Greetings and Good Morning!

Big, big news today folks. I am officially announcing that this is now not just Roamwell, the travel blog, but in addition, Roamwell, the custom travel planning company! Welcome!

As some of you may already know or have seen on my website if you’ve browsed around, I’ve been slowly transitioning from just a blog, to a full blown travel planning company. Sounds exciting right?! It is for me! You may be wondering what this means and why I chose to do this.

After I finished college, when Austin and I decided to backpack through South America while I waited to hear from graduate schools, I was grappling with what I wanted to focus on in grad school. I was torn between my love of Archaeology and my love and the practicality of Cultural Anthropology.

As we traveled there were things I noticed in how we moved within communities, who owned the places we stayed, and wondering where our money went within the destinations we visited. I felt like we went about things in a different way than most of the other tourists we encountered and I wondered why. After this experience, combined with my lifelong interest in travel, I decided this was what I would focus on in my graduate program.

Tourism!

I’ve spent years in Anthropology classes training how to see issues, cultures, and ideas from various perspectives, and how and why cultural awareness can impact a community’s experience of hosting tourists and vice versa. I wrote my Master’s thesis about responsible/ sustainable tourism and volunteer tourism from the community perspective and learned so much about not only why we travel and what we look for in travel, but also how communities are impacted by tourism, the pitfalls, the benefits, and the common concerns communities have around tourism.

I’ve loved travel and talking about travel for so long, and I really think that while there are lots of barriers to traveling for some people, in general it’s never been easier to travel than it is today. If you know where to look and how to make things like points and timing work for you, you can go just about anywhere! The world is the most accessible it’s ever been, but there are both pros and cons to that. While it’s great for travelers, it can cause problems for communities, especially those experiencing overtourism. This is where I come in!

Since I love travel so much and want to share it with others because it can be magical, life changing, and eye-opening, and I also strongly believe in having a good impact when we travel, I have decided to offer my services to help more people have those experiences. Having traveled a fair amount myself along with my academic expertise in responsible and sustainable community-focused tourism, I’m excited to share my knowledge and skills with others.

I have three different packages of planning services, from some basic planning just narrowing down options for those who don’t have the time to skim all the resources available out there across blogs, websites, guidebooks, etc. to full service planning, booking, and handling travel mishaps along the way. I want to help everyone plan socially and environmentally responsible, culturally aware trips, not only because I think it’s important to focus on these things more and more when we travel, but also because the rest of the world is catching on to the importance of these things as well! I can help you plan the trip of a lifetime or even a trip away for the weekend, all while making it as beneficial for the communities you’re visiting as it will be for you.

Now, with all that being said, I know things are tricky right now with COVID concerns, but that’s even more reason to hire me to figure it all out for you so you can just go, enjoy, and come back refreshed after this WILD year. :) If you’re interested in traveling somewhere next year once things are opened back up or you are in desperate need of a change of scenery for the weekend ASAP, let me know! I do a free consultation first so you can ask questions about my services, I can get some info from you about what you’re wanting to do, and then if you feel like it’s a fit, you can hire me from there!

I’m so excited to begin this new venture and I can’t wait to plan the trips of your dreams while also making a difference in the world together. To email me with questions, email samantha@roamwell.travel. If you want to go ahead and set up a consultation, fill out the form linked at the top of my services and pricing page or call me at (720) 551-6504.

Can’t wait to get planning!

Sami