Scottish Highlands nature retreat & activity holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We believe that our aim of 'changing the world one holiday at a time' can be achieved by providing uplifting and transformative visitor experiences, through connection with nature and with inspiring sustainable communities; experiences which lead to our guests leaving us more open hearted, happy and enthusiastic about contributing to the creation of a more sustainable, positive future for life on earth.
Core Values
Our core business values, a reflection of our individual values, support this aim.
1. The Chief Belief
“..We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. ..This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
This is part of a letter said to have been written to the American President by Chief Seattle in 1855. It sums up how we feel pretty well.
2. An Attitude of Gratitude
We are full of gratitude that we are alive in this incredibly complex and beautiful world. We believe there is reason to give thanks in every moment, and where there is reason for thanks there is reason for celebration, and we do like a good celebration!
3. Deliver like Tigger
Bounce, energy, positivity, glass half full. However you describe it, Tigger has the right idea. Just like Tigger we take a positive, optimistic outlook on life; see solutions rather than problems and have fun while we’re doing it.
4. Walk our Talk
Our aim is to be industry leaders in providing sustainable, inspirational tourism and we’re always looking for ways to be more environmentally and socially responsible. Whether it’s sourcing local food, supporting local businesses and communities, reducing waste, conserving energy, contributing to conservation projects or inspiring our guests, we really want to make a difference.
Environment
You will have the opportunity to visit local environmental and social projects where you can learn more about the work of these organisations and even get involved in supporting their projects if you wish. On any trip where we work with and/or visit these projects we donate a percentage of our profits to the charity.
When we work with external activity providers, including for any boat trips, we ensure that these businesses take their responsibility to the environment seriously. For example, by following a code of conduct to ensure they don’t cause any harm to the natural environment or disturb the wildlife we are going out to watch. To ensure that you get the most out of your holiday whilst ensuring our activities are as environmentally and socially responsible as possible, we also provide guidance for you on how to behave in sensitive environments or around vulnerable wildlife species. Our company founder, Deborah Benham (PhD), is a marine biologist, animal behaviour expert, ecotourism specialist and accredited tour guide. who ensures that our activities respect the natural environments they take place in and the animals we encounter.
As we are based in the UK it is possible to travel here using a lower carbon option than flying. There is an excellent sleeper train service from London to Inverness and trains and coaches from most large cities. Bringing your own car is also a good option if there is a group of you, allowing a car share. To encourage you to choose one of these lower carbon options we can help you with planning your transport and route. For those of you who do need to fly, we provide an optional offsetting scheme. Once you get here your transport is all supplied by our bio-diesel powered minibus. The bio-diesel we use is locally produced from waste cooking oil. It is much less polluting and has lower emissions than traditional diesel. As its made from waste oil this bio-diesel has no impact on food production.
Lastly, in our behind the scenes work we work hard to support our environment and local community. We have an office policy of reduce, re-use and re-cycle and use a green energy supplier for our power. Internet marketing is used as much as possible to minimise paper wastage. For any materials we do print we use an award winning environmentally friendly printing company based in the next village.
Community
Community
All our scheduled holidays are based in a beautiful Victorian mansion, on the outskirts of Forres, which is run by a small co-operative community whose mission is to " develop, practice and teach skills for sustainable living, in harmony with ourselves, each other and the earth". If other accommodation is used for Tailored Breaks, this is provided by small, local businesses who share our commitment to the environment.
Great food is an important aspect of every holiday and Scotland is famous for its produce. You will experience delicious home cooked meals, using fresh fruit and veg much of which comes from our accommodation provider’s organic garden. We are lucky enough to be surrounded by excellent food producers, including fantastic organic fruit and vegetable farms, a local butcher whose meat is all sourced locally and to a very high welfare standard, an organic bakery, local cheese producers and many more. Its also important that our suppliers are socially responsible and employ local people. For example, many of our dried goods come from a local whole foods shop which is run as a cooperative. Any food waste is composted to help grow next years vegetables.
Our friendly, knowledgeable guides are what make your holiday a truly rich experience. In this part of Scotland we are very lucky as there are a huge number of knowledgeable, passionate people who work with us to deliver your holiday activities. We employ local experts as guides and are always happy for them to suggest new and exciting ideas and activities for our holidays.
This part of Scotland is rich in arts, culture and tradition. We work with local artists and experts to honour this and bring this fascinating heritage into your holidays. You will have opportunities to visit the workshops of local artists and artists and craftspeople and buy souvenirs directly from them.
Engagement with our local community is very important to us and we are involved in grassroots community organisations, like the Transition Town initiative, working on developing local solutions to climate change.
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