Passports with Purpose –Travel Writers Give Back

One of my favorite parts of traveling to new places is meeting the locals, the people who call the destination home.  I often want to connect with them on a deeper level, learning about what they are proud of in their region, and experiencing the things they’d want to share with their friends who visit.

I immediately think of Sharon, Wes and Chendel, who embraced me like family and showed me how a local enjoys Carnival in Aruba, or Maggie in Costa Rica, a masseuse who works hard each day helping others to relax.

We may come from very different places, but we all share the same ultimate goal of happiness and if there’s a way I can leave their land better than when I found it, bringing them some happiness, well, that makes me happy, too.

That’s why I’m so proud to support the Passports with Purpose campaign.

It’s the annual travel bloggers’ fundraiser held during a two-week period in November and December.

Passports with Purpose unites our online community, leveraging the social media platforms of more than 200 travel bloggers around the world.

Previous initiatives have benefited Heifer International; the Passports School with American Assistance for Cambodia; a village in Tamil Nadu, India for 25 Dalit families with Land for Tillers’ Freedom; two libraries in Zambia with Room to Read; five wells in Haiti with Water.org; and in 2013 two schools and two adult literacy programs in Mali with buildOn.

This year’s campaign partner is Sustainable Harvest International, and the money raised will help support their work in Honduras.
Since 1997, Sustainable Harvest International has worked in Honduras to help families improve degraded land, grow their own food, and learn how to prevent tropical deforestation from logging and slash-and-burn agriculture practices.

Each $5,000 raised through this year’s Passports with Purpose campaign can help Sustainable Harvest International nourish a family and community in Honduras for five years.

Learn more about Sustainable Harvest International’s work here.
Learn more about Passports with Purpose by clicking here.

Passports with Purpose was recognized by Travel + Leisure® magazine with a Social Media in Travel  + Tourism℠ Awards (SMITTY) for “Best Use of Social Media by an Independent Journalist/Blogger.”

I’ve partnered with my friend Sue Rodman of Fieldtrips with Sue to organize a prize that you’ll be able to bid on online.  We can’t share the details until December 1^st, when the campaign goes live, but we can say we have generous donations from some of our favorite companies, including Joovy, Britax and TravelKiddy.

There will be dozens of other prizes as part of the auction, too.  I hope you’ll consider submitting a bid.