We find ourselves in a unique opportunity to rethink how we travel: to imagine and design a new model of tourism for a re-birthed, post-pandemic world... a model that is regenerative and local-led, rather than extractive and exploitative.
As we’ve gone through this journey of introspection, we’ve also taken the opportunity to rethink and re-imagine who we are, what we stand for, and what we are building.
Through this inquiry, we’ve decided to change the name of our organization from Untrodden to Earthtones.
Our reasoning for this evolution is multi-faceted... but at the core, the decision is rooted in the fact that the concept “untrodden” does not fully capture or communicate the ethos of our true and most essential service.
When we first started Untrodden four years ago, our belief was that by taking people to “untrodden” places, it would inspire in others an ethic of “leave no trace” and a desire to protect and preserve such places. While our trips had that effect on many -- and the underlying ethic still resonates strongly with us -- we believe the name fails to communicate the core of our mission...
To ignite a movement that reconnects us all to the natural world, and empowers local, nature-based and regenerative economies.
While many experiences we facilitate involve destinations with low human densities (such as Patagonia, the Arctic, Alaska, the Himalaya, etc.), viewing these places as “untrodden” tends to ignore, minimize, and overlook the human element and history of many native and indigenous communities who have lived within and among these ecosystem for generations.
To the people that have stewarded these places for millennia, these lands are not ‘untrodden’, and describing them as such overlooks the history of these people, and disregards their ecological knowledge and wisdom.
At Earthtones, our goal is to celebrate and share this wisdom, as we believe it to be critical in transforming consumer-driven, resource-extractive mindsets toward a more ecologically-harmonious future.
Our local partners are stewards, guardians, and wayfinders... and they are at the core of what we serve. Together with them, we design nature-inspired, immersive experiences that are locally-driven, with proceeds contributing to a local destination stewardship fund that invests in strengthening bio-diversity, local capacity building, and overall community resilience.
Far from merely facilitating travel to places that have yet to be visited, ‘discovered’, or ‘trodden’, our team seeks to spark a stewardship movement that at its core is about living in greater harmony with the Earth — in all of its profound tones, hues, shapes, and forms. It is our goal to bring our travelers deeply into an immersive, sensory experience with the Earth...
Inspired by place, all of our journeys celebrate the unique ecosystem and local community that it originates from — what we call its 'Earthtone’: its sights, sounds, and locally-adapted nuances.
When we connect deeply to the Earthtone of a place – when we can feel it, sense it viscerally, and know it – only then will we really understand the place on an emotional level, and thus be motivated to protect and defend it.
Because we believe people only change their behavior to protect the things that they love, and they love only that which they have experienced in a direct, heartfelt way.
Our mission is to facilitate experiences that help people fall deeply in love with the Earth, transforming them into emotionally-invested and inspired stewards.
After all, Earthtones aspires to be more than merely a travel community. We seek to develop a medium for transformative, experiential education that facilitates a deeper respect for the natural environment and better understanding of how to live in harmony among it.
At our core, we are building a network and a community that supports and empowers the earth's fragile ecosystems and ‘earthtones,’ for our collective and future well-being. Our one ask of thos who wish to join us — effectively our terms of service — is to share a love for the planet and a commitment to its ecological protection.
Onwards.
