/ beyond/THE BIG IDEA
topics like video editing. Fit & Fly Girl’s hea lt h-
focused retreats come with daily workout classes
and nutritious meals. Explorer Chick has several
offerings for beginners to develop wilderness
survival skills and learn backpacking basics.
But for all the attention these programs devote to
women’s individual well-being, many also
emphasize social responsibility and making lasting
connections in the places they visit. “You have to be
participating in the communities and engaged in
their issues,” says Wild Women’s Haddow. “Clients
respond to authenticity.” For her company, that
means striving to partner exclusively with
women—even in places like Nepal, where female
guides are hard to find—and supporting social-
justice groups. On its Morocco trips, Adventure
Women brings guests to a women’s textile
cooperative outside Fez to speak with the artisans
about their lives and work. Before its Kilimanjaro
treks, WHOA puts guests up at a nonprofit hotel that
funds a primary school for area children; travelers’
fees also help sponsor two local women to join the
group on every climb. The company operates a
similar program for its Machu Picchu treks.
Despite the wide range of experiences offered by
these companies, all tend to attract travelers who,
whatever their age or background, have reached a
turning point in their lives. Kelly Luck, 42, booked
her Kilimanjaro trip with WHOA after a grueling
battle with breast and thyroid cancer. On a cold,
clear night this past March 8— International
Women’s Day—Luck summited the mountain with
30 other women. “I don’t think I could’ve done this
with my husband,” she says. “Being there with this
powerful collective of women was the only way for
me to go. It makes you so strong.”
More women seem to want the kind of sisterhood
Luck and Fleece both found on Kilimanjaro. “We as
a gender are done compartmentalizing ourselves,”
Fleece says. “We like to go out for a nice dinner in
heels, but we can also put on hiking boots and camp
on a mountain for seven days. And women are
realizing that there are others out there who want
the same thing.”A few months after their
Kilimanjaro expedition,
they’d quit their jobs,
Googled how to form an
LLC, and launched a
travel business
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