Our Philosophy
The Book of Go
Real life gives us everything we need for adventure.
Authenticity. 2024
I.
Authenticity is (Almost) Everything
When it comes to travel, we believe that nothing — nothing — is more precious, more compelling, or more powerful than authenticity.
To experience a foreign place and culture as they truly are is the key to immersion, a catalyst for insight, and a hallmark of real adventure.
We task ourselves with capturing authenticity as fully as possible on each trip — and framing it in a way that encourages reflection long after the journey ends.
If we’re successful, everything else falls into place.
And the transformative power of travel reveals itself.
That’s the gift of go.
Adventure. 2025
II.
Adventure (Is greater than activity)
Life is an adventure. Trekking is an activity.
They differ in their degrees of difficulty & risk — and in the richness of their rewards.
One enlightens.
The other entertains.
Our trips are usually active by definition — we crave motion, and we and thrive on challenge — but they are adventurous by nature:
designed to place travelers firmly outside their comfort zones from the moment they arrive, and not let up until the moment they go home.
You’ll know you’ve had one because you won’t be able to stop thinking about it.
And because it will cause you to rethink everything.
Quis Viajar. 2019
III.
Immersion (As Alchemy)
Imagine opening up a book…
then jumping in.
It’s a lofty notion — but one we set out in earnest to achieve on each of our trips.
Immersion isn’t simply the process of arriving in a new place, though. It’s the process of absorbing it.
Once achieved, the effects are magical: we are simultaneously removed from our own reality and placed into someone else’s.
Achieving immersion within a limited timeframe requires open minds, diligent guides, and thoughtful itineraries — there is, after all, quite a lot to get you caught up on.
We cover as much ground — physically and mentally — as we can during each journey, helping travelers contextualize the unique time and place they suddenly find themselves in.
Along the way, you may find that there is no better way to disconnect from the stresses of your daily life… than to enter someone else’s.
We believe immersion is the gateway to deeper understanding. For more on how we move through the places we go, see our How We Go page.
Dona Raquel. 2019
IV.
Stories (Like Portraits)
Stories are, without exaggeration, the basis for our existence as a company — our raison d’être.
Our mission isn’t to take people to beautiful places, though.
It’s to allow them to experience how vast life is and can be.
As researchers, we dig deeply into the fundamental truths that underlie the places we visit.
As experience designers and guides, we’re as dedicated to the veracity of the stories we tell — and the faithful portrayal of the places we go — as we are to creating unforgettable experiences for the travelers we bring.
Real life is the greatest adventure of all.
Our job is to share it.
Yours is to experience it.
Reflecting deeply is how we turn memories into stories. To read accounts of past trips, visit our Journal.
storm Outside. 2022
V.
Travel (Is a Decision)
All experiences — whether intentional or unrequested — have the power to transform our lives.
But travel is unique in that it can accelerate that process.
And in that it is a decision.
In our experience, the best trips often reveal truths: about the places we go, the people we are, and the world around us.
Those truths, in turn, challenge us — gifting us the perspective we need to contextualize, transform, enjoy, and appreciate our lives.
Discovery, perspective, gratitude, and enrichment aren’t on everyone’s bucket list.
But they’ll never stop being on ours.
Dinner game. 2018
VI.
Guests (Where we go)
During trips, we are guests of the people and places we visit — not agents of change.
Here to converse, not to convert.
To experience, not to resist.
To observe, not to judge.
We’ve all been trained by someone, somewhere.
There will be time — once we’re home — to reflect on that notion, and to learn from what we saw and felt while we were gone.
The Sanctuary. 2019
VII.
Settings (Not Destinations)
The thought of a new place, alone, is rarely enough to coax us from the comfort of our beds.
It’s the promise of experiencing something meaningful there that does the trick.
We are as drawn to landscapes as the next traveler — their beauty, their vastness, their strangeness.
But for us, they are the stage, not the reward.
The canvas, not the painting.
The real journey happens within the setting — in the truths we uncover, the characters we meet, the stories we become part of.
Destinations can be stunning. But aren’t what change us.
Once we arrive, we could be anywhere.
Earth is a setting.
Life is an experience.
Fairy Falls. 2024
VIII.
Luxuries (Not Luxurious)
Our trips aren’t luxurious in the conventional sense.
There are no spa robes or velvet ropes.
No bubble between you and the world.
What we offer are luxuries of a different kind:
Time.
Access.
Immersion.
The chance to witness something unrepeatable, and to live a reality few ever will.
The rewards of traveling deeply in a foreign world—discovery, perspective, gratitude, satisfaction—are entirely superfluous in the context of modern life.
Yet they are every bit as enriching — and as challenging to attain — as ever before.
For the right traveler, the opportunity to see the world through a different set of eyes is the ultimate luxury.
Private Road. 2024
IX.
Curation (is Greater thaN Performance)
The difference between staging moments and framing them is the difference between performance and presence. Between fabrication and truth.
It’s tempting — easy, even — to script encounters, rehearse rituals, and manufacture perfect photographs.
To portray people & places not as they are, but as we would like them to be.
In our minds, though, the power of travel lies in the unscripted.
In the truth.
In the quiet magic of real life, when no one is acting.
Our role — as researchers, designers, and guides — is to notice what matters, and to put travelers in position to notice it, too.
If we do our jobs correctly, everything else falls into place,
and the transformative power of authenticity reveals itself.
The World needs honest people like yourself. 2018
X.
Giving (By Going)
We used to call it “giving back.”
Somewhere along the way, though, it just started to feel like being a good neighbor.
When you’ve lived in a place long enough,
eaten at its tables, listened to its stories, and watched your kids grow up beside its kids…
The idea of “giving back” becomes something simpler and more natural.
You start to care — and you want to help the place thrive.
That’s what Give by Going means to us.
It’s not a feel-good program or a side project.
It’s the way we’ve chosen to live our lives — and to run this company.
From who we hire, to where we stay, to how we allocate the proceeds from each trip, we treat every detail as a chance to create meaningful positive impact.
It’s not always easy,
but it’s how things grow. And how trust is built.
If you’d like to learn more, we’d be honored to share the stories of the people, places, and projects that make this journey so much bigger than just us.
For more about the work we do To help make the Espinhaço a better place, visit our Give by Going page.
Bike rental. 2021
XI.
Privileged (Not Pretentious)
In the past, we held other titles. Led other lives.
Today, we are privileged to be exactly who we are, where we are:
Researchers. Explorers. Guides. Storytellers. Business owners.
We’re good at our jobs because we take them seriously.
Because we built them ourselves.
Because we live what we believe.
We put in long hours.
We think ahead.
We hold our work to a high standard.
We have deep philosophies about travel because we’ve always traveled — and because we’ve spent our lives observing those who do (and don’t), too.
We aren’t fancy. (We live out of backpacks.)
And we didn’t go into this for the money.
We did it because we believed we had a gift for traveling, and we wanted to share it.
It’s as important for us to remember this as it is for you to know it.
We strive for long-lasting, mutually enriching relationships.
And for unforgettable experiences that we can all look back on with pride.
If that sounds good to you, we’re in.
We hope we can be of value to your journey, too.