Travel builds bridges one person at a time.
Ann’s goal is to help travel leaders and organizations get travelers out of their comfort zones to connect, share and learn with local people in less traveled places. She loves to help design travel opportunities anchored by human encounters – connecting travelers with local people to listen and learn, share stories, and support their work to building more sustainable communities – in ways that are beneficial to all.
Ann’s decades of experiences have enabled her to engage with the broader global community working to influence the travel market to think differently about the power of human encounters and authentic experiential travel.
Ann’s story
In April 2005, Ann Becker was on a boat on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica with her husband, her son and their guide, Javier. Tooling toward the San Pedrillo ranger station of Corcovado National Park, the water was a brilliant blue-green, and the sun was shining.
In the culminating phase of a 10-day Costa Rica vacation, Ann found herself mesmerized by the nearly untouched coastline - a gateway to one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world.
Javier instructed the boat captain to stop near a small cluster of volcanic rocks for a closer look at the Brown Boobies and Magnificent Frigate birds. At that moment, Ann turned to her husband and said, “I am in love.”
A planner by profession
Smitten completely, Ann decided soon after that family trip that she had to do her part to encourage travelers to explore this amazing country.
She absolutely loved her career, and had no desire to leave her business. But this newfound passion went far beyond a casual fling. How could she travel to Costa Rica multiple times per year?!
Ann decided to leverage her nearly 30 years of business experience in comprehensive meeting/event management and strategy consulting to create a small experiential travel company bringing travelers to Costa Rica and beyond.
A PASSION FOR Traveling deeply
From 2006-2020, Ann led custom-designed adventures in Costa Rica and beyond. These included Spanish-language immersion trips, couples’ trips, and other unique experiences, but the signature experience was her annual Wonderful Women Trip, where she took a small group of participants of all ages and backgrounds to Costa Rica.
Always focusing on human encounters and community engagement as the centerpiece of experiential travel, Ann never led the same trip twice: she innovated constantly. Handcrafted based on Ann's network of local connections, the in-depth itineraries visited many places tourists rarely explore. Travelers stayed predominantly in small eco-friendly lodges and in the homes of local hosts. They learned firsthand about rural family life, volunteered alongside community members on environmental projects, and spent quality time with Ann’s network of Costa Rican colleagues and friends working to support sustainable community growth.
She traveled in Costa Rica three to four times a year, including her rigorous scouting trips. She also visited and led travel in Nicaragua and Panama. Capitalizing on her Wonderful Women Adventures, she led a powerful women’s cross-cultural exchange trip in Chile in 2019.
A NEW QUEST
These experiences and the lessons learned along the way inspired Ann to shift her focus in 2020 to supporting others in the field of experiential travel, by connecting and advising travel leaders and speaking with audiences interested in travel anchored by authentic human encounters.
Ann has advised countless people about experiential travel and Costa Rica, and speaks on these topics at workshops and events. Ann holds a certificate in Sustainable Tourism from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and completed the RISE Travel Institute’s Pilot Program in Sustainability and Anti-Oppression in Travel in September 2021. She is currently the Principal Strategic Advisor for RISE Travel Institute, a Senior Strategic Advisor for the Impact Travel Alliance, and an active member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association.
Among the other organizations and businesses she has advised recently are the Amigos of Costa Rica, Bodhi Surf + Yoga, Costa Rica Corps, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Local Keeps, Panamanian Foundation for Sustainable Tourism, Pure Brasil, and Tomorrow’s Air.
Reach out to Ann to learn more about how to work with her as a strategic connector or advisor.