Give by Going
Unlocking the transformative power of travel
We set out to share the story of Brazil.
The Espinhaço had other plans.
Ana & Elisa. Diamantina (2022)
Community is the work
It sounds naive now, but Elisa & I never imagined that community would become so central to our lives.
We thought we were exploring landscapes, mapping routes, and learning the history of the range.
In reality we were meeting people, spending time with them, and being invited back again.
Over time, those relationships came to define the work.
Today, they’re inseparable.
Student & teacher. Taquaral (2022)
What it looks like in practice
One of the most rewarding parts of building this company has been deciding how it actually works on the ground.
Everything Gift of Go does in the field runs through the people who live here.
We hire—and often train—local drivers, cooks, guides, horsemen, boatmen, porters, and hosts. We stay in family homes and small pousadas, many of which had never received a foreigner. We build trips around the lives already being lived along the route.
It’s possible there are easier ways to run trips in remote places.
We’ve yet to find a more fulfilling one.
Avilmar & Fabrício. Lamarão (April)
Nica, Luisa (middle) & Pê. Santa Rita (July)
Living here changes things
Elisa & I have dedicated ourselves to studying, documenting, and traveling in the Espinhaço since 2018. In 2021, we moved to the range full-time. We live here.
We travel across the range to spend time with the people who shape it, from families in the sertão and firefighters in Sempre Vivas to park administrators and professors at UFVJM. We visit their homes, and they visit ours. We hear about problems as they arise, not months later.
It’s changed how we think about our work. “Giving back” no longer feels like an initiative, but an act of taking care of a place you’re part of.
Barbosa & Lúcia, Community-based tourism pioneers in Inhaí.
The real question
Elisa & I stopped worrying long ago about whether our trips would positively impact the Espinhaço and its residents.
We’ve seen what happens when money moves directly into the range’s small communities.
We’ve seen what steady work means for families who didn’t have it before.
The question now is: can we do more, and can we do it well?
School library. Conselheiro Mata
S’mores with Diego & Dilsinho.
Quartel do Indaia
Money isn’t everything
Building strong communities takes resources, but it also takes vision, commitment, and time. It’s easy to overestimate the role of resources—especially financial ones—in the equation.
Money matters, but without relationships, trust, and follow-through, the gains are fleeting.
We’ve seen large investments disappear without changing anything. We’ve also seen small, consistent efforts reshape how people live and work.
What matters is staying long enough to understand what actually helps, and being present enough to see it through.
The old School. Conselheiro Mata
The 5%
Traveling the region and spending time with residents continues to reveal new challenges and possibilities.
Elisa & I keep a running list of needs, plans, and projects across the Espinhaço, shaped by what we see and what we hear. Some are small and symbolic. Others are larger and more ambitious.
What they all have in common is that they come from the people who live here, and that we understand them well enough to know where we can help.
We allocate 5% of every trip to these people and projects.
All of them matter.