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SCUCS offers a year-round trip program that includes day trips, overnight trips for anyone wishing to travel with us. Trip packages come complete with transportation, entertainment and a escort. Most day trips include a meal. Funds from this service go toward other agency services such as SEN-HAN Transit, in-home services, nutrition programs and emergency services.

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Explore with Local Experts Host-led experiences for those who love to dive deep into local life (4.77) See all 58,017 reviews

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Find your community: inspiring travel networks

Jul 31, 2018 • 7 min read

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The internet is a vast resource when it comes to travel – there’s an abundance of websites and apps designed to aid those looking to explore. At Lonely Planet, we curate collections of our experts' best recommendations, but we also realise the value of community, of conversing with fellow travellers who have been where you want to go, and who can answer questions and share experiences in real time. Here, we’ve compiled a list of thriving communities that exist on (and off) the web to help you plug into the perfect travel network.

Thorntree and Lonely Planet Travellers Group

Lonely Planet has long been home to a vibrant community of travellers keen to share tips and tricks. We established the Th orntree forum in 1996 – it's one of the longest-running online travel communities and a fantastic place to find detailed information on itineraries, recommendations and logistics. The forum is helpfully organised by country and interest, so you won't have to scroll through tons of unrelated posts to find your topic.

If Facebook is more your speed, hop into the new LP Travellers Group , where members share a variety of images, videos and information to help and inspire others.

Girls Love Travel

Girls Love Travel  (GLT) came onto the scene in 2015 and has become one of the biggest travel communities on the internet, amassing over 610,000 women or female-identifying members. Founder Haley Woods started the group after struggling with 'first-date friendships' during her own travels, creating a community who shared her passion for globetrotting and empowering more women to travel in the process.

The group contains a number of subgroups (GLT 35+, GLT Pride, GLT Moms, among others). Members can pay a monthly fee to be part of a new GiveBack subscription scheme, which gives them access to a smaller community and assistance with trip planning. The money goes toward purchasing passports for GLTers who don't have one. After six months, members of GiveBack receive either $50 toward branded merchandise or a GLT trip.

To Woods, the strength of GLT lies in the dedication and engagement of its members. 'Time and time again, members have asked a question, a local answered, and the member has ended up travelling and meeting the local. For us, it’s not just coming together online, but it's making sure we are building that offline relationship too. As all of us evolve more onto our devices, one thing that helps the travel community is knowing that there is someone else on the other side of the device.'

Digital Nomads Around the World

As companies continue to embrace the flexibility available with a remote working set-up and more people choose to leave the desk-bound life behind, record numbers of digital nomads are roaming the globe, taking their mobile offices with them. Digital Nomads Around the World is an online forum that connects full-time travelling professionals with others doing the same; members share tips on everything from useful on-the-road work hacks to workspace recommendations to restaurant advice.

Fat Girls Traveling  

Annette Richmond kicked off her online presence with a blog about plus-sized fashion before transitioning into the world of travel; today, she blends the two in her community platform Fat Girls Traveling. The project started on Instagram – Richmond chose to feature editorial photos that highlight the beauty and success of plus-size travellers, and since then the account has grown into a fully fledged community, with 4,300 members on Facebook and 14,500 followers on Instagram. The Instagram account has become a beacon of plus-size representation in travel, and the Facebook group allows for members to discuss all things related to discovering new destinations.

'Our society has always shown fat people to be depressed or eager to lose weight, to be the class clown – to fall back on other things because they can’t offer anything of beauty. I want to rock the boat a little bit,' says Richmond. 'We want to see representation of ourselves. We want to see fat people thriving because there are plenty of us that are.'

Richmond will be hosting her first annual Fat Camp in North Carolina in August 2018, a fat-positive adult summer camp for plus-size women. 'For fat people, camp can trigger negative emotions – it’s a time where they wanted to hide, or they were sent to a weight loss camp. We aren’t focused on weight loss or counting calories. We’ll have delicious food, nostalgic summer activities, tubing, s’mores and campfires.' Interested members can sign up for the whole weekend or day passes.

Nomadness Travel Tribe

What started as a Facebook group with 100 members has now morphed into an international network of 20,000 members: Nomadness Travel Tribe . The community is geared towards millennial travellers of colour and the only prerequisite to join is a single stamp in your passport. 'The community is for people who organise their lives so they can maximise their time on their road,' says founder Evita Robinson. 'It’s an alternative universe of knowledge: a community that looks like you, that understands your perspective and your concerns, and can give the most real, authentic answers to your questions.'

Nomadness usually hosts three to four formally organised trips per year (though the community averages around 100 meet-ups around the world annually), and in late summer of 2018, it is throwing its first festival for travellers of colour: Audacity Fest in Oakland, California. The event’s schedule features a number of speakers (including Oneika Raymond, Gloria Atanmo, and Tiffany 'The Budgetnista' Aliche) giving talks on a variety of travel-related topics.

For Robinson, Nomadness represents a movement. 'When it comes to mass media, [travellers of colour] are completely underrepresented. We are just as transformational and we are bringing so much money into this industry. African-American travellers – we’re talking about people who historically have gone through so much. Historical reference is what we carry with us. I step in as 20,000 – it’s not just me. I take my tribe wherever I go.' Potential members can join via Nomadness’ website.

Outdoor Afro

Outdoor Afro is a US-based nonprofit network that operates in 30 states, working to inspire African Americans to connect with the country's public lands and support their mission statement of inspiring 'black leadership in nature'. Trained volunteers lead a number of outdoor activities including hiking, camping, environmental education and conservation excursions. At the heart of these activities, the organisation promotes equitable access to public spaces and increased representation of the African American community in conversations regarding the infrastructures of and narratives surrounding these open spaces. The group specifically partners with organisations dedicated to environmentally sustainable and culturally respectful travel.

Outdoor Afro hosts a number of location-specific groups on Facebook , so find the one nearest you and hit the trail. To see what members are doing nationwide, follow the organisation's Instagram.

Travel for All

Martin Heng, Lonely Planet’s Accessible Travel Manager, kicked off the Travel for All online community in 2015, and since then its membership has boomed to 30,000. The group consists of travellers with access needs, providing a platform to share their own experiences, crowdsource information, and find travel inspiration.

'Particularly for people living with disability, travel can be daunting. Hearing from people with similar conditions overcoming their fears can be a great motivator,' says Heng. 'Also, accessibility is not just about the built environment; the barrier is often more a case of insufficient information about accessibility in any given location.'

The community, one of the first to address accessible and inclusive travel online, also serves as a space for disabled travel bloggers to share their work and for members to collect relevant articles and other literature in a central location. 'Confident or not, when you have access issues you do need to plan ahead, which means access to accurate and trustworthy information,' Heng says. 'There’s no real alternative to eyes on the ground.'

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Seattle Community Adventures

to Learn, Serve & Immerse

Building Community Starts Here

E-Gift Cards available for purchase for these local experiences!

Global Family Travels'  Seattle Community Day Tours and Pacific Northwest Regenerative Adventures unite our   Learn, Serve & Immerse  travel pillars to offer impactful, community-focused outings to learn about this beautiful region’s diverse communities, natural surroundings and history in fun and engaging ways.  These adventures are offered in partnership with many non-profits in Greater Seattle that address local social and environmental issues, and support local communities and businesses. These community-based experiences are also offered as Educational Outings and  Team Building Experiences .

Click on links below to book an adventure, or download our brochure and scan the QR code for future use! Please contact us  to express interest or join our Seattle Community Tours mailing list for updates!

Pike Place Market Tours 

Get a truly unique perspective of Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market with one of our Pike Place Market Tours . Explore the maze of the market and its historic buildings with our knowledgeable local guides. Or enjoy a fusion of Pacific Northwest staples and immigrant-inspired cuisine and histories on our guided foodie tour in partnership with We Venture. These community-based experiences are part of our  Seattle Community tour offerings , which as  Educational Outings and  Team Building Experiences.

Waterfront Past and Future: An Ever-Evolving Shoreline

For thousands of year’s Seattle’s Central Waterfront has been a place people gather to trade, work, find food and useful materials, and play. Over time, however, the landscape has been shaped by natural and human forces and that evolution continues today as the new Waterfront Park develops.  In partnership with the  HistoryLink,   the  Friends of the Waterfront , and the Seattle Waterfront Historic Association , we invite you to explore the history, communities and parks that make up Seattle's Waterfront, while learning some history along the way!

History Hike of Newcastle’s Hidden Coal Mines 

On this family-friendly 3-4 mile guided outdoor adventure in Newcastle’s former coal mining area district, participants take a step back in time to learn about the area’s coal mining history, witness the power of Mother Nature and urban development, and witness the beautify of native flora and fauna. 

Street Hues:  Seattle Urban Art Tour 

In partnership with 206 Zulu,    Experience Education,  and Urbanists , participants on this small group walking adventure in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood explore the varied street art, from graffiti, tags, and “sticker bombs” to elaborate spray paint, brush work, and stencil pieces, while guides address topics such as ownership, power, and identity in public art.  If you go on this tour, be sure to read this article featured in the Seattle Times:  See Seattle’s street art with this new urban art tour.

Olympic Peninsula:  Learn, Serve & Immerse in support of Salmon Habitat  

Take in the beauty of the North Olympic Peninsula while learning about salmon habitat recovery and the history and cultural traditions of the  Jamestown S’Klallam tribe!  On this enriching three-day adventure, participants will spend a day of service earning with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition  or Elwha River Restoration.   This unique adventure is offered during Spring or fall dates, or by custom demand. 

Week-Long Adventures: Seattle Outdoor Adventures to Learn, Serve & Immerse

Spend time in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest with family or friends on a week-long, customizable adventure!  Combine a couple of our  Seattle Community day tours  with fun outdoor activities to the Pacific Northwest, such as a visit to the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juan Islands, and one of our beautiful national parks, such as Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens.   

Contact us with your interests and we will help you customize an amazing experience! 

Oregon: Regenerate Forests and Communities from Wildfires

Lace up your boots and hit the trails of the Willamette National Forest in the Cascade Mountain Range of Oregon, where some of our country’s worst wildfires struck in 2020.  Participants will learn about wildfire recovery and prevention and partake in trail building projects, orchestrated by Cascade Volunteers ,  while enjoying outdoor adventure activities such as hiking, biking and whitewater rafting.

Explore & Color Lake Union’s History by Bike  

In partnership with the Center for Wooden Boats and Colorful Cities , this fun family adventure by Lime Bike explores the history of communities through the lens of Colorful Seattle Explore and Color . There is also an option to volunteer at a local park on the lake with Green Seattle Partnership .  

Looking for More?

Not sure how to book a tour, have more questions about the trip itineraries or looking for something a bit more personalized ? Contact us or explore custom trips we’ve done in the past. We’d love to hear from you!

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We know you want to explore and also dive in. We’re curious travelers, just like you, so rest assured, you’ll experience must-sees and connect with the people and culture that define the destination. You’ll eat in locals’ homes, take cooking classes, travel by trains and tuk tuks, explore cities with food tours, and stay in igloos, castles, and chateaus.

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Your time is one of your most precious commodities, so you should spend more of it in the destination, not driving between places. We design tours that spend the fewest hours on the coach. One-night stays are a rarity. This is your trip, and you shouldn’t feel rushed. With choice, flexibility, and free time, take it all in – this is your tour.

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$3,299 pp* $3,699 pp, historical greenbrier featuring washington d.c. & williamsburg, $2,299 pp* $2,499 pp, spotlight on northern italy featuring venice, verona & the dolomites.

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Itineraries

SCUCS offers a year-round trip program that includes day trips, overnight trips, and cruises at minimal cost for anyone wishing to travel with us. Trip packages come complete with transportation, entertainment, and a trained escort. Most day trips include a meal.

Click the link below to view and learn more about the trips that are presently being offered.

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For more information about any of the trips available through SCUCS, call (856) 456-1121 Extension 1124.

Our website is updated every other week with new trips. Please check back soon!

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For more than 40 years, Village has been providing charter and tour customers with safe, affordable travel. We started in 1980 as a Wichita company chartering tours to Colorado for ski season. Today, we plan 220+ group tours each year and operate more than 140 motorcoaches. Our services have evolved to include entertainer coach leasing, scheduled line routes, and traditional travel agency services.

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Anne Kyle: 'People want to know what life actually is like here’

Anne Kyle , 46, is the founder and CEO of Arigato Travel, which specializes in gastronomy-themed tours and customized travel curation focusing on cultural experiences around Japan. Growing from a one-woman operation in 2016 to a team that now numbers more than 100, Arigato Travel has been recognized by CNN Travel as one of Japan’s “most authentic experience” companies.

2. Did you begin leading food tours right away? No, I started out teaching English and then transitioned into selling beauty products to Filipinos living in Japan. I had always been entrepreneurial, even as a child, so launching a business was a natural progression for me. I also loved traveling and being exposed to new people, cultures and foods, so after I joined a market tour and cooking class while on a trip to France, I had the idea to merge all of these interests by starting my own cooking school for tourists in Azabu-Juban. These were the roots of Arigato Travel.

3. Did you launch the business on your own? I hired Japanese chefs to teach the classes, while I began leading food tours in Tokyo a few months later. My then-boyfriend (now husband) was also on board. He demanded to see a business plan, so I told him to find the money and I would take care of the rest! He’s the operations guy, while I handle the ideas. He ended up getting a loan from his boss; I knew the timing was right, and indeed everything worked out to plan.

4. And how did you branch out from Tokyo to other cities? Our dream was to expand to different regions, but after about six months we realized that it would be impossible to scale the company by opening kitchens in other cities — so we decided to shift business models by focusing exclusively on food tours rather than cooking lessons. We first branched out to Osaka, where we recruited tour guides without ourselves even yet being familiar with the local food scene. It was a risky thing to do, but it worked out because there were people who believed in us and our vision. Initially, we wanted to offer food tours in all 47 prefectures, but we ended up deciding to focus on a select few locations: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya and around Mount Fuji.

5. What are some of your top Tokyo neighborhoods for food-related experiences? I love Azabu-Juban, where we first started the business. People think of it as being a trendy expat neighborhood, but in fact it is very historical. Many samurai once lived there, and it is a great place to find traditional Japanese foods at shops that have been in the neighborhood for multiple generations; plus more modern places like a fabulous cheese store. I also love Shinbashi, you can have super authentic experiences there drinking with local office workers.

6. What are some of your favorite food regions outside the capital? I love the tiny but flavorful shirasu (whitebait) and sakura ebi (pink shrimp) you can get in Shizuoka; they’re tiny but so flavorful. I also love the hōtō nabe from Yamanashi, and anything from Hokkaido, such as the thick stews.

7. Do you plan to expand the locations and themes of your tours? Yes, we would like to begin offering tours in locations including Yamagata and Sendai. We are particularly interested in focusing on places like family-run sake breweries and small-scale artisans, in addition to just food. Because the tourist infrastructure in many places is not ready yet, though, running these tours requires a balancing act between wanting to offer authentic experiences in places with interesting stories to tell; while also considering how to provide appropriate services for foreign visitors.

8. What types of stories would you be interested in featuring? Our network includes places like tea farmers and indigo dyers in Shizuoka with more than 200 years of history, for example. Many of these types of artisans want to preserve their craft but often don’t have anyone to carry on the family lineage, so the traditions are dying. In the Philippines, there is often a rush to expand and monetize aspects of traditional culture rather than protecting them. So my eyes really opened after meeting these types of artisans here in Japan.

9. You have an impressively large team. How do you find your tour guides and other associates? It’s a combination of advertising and referrals, but mostly it’s about attracting people with like-minded energy. I actually think that one aspect of our special sauce lies in having so many women, who represent such an untapped resource. I’ve always believed in supporting women, and I try to hire single mothers whenever I can. I’d say that women represent about 80% of our company.

10. Arigato Travel has achieved immense success. Did you have a supportive community along the way? Yes, we’ve received so much support from people who believed in us. At the same time, though, even as I was encountering many passionate people doing meaningful work in the travel and tourism community, there didn’t seem to be an easy mechanism for networking — so I decided to create one myself. I launched a Facebook group during the pandemic, and it’s been a wonderful way for people to support each other and share ideas.

11. So your whole ethos seems to be about supporting people, is that right? Absolutely. I wanted to take some of the bumps I’ve encountered along the way, and use them to help others who might be interested in starting their own tourism-related business. And because of my own economically tough upbringing, it’s personally meaningful for me to use the means I’ve achieved in order to give back to others.

12. What were some of those bumps? As a foreign woman giving Japan-related tours, I often had to prove my authenticity. Another issue was that we operated the business out of our home, and although this is now normal, it was pretty much unheard of prior to the pandemic. Some travel agencies, restaurants and hotels didn’t take the business seriously; so we ended up going around them and working with foreign companies connected to Japan, instead. I’d say that this foreign mindset, combined with local experience, ended up contributing to the company’s success but it was not always easy.

13. What advice would you offer? I think that sticking to timelines is key to success. It’s the difference between an idea turning into reality, or not. In my own case, I set a goal of moving to Japan by age 19 and opening my first business here by age 30, and staying closely focused on that helped me achieve those goals. Similarly, I aimed to launch my food tours within three months, expand to Kansai in six months, and assemble a team in a year; and I stuck to that plan. I’d also tell people to focus in on potential opportunities. Prior to starting the business, I would often help lost tourists find their way before eventually conceptualizing the idea of turning this action into a monetizable business model.

14. Besides Japanese cuisine, what other types of foods are your favorite? I love the aromas and flavors of Thai food, and the healthiness of Mediterranean cuisines like Greek and Italian. And I am equally drawn toward Michelin-starred restaurants and hole-in-the-wall joints. Food does not have to be expensive in order to be good quality. At home, I love having things like pasta and nabe, which are hearty meals that you can personalize based on the seasons, and whatever ingredients you’ve got on hand.

15. You have two children. How do you juggle family life with running a successful business? I’d say trying to maintain a strict sleep schedule is key. I normally wake up by 5 a.m. each day, since I find that having an early start gives me good momentum. My mind is like clear water when I wake up around that time.

16. Are your kids foodies? My son? Definitely. He is very tuned in to things like the freshness of foods such as strawberries, tomatoes and salmon, and I love exposing him to different food traditions. With my daughter, I am not so sure yet. She definitely has a sweet tooth, that is for sure.

17. Besides the great eats, what else do you love about living and working in Tokyo? Of course, I love the peace of mind from the safety here, and the stable systems of education and health care. When you’re raising children, these things are priceless. Tokyo is also an optimal place to run a business, since everything here runs on efficiency. I cannot imagine doing this work in a place with unstable systems of public transportation, for example.

18. Where’s another place (anywhere in the world) you’d love to try living? I think I’d love to live along the Amalfi Coast in Italy, or maybe in Croatia. The history and culture in those regions is so rich. Growing up in poverty myself, I used to watch movies from other regions around the world to get inspiration, so when I was actually able to visit these places as an adult, the feeling was exhilarating.

19. What is in the works for Arigato Travel’s future? In addition to expanding from exclusively gastronomical tours into cultural ones, and growing our regional tour area, we are also working on building a travel app to benefit global tour operators. This will involve identifying problems and needs, and then finding appropriate solutions. We are also obtaining a license to become a full-scale travel company, which will require expanding our team and operations. In doing so, we will continue to focus on growing our company organically, while cultivating relationships of trust with the people in our networks.

20. What would you say is the most fulfilling aspect of running your business? I think that food is actually a gateway into deeper aspects of a culture. People love the cuisine in Japan, but beyond this what they really want is to know more about what life is actually like here. I feel very honored to be able to share this, and I have also seen our tours actually change peoples’ lives. An Italian woman who booked several of our tours in different cities ended up moving here, and later marrying a Japanese man. And in another case, a 14-year-old boy who went on some of our tours later came back to study at Temple University. Travel is incredibly transformative, and helps fulfill peoples’ dreams — my own included. So I don’t at all take for granted the opportunity to be a part of someone else’s journey.

For more information on Arigato Japan’s culinary and cultural tours and customized travel experiences, visit https://arigatojapan.co.jp/ .

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The world's largest red deer stags are the prized attraction for international hunters visiting New ... [+] Zealand.

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“New Zealand is a his and her (and family) destination, so if a hunter wants to bring a non-hunting spouse or friend here,” says Scurr, “we can arrange a wide assortment of activities from helicopter junkets to volcanos and glaciers, lake excursions, wine tours, glacier climbing, jet boating, hiking and biking, bungy jumping, parasailing, or drives through the countryside to explore any number of our inviting communities.”

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“Rather than sitting in a lodge for a week and then returning home,” says Scurr, “many of our sporting clients want to experience more of New Zealand before they go. And most of our hunting areas are conveniently located near other great attractions.”

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