Dear Fellow Adventurers,
As you may know we are seeing a significant shift to tailor-made adventures at YellowWood, but, and this comes with a very big BUT, I am extremely excited about our many new and small group itineraries which are confirmed departures and still have places open for you in 2026.
A brand new one for example is our Small Group Christmas trek in Patagonia (YellowWood guided) on Sat 20th Dec 2025 - Fri 2nd Jan 2026, led by YellowWood guide Caroline McCann alongside local guides through both Argentine & Chilean regions (of course, this Patagonia adventure is also available on a tailor-made basis). So if you are thinking about doing something extraordinary this Christmas - perhaps this is the one for you!
[Image: Los Glaciares National Park, Argentine Patagonia]
Passion
I have become a convert/addict to the podcast Founders by David Senra in which he reads a biography of an entrepreneur and compresses their life’s learnings into about an hour. I enjoy boring my colleagues and everyone else around me to death with quotes from this, and one stuck in my head whilst driving to our office in Hove on the South Coast of the UK this morning: “Mediocrity is always invisible until passion shows up and exposes it.”
I am genuinely proud of the innovation our team has put into creating our itineraries alongside our local partners on the ground. We take the time and effort to make them the best that they can be, never taking shortcuts and putting quality and authenticity above all. Here are just a few examples of our (non-mediocre) unique confirmed departures you can still join this year:
[Image: Reindeer Herder in Northern Mongolia]
Tsaatan Tribe: The reindeer herders of Mongolia
Wed, 3 Sept - Thu, 11 Sept 2025
Central Asia Silk Road Adventure in Kyrgyzstan & Uzbekistan
Sat, 6 Sept - Sun, 21 Sept 2025
Sat, 4 Oct - Tue, 14 Oct 2025
Trekking the Trans Bhutan Trail & Black-necked Crane Festival
Wed, 5 Nov - Sat, 15 Nov 2025
Walking through the traditions & history of Japan
Sat, 15 Nov - Thu, 27 Nov 2025
[Image: Black-necked Crane Festival in Gangtey, Bhutan]
Purpose
Some of you may know that I also work in development finance which helps to raise money for meaningful projects in especially emerging markets, and it has been great fun for me to see some of the impacts of these projects first hand in Malawi, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and so on.
On a call with a senior leader of the World Bank Group yesterday, it was highlighted that especially in the current era of reduced government spending on aid, sustainable tourism is a key pillar for job creation and poverty alleviation in especially remote communities.
So, have an amazing adventure whilst helping to support local economies & ecosystems – what are you waiting for?
[Image: Schoolchildren coming to say hi in Malawi]
I have recently been reading...
Cleopatra's Wedding Present (2011) by Robert Tewdwr Moss was recommended to me by YellowWood client Chris, who incidentally will be going on his 6th adventure with us in January!
This is a remarkable book by a brilliant young gay man who was tragically murdered in London the day after he finished writing it. This is travel writing at its very best; catty, funny, poignant, heartfelt, sincere.
In Papua New Guinea (1986) by Christina Dodwell was recommended to me by YellowWood client Linda, and after reading this I felt like a complete wimp!
Dodwell spent two years solo travelling around PNG by horseback and dugout canoe. Utterly fearless she became a legend amongst these amazing people, with her intimacy and insights into their language and culture making for fascinating reading.
Join us in YellowWood's spiritual home
We invite you to a special, one-day event at Westerlands regenerative farm, nestled in the heart of the South Downs National Park in the UK.
This event is dedicated to celebrating biodiversity and challenging the way we think about food and farming.
- Click HERE for booking information.
We are always exploring and dreaming up new journeys, and we’ll soon be sharing inspiring travel experiences in Northern Kenya (Laikipia) and Sardinia. If you know someone who might enjoy the kind of travel we offer, it would mean a lot if you felt like forwarding this email to spark a little inspiration.
And Fellow Adventurer, if there’s an adventure you’ve been quietly dreaming about, we’d love to hear from you. Just hit ‘reply’ – we’re a small team and always happy to chat.
Until next time,
Sam McManus, MD
[Image: Gauchos in Patagonia]
