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Safety

Unexpected situations can crop up where medical assistance is needed. We expect guides to always be prepared for possible issues and handle them in a swift, professional way. Here are a few

●CISI Insurance: Every guide should know First Aid and have access to the proper equipment during the trip. Guides should also be well versed on the nearest hospital/medical clinics during the trip in case of emergency.

● Avoiding Dangerous Areas/Events: Guides should never expose the group to danger. This includes avoiding dangerous areas of the country as well as protests or other large gatherings that may occur. Local knowledge is essential here.

● Ensuring that the group is eating well and staying hydrated: The most common issue travelers face can be traced back to food and water. All restaurants should be vetted and travelers should be very careful with street food. Additionally, we expect the guide to ensure that travelers remain hydrated, especially in tropical destinations.

● Watching for overexertion: Many of our travelers are 65+. Participating in a trip like this may be more physical activity than they are used to. Additionally, many travelers tend to push themselves as they do not want to keep the group back. We expect the guide to always watch these travelers and ensure that they do not overexert themselves. This can be dangerous and cause unnecessary health problems. Slow the group down or maybe even have a separate conversation with the traveler if you see this becoming an issue.

This is particularly suited to the more adventurous activities such as zip-lining or rafting.

● Road Safety: Road accidents are the number one risk for travelers abroad. Therefore, we ask guides to always pay close attention to the drivers and be sure that they are following proper safety protocol. This includes driving the speed limit, driving cautiously and never using their phones while on the road.

Foreseeing Issues

Challenges are inherent to any travel experience. This could come in the form of group dynamic  issues, weather challenges, road work, social issues such as protests, cancellation of activities, etc. Furthermore, our trips are high-touch cultural travel experiences meaning that we work with people - and people get sick, arrive late and sometimes don’t show up!

Given the somewhat uncertain environment that we operate in, we rely on each and every one of our guides to have the expertise to foresee such circumstances and come up with a solution well in advance. This could mean looking at weather forecasts and potentially switching an activity to a different morning or afternoon (if feasible), avoiding certain roads and always calling the individual activity providers in advance to ensure everything is happening as planned.

Arguably more challenging are group dynamics as discussed earlier in the handbook. We encourage our guides to exercise a superior level of emotional intelligence to accurately predict when a social situation may become problematic. An example could include a high energy child that is getting on the nerves of an older traveler. Or two individuals in the group that fundamentally do not get along. Again, these are people and people are emotional especially when they are out of their comfort zones. We trust that our guides can have mature conversations and ensure that these issues are handled in a professional manner so that they do not affect the group. If you ever are unsure of what to do or simply need help in managing such a situation, please do not hesitate to contact our office directly during the trip (during business hours - +1 619-758-3030 / outside business hours - +1 888-230-1452).