1. Presenting: Chris Ronneseth - Adventure Vacation Expert!
I recently were built with a chance to talk to bob Ronneseth of journey Holidays (see interview
preview) who afflicted me with a good overview of experience travel, an area of travel I absolutely
would like to explore earlier than later...
1. Tell us how you got into the action travel business.
I grew up around journey. My father, Allan Ronneseth founded the company in 1972 and with an
enthusiasm to see the world in another way than the norm, we had the opportunity to travel to nations
that were considered amazing at that time and to some degree still are these days. Venturing out on
my own , personal traveling while going to University I started to be more and more passionate about
the world beyond North America. With a degree in marketing , I ventured away first to the big apple
and later to Toronto working in sales and marketing for technology companies during the tech growth.
Having learned the ability of sales in an industry outside of travel yet backed with an childhood rooted
in experience travel, I made the progression to heading up sales in Eastern north america for the
family business exactly where I now supply support to our network of travel agents across Eastern
Canada along with compiling our month to month newsletter on experience travel trends.
2. What countries perhaps you have traveled to?
Africa: Namibia, South africa , Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, Egypt, Morocco
Europe: UK, Greenland, Netherlands, Belgium, indonesia , Austria
Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong
South Pacific: quarterly report , Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji
Americas: Canadian large Arctic, USA, south america , Jamaica, Cayman Islands,
Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
3. Please share with us your best three travel memories of all times.
A. Peru -The final descent into Machu Picchu on the well known Inca Trail in the Sun Gate after
seeing sunrise over the site , being the first to go into the site at daybreak and having a experience of
peace, tranquility and strong miracle in the air.
B. Vietnam - Travelling the countryside of Vietnam by motorbike and also stumbling upon a hidden
and seldom visited Buddhist Monastery resulting in a three-hour visit with a young Buddhist monk
learning and understanding each other's ways.
C. Namibia - Skydiving at sunset at Swakopmund on the coast where the Atlantic ocean meets the
blood-red sand dunes for as far as the vision can see. One of the most tranquil moments of my entire
life.
4. What is experience travel and how has it evolved over the last few decades?
Adventure journey used to mean large adventure back when the organization was founded within the
seventies, it was time if the 'hippie-trail' was hot and buses utilized to travel across asian countries
from London to Kathmandu with itineraries that were largely developed along the way. Today it is
about the small group knowledge and about experiencing the destination rather than merely seeing it.
It is about participation and comprehension of cultures, history and persuits and being able to take

2. that experience away as enrichment to your daily life.
5. Who goes on your adventure travel trips and why? what's the age, gender, nationality and income
amount of the people that go in your tours?
Adventure journey is largely about the passion to do it. For this reason it crosses boundaries old ,
gender and earnings since the common goal of the travelers may be the experience regardless of
their own life at home. Though the largest demographic for all of us and the most important progress
demographic is the baby-boomers who have experienced the original beach vacation repeatedly over
and now have the time and disposable earnings to travel to more exotic places. Nationality is
generally comprised of largely English-speaking countries with the makeup so as of numbers
becoming Brits, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, us citizens , some mainland the european
union , some Latin american countries and the odd Asian traveler.
We offer more than one hundred twenty countries worldwide generally just about everywhere.
However nations currently deemed being unsafe for journey (eg. Iraq, Afghanistan) are not included
yet we expect are going to in the years to come as the situation stabilizes.
7. What type of accommodation emerges ?
We offer most of the time anything from a couple of star budget accommodation to 6 star lodge
experiences in africa and everything in in between. However what is present with all places we stay is
that they has to be clean, comfortable, centrally-located and most important have got character that is
reflective of the destination.
8. How do these trips work for single holidaymakers ? Do you provide a travel-mate matching
service? what goes on if I prefer solitary accommodation?
Our trips are designed with solitary travellers in mind. Actually 50% of all the travellers come by on
their own. We match people up of the same sex and like grow older to share and avoid charging them
a supplement. In the event that clients prefer their very own room, we can try this on approximately
60% of the tours, generally the more upmarket types , but at a rate which is fair and inexpensive.
9. What about dishes ?
Depending on the journey we generally consist of breakfasts and some dishes but almost never lunch
as many people like to be out at midday making their own discoveries. However when trekking or
perhaps the countryside or even where alternatives don't exist we will usually include meals.
10. What are the unique benefits of adventure tours as compared to other types of journey ?
A sense of achievement, quality of expertise , traveling with a small number of just ten people on
average, generally less expensive than comparable charter bus and tours , camaraderie with
individuals in which share a passion for this type of travel.
11. Which kind of activities are offered within your tours?
Sightseeing can be a major part of every tour but beyond that we want to include as many cultural
experiences as you possibly can such as homestays with local families, community visits, etc. We
also have many optionally available activities available such rafting, sailing, vehicle safaris, day
journeys , etc.
12. Can there be such a thing because adventure tours for families?

3. We are in possession of tours built especially for families to travel with additional families where kids
are age six or more. There is a large demographic of 'late-starter' households who never acquired
children until inside their 30s. Many of these people traveled with us inside their 20s or backpacked
independently and now wish to give that experience for their children. They are not interested in
introducing them to the 'coca-cola' culture persistent in today's society. These kinds of have been met
with great success.
13. You should share with us useful advice for someone who is never tried experience travel.
Safety can be a state of mind. Most people that elect not to go exotic destinations achieve this
because of a fear for their safety while in the destination. If you heed the recommendation of your tour
innovator and be practical nearly every destination in the world provides a safe, secure and also
memorable experience. Exactly where we have had problems with safety it has more often than not
been a overlook for common sense and also advice. Don't be scared of experiencing other cultures ,
you will almost always discover that your curiosity would be the best guide although it all and that
same curiosity will be reciprocated by the people we meet along the way. It is about learning and
understanding other people as much as they have to understand us. It really does shrink the world.
Our second largest problem would be contamination , when traveling to hot , dry countries or even
where activity is involved such as trekking ensure you drink lots of water!
14. How much time can you travel yourself these days ?
Generally 5 or 6 days a year. It is essential to my sales knowledge and experience and I owe it to my
own customers to be the expert in what we do! All of our personnel are given wonderful journey
opportunities which should go straight to our company motto: Expert advice from those who have
been there!
15. Where are you proceeding next?
I program this year on escorting a trip back to Egypt in April, to South Africa in May to experience a
few of our new properties we work with also to hopefully take a part trip to Mozambique. Later in the
year I want to make my approach to Turkey and the Patagonian outdoors In Chile & Argentina.
Thanks, Chris, for all your information , and have fun on your outings !
retiring in Costa Rica