They purchased a property together in Brazil and began to rent it out to travelers. To empower local people, they connected each visitor with local people who offered something about their culture that they thought would be of interest to a traveler. For private Portuguese lessons, they referred guests to a journalism student at UFRJ, for a personal guide to the backlands of Rio where no traveler would dare go alone, guests were referred to Aurelio, a resident of Rocinha. And for those interested in a fun community project, they connected travelers with local non-profit organizations such as a Samba school for kids in the slums.
Each guest confessed that they came away with experiences far more exciting than what they had on other vacations. Then one guest proposed, "How great would it be if we could travel this way everywhere we go?" . . .and so they were left with the formidable task of creating a global community that did just that.
Step Up Travel is the first online community (that we know of) where local people can offer their culturally-rich talents as freelance employment, and travelers can immerse themselves more authentically in a culture and empower local people of their destinations, rather than feeding the commercial tourism industry.
At the very roots of Step Up Travel, we believe that to experience a culture is to live it through the people who make it what it is.
