National Geographic Traveler
50 Tours of a Lifetime Honoree

National Geographic Traveler named Culture Xplorers' annual CX Weavers Awards departure to Peru as one of 50 Tours of a Lifetime. Our trip was given this honor for providing travelers the authentic experiences one would have if visiting well-connected, adventurous local friends. At the same time, it represents the very best of sustainable travel, exemplified by our annual awards celebration, honoring the indigenous weavers of the Sacred Valley.

You can view a short documentary video of this journey, here. The excerpt from this issue can be read below:

"The journey from Lima to the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cuzco and the Virgen del Carmen celebration is punctuated by frequent visits with craftspeople, many of whom are friends with Culture Xplorers founder Jim Kane. But for Ben Goodman, the trip highlight was attending the annual CX-sponsored Weavers Awards in Chinchero, where indigenous weavers from across the Sacred Valley are recognized and awarded cash prizes for their work. 'Such a collaboration between two distant cultures is rare' he says. 'It gave me an opportunity to become part of this living community'."

Frommer's Online

"With Culture Xplorers, it's not about how far, long or remote you go in your travel experience, it's about how deep you go into the lives and the customs of the people who inhabit the land where you go. Offering immersion trips to Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Guatemala (with Bolivia coming soon), the four-year old Philadelphia tour provider brings travelers and natives together with four key components in mind: people, traditions, celebration and impact. Trips are often scheduled around indigenous festivals and times of year when economic activities like harvesting or basket weaving are most prevalent. Inspiring, interesting and fun, Culture Xplorers might change the way you travel in the future."
 
Read the complete Frommers.com article here.

Budget Travel Online

Budget Travel picked our Boa Morte Brazil departure as one of their “40 Best” this June, noting that Culture Xplorers “was founded on the notion that the best way to understand a place is through its customs and people.”
Read the complete Budget Travel article here.

MasterCard's Priceless.com

Priceless.com is a place for articles that will take you from the rare and the exotic to the everyday events that make life richer and more meaningful. Brought to you by MasterCard, Culture Xplorers recently gained a feature article titled "Inside Voyaging."

The Globe and Mail

Canada's leading newspaper talks with Jim Kane, founder of Culture Xplorers and community-based travel columnist for Transitions Abroad magazine, about his culturally sensitive approach to photography while abroad.
Click here to read the article.

The Savvy Traveler

Public Radio’s award-winning travel program The Savvy Traveler, heard on 169 radio stations around the US, sent producer Jonathan Mitchell to participate in our Mexico Day of the Dead trip and to record his experience for the program.
Click here to listen

Transitions Abroad

Now in its third decade, Transitions Abroad magazine has been called “the single most useful and important" guide to work, study, living and independent travel overseas by the Association of International Educators.

Always in the avante garde of responsible travel, Transitions Abroad has invited Jim Kane, co-founder of Culture Xplorers, to write a column titled “Community-Based Travel”.

Click on the following links for recent articles by Jim.

Rio's Favelas January/February 2006

Preserving Peru's Textile Tradition November/December 2005

A Land of Myths and Faith July/August 2005

Honoring Tradition in Mexico January/February 2005

Living Festivals November/December 2004

Culturally Sensitive Photography July/August 2004 issue

Tenejapa Homecoming March/April 2004

Going Deep in Poland January/February 2004 issue

Making a Positive Impact November/December 2003 issue

Philadelphia City Paper

Philadelphia’s largest weekly newspaper recently highlighted one of Culture Xplorers’ community-building initiatives called Philly Photo Nights.

Once a month, in an informal, upbeat atmosphere, arts and travel enthusiasts convene in a center city coffee shop to review travel photography portfolios and hear the stories behind the pictures.
Click here to read the article