveling with us.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have children of my own back then.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'd ask them and the families would say things like, our kids come from quite privileged backgrounds and we really want them to appreciate just how fortunate they are.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Or they'd say, we're looking for a great family bonding experience and this nails it for us.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Or we want to inspire our kids to be part of the next generation of world changes.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is an excellent way to sort of dip their toes in the water for this.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so those sort of comments really resonated with me and even more so now that I do have children of my own.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's, Over a short period of time, we did start to shift our messaging to focus, not exclusively, but certainly primarily on the family market.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: That is so cool.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: So when was the family probably brought in the most?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Was it like in 20, what year would you say?
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to know, like just round about how
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: many years.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, quite early.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Really, I'd say, as I said, we launched 2006.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: By 2008, we were, as I say, most of our messaging was focused on families.
• 29:39
  UNKNOWN: Wow.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: Did you ever experience any of, like, a small surprise during this time?
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, in any, I guess, any of your bookings where somebody walked away with an experience that just kind of, like, blew you away?
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a story of somebody who may have shared something like that?
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a few.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: One that springs to mind, again, from one of our quite early trips was a family that was helping to build a library in a school in Morocco.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And they...
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was told once they got back home, Christmas time came up and they said, actually, instead of our gifts, we want to send our gifts to the children that we were helping in Morocco.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: And as I say, it was many years ago, but that's really stuck with me.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: But we've had some quite extreme transformations of our guests.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: I remember one, again, in the early days, and this was a woman traveling on her own.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: She'd just retired and hadn't really traveled at all.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: And she, for whatever reason, selected Kenya to go to.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: And she was, I guess, what you describe as a sort of an anxious traveler, especially, you know, quite understandably, first time is to Africa can be a bit apprehensive.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: I know that before I got there for my first time I thought it was just going into the jungle and Africa was just jungle sort of thing so I totally get it and so she required quite a bit of hand holding leading up to and then on the trip itself.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: And, and then after the trip, she pretty much booked the next flight to, to back to Kenya.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she was, she rented her own apartment and, and had bought a car and, and spent the next three months basically just off her own back, continuing to volunteer at the organization.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: And, and so, yeah, it's, it's, Yeah, that's another story that I love to share.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, those are both great outcomes.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, transformation experiences...
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I feel like we all try to provide that in some way, shape or form when we're in kind of like this business.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: For example, like I've got my own fits and yoga retreat coming up next month.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's one of those times where I'm like, this is an opportunity that not just for my people that are going to be going, but even for myself, even to go and figure out like, what is the next thing or how am I going to leave there and it's so unknown and some like you can't even predict that these like small victories and these small surprises are going to happen but I can only imagine if you're going into a luxury service based trip like yours you're going to come out with something where you just feel a little bit more empowered on your way back you know Yeah, it's magical.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: That should be your guarantee.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: 100% guaranteed.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you measure your impact with that?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, one way is on the tangible projects that are completed.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then there is the intangible, which is by definition harder to measure.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: which is the impact on the families or whatever the client is.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: And for that, we really have to just look at the reviews that we get and see what...
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: what their feedback is and hear the impact that it's had on them.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Based on what you've heard, have you ever had to make any big significant changes in your model or places or anything like that to make it sustainable or keeping your growth really?
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, one thing that springs to mind in that question is when we first launched, we started out, as I say, we were targeting young professionals, but also it was small group trips.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the idea was...
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: you know, up to sort of 12 people.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, we had fixed dates for every trip.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that also required a minimum number of people to book.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so we would get individual bookings But sometimes they wouldn't hit the minimum, which might have been six people for a trip.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was really frustrating to get people on board, but then not actually be able to run the trips.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so shifted away from that model to the tailor-made model where it's done.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Even if it's one person booking, we can run that trip for that one person through to a family or a...
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: intergenerational family or, you know, a group of friends or whatever the case may be, we can customize the trip for, for that number of whatever number of people that is.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: That is so cool.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys offer like food and the accommodations like overnight to like all of that?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: You set the whole entire thing
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: up.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we do.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: We do.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly in terms of the accommodation that the meals just comes down to what the client's preferences are.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them like to have that flexibility when they're there to choose where they want to eat, which is perfectly fine.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: And others would prefer to have like the more sort of, I guess you could say kind of all-inclusive model.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: It just completely depends on the client's preferences.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: Very interesting.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: All right, Christopher.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: So where can people find you?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: They want to hear more about you.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: What, how can they get access to you?
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: The best would be the website, which is handsupholidays.com.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: And every inquiry that comes through or contact us comes directly to me and I handle a hundred percent of them.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you've done this now since 2006.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: Did I get that right?
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, anything else you want to add?
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I feel like I'm totally out of questions, which that doesn't happen very often.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm like, this is so cool.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: It really makes me want to book.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: And this is like such a stretch, dream, and goal.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like I can't even, this might be one of my most learned from experiences that I'm having like right now, you know?
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: So this is just super amazing.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: But anything else that you want to add for any of the listeners who love being in the business of themselves, who love a good project?
• 37:52
  UNKNOWN: Yeah.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, one thing might be, especially for people who like the idea of travel and making a difference, but perhaps don't want to necessarily roll up their sleeves and physically build a house.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: We have another brand that we've recently launched, which is called Impact Destinations.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the idea behind Impact Destinations is that it's your philanthropic donation which enables the experts in the destination to do what they do best.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, will still unlock a unique experience for yourself as the traveler.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: For example, a couple of quick examples.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: Say on a safari day in South Africa, guests can participate in a rhino relocation from a reserve that's facing a lot of poaching to a better protected reserve in Botswana.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this is where the guests actually go into the helicopter with the veterinarian while he is preparing to dart the rhino.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then once the rhino has been darted, land the helicopter and spend some time with a sedated rhino before seeing it get airlifted off to Botswana.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: So this is really about being able to say, you know, I saved the life of a rhino whilst on safari and leaving a legacy that way.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: And another quick example would be in Australia, we offer the opportunity to fund a scholarship for a promising Aboriginal art student.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: And in return for that, guests then get to have a exclusive session with an established Aboriginal artist from whom they can commission their own unique work of art.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about an emblem to bring back home, like to remember.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: That is so neat.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: So this is beyond tourism in essence.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're out here, you're not just going to France to see the Mona Lisa, you know, like you're, this is beyond and so much depth that you're providing.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to talk about
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: that a little more?
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can go to France and see the Mona Lisa, which is great.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: But, well, that's maybe not the best example because we don't actually offer France.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: But let's say Italy.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_00: You could go and see the Sistine Chapel, for example, in Italy or the Uffizi, whatever it is.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, you could could just take it to another level and help with preparing meals and serving meals for the homeless there as well.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so it just enables you to make the trip more meaningful and fulfilling.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a both and.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: So you get to see the great sights, but then also to make an impact.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's such a possibility moment.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_01: This and, you know, and to be able to travel, it almost...
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you're going to do those things.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost like...
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: it's taking care of the carbon footprint that you're making to get there too, you know, because you are bringing it back and you are investing more than just, I'm coming here.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to eat your food.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'll see you later.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: right, Rachel.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_01: That is so neat.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate your business and how you brought this into the world.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of people, I hope all the listeners here appreciate it too and go check it out and make your their bookings with you i feel like all of this is just so amazing to be able to travel help a community and have that like full cup on this side and this side like your balance right there that's neat
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: Anything
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: else you got?
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I know in terms of new destinations, we're just about to launch Roatan in Honduras as our new project for Hands Up Holidays, which is going to be helping.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: The idea with that is that really during the daytime, you're doing your leisure activities, snorkeling or exploring the island.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then sort of late afternoon, you're helping on after-school literacy projects and computer skills projects.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: So in the one day, you get to do the leisure and the giving back.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: That would be more my style.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't really want a hammer, but if I could teach and bring in a literacy, that would be something I would definitely be like right on.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: That is so cool.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_01: Last question.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_01: I promise.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: What are the other things?
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you can list all the things, like what are all the services?
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the luxury piece is going to take care of itself.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: When you describe it, like you get your everything you want and how you want by you coming in and you're white gloving that experience personally.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: But what are the services that you've got just to date?
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that you're about to launch that one.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so they fall into the following categories, really.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's house building, which...
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no, building, which can cover typically houses or down...
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: to a smaller scale.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: Another of my favorites is we offer in Belize and Peru and India, which is installing eco-friendly stoves in people's homes.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: And these are smaller scale.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a stove, not a house.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: But the beauty of them are that they can be completed from start to finish in a couple of days.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you do get that whole experience of seeing something through from inception through to completion and the beauty of them is that they replace the open flames that are the traditional way of cooking in the huts and so particularly with young children running around they're at risk of getting burnt so by having an enclosed stove you reduce that that factor of burns.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: And because the stoves have a chimney to expel the smoke, then respiratory problems like asthma are dramatically reduced.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_00: And from an environmental perspective, they're much more energy efficient.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: So they're a win as well.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that falls under the category of building.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then we've got repairs and renovations, which are typically things like schools.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have the teaching projects, which is like the literacy, like I mentioned, or being a reading partner at a school.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have conservation, particularly wildlife conservation, which we offer things like with elephants in Costa Rica and, no, not Costa Rica, sorry, in Thailand and India and Sri Lanka.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then in Costa Rica, we do have a project which is where guests can help with monkeys and parrots and any other animals that have been rescued and in the process of being rehabilitated.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's with how to prepare their meals and then maintain their enclosures and create enrichments to stimulate the animals.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then sea turtle conservation is another popular one.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that falls into that wildlife environmental conservation.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's a sort of a fifth category, which is sort of everything else.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so that can be something like in Argentina, we have a project which is creating solar heating panels out of recycled cans and bottles.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: And, and so the sort of describe that sort of general sort of community upliftment projects.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so those are the categories that we offer.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: That is so cool.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_01: I could see myself doing all of them.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: Not really all of them, but the majority of those.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: I know my son would love the conservation with the wildlife.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_01: He would love that.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: That is
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: very popular.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: Very neat.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_01: Very neat.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Christopher, I can't thank you enough for sharing your vision, your dream.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_01: And having this is like such a, I don't know.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like it's like, We can do that.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like it's within reach, you know, and you would have never thought about it before I had met you.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: And now it's just like, wow, you just gave so much possibility.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for doing that.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to share, Rachel.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I will put your website in our show notes and I will give, um, Yeah, that's really it.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_01: Cause that's all you said you needed to contact.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll have that in our show notes.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great day.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: You too.