Responsible Travel Policy
As part of a commercial operation traveling to another part of the world, at Impulse Adventures, we believe we must do this in a responsible and ethical way. Our policies focus on 3 main areas.
Environmental
We travel from our homes to these amazing environments, to experience them for their natural beauty. In order for us to preserve these environments for years to come, we need to actively reduce the impact our expeditions have. We actively adopt a ‘leave no trace’ policy, having zero tolerance on litter for staff and clients, as well as discouraging toileting outside of facilities. The washing of clothes, and ourselves with soaps in rivers and lakes causes obvious pollutants in the water, therefore we only was in purpose built facilities that have adequate filtering etc, and where possible, use biodegradable soaps.
Commercial
In many places in the world it is entirely possible, with a little planning and preparation, to arrive at a destination, and make our own way along trekking trails without the help of local support staff. We believe that doing this is not commercially responsible, and that wherever possible, local commercial operations should be engaged and encouraged to build and grow. We are, in the end, traveling through their home. Not only does this provide the local people and economies with income, but it also enhances our experiences, as no one knows the places we travel to better than those who live there! We also ensure that all our local staff are equiped with appropriate clothing and equipment for the environments we are traveling into. Anyone engaged by Impulse Adventures to carry expedition equipment such as porters, are treated as valued members of the team, and strict weight limits apply. These limits vary depending on the destination and expedition. Eg. The Kokoda Track Authority rules that porters are to carry no more than 22.5kgs, while the International Porter Protection Society state that in Nepal, porters should carry no more than 30kgs. We aim to keep our loads well below these limits!
Social
We are lucky to live where we do, with our support networks, facilities, education, healthcare, the list goes on. Unfortunately there are many people in many of the areas we travel to that are much less privileged than us and we see it as our role to do what we can to share our good fortune with some of these people. Each of the destinations we travel to, we seek organisations that we deem are doing great things for the community or the environment, and use each of our trips to assist them, financially or otherwise.