How Do I Use OutdoorVoyage?

For many of us, travel agents are supposedly a thing of the past. We plan our own vacations, using a hodgepodge of booking platforms and phone calls, social media messages and outfitter websites.

The digital age has certainly made it possible for anyone to plan and carry out a trip to a far-flung destination, but it hasn’t necessarily made it easier.

Certainly not if you plan to combine multiple activities into one trip—canyoneering one day, sea kayaking the next, and wine tasting a few days later. Keeping track of all the different guide services, gear rentals, hotels, flights, and other specifics of your vacation can be far harder than any outdoor adventure you embark on.

Enter OutdoorVoyage!

Our custom-built travel planner and booking tool is the first in the industry to allow you to design and book your dream outdoor vacation—whether a hard-charging backcountry expedition or a laid-back seaside sojourn—all in one place. No affiliates, no outbound links, everything in one single screen.

That means all your activities, travel, and accommodations are bookable and manageable from a single hub. This is also means that there's no one way to start designing an Adventure with OutdoorVoyage. That’s what makes this tool so special. (That’s also what, for some first time Voyagers, makes it seem intimidating.) 

Let’s show you what it can do.

What is a Voyage?

We decided to use the word Voyage to refer to your complete, end-to-end journey, from home, to your destination and all the adventure and activities you'll have, until the time you're back home again. A Voyage also includes all the people you'll travel with.

TLDR; The Voyage screen is the dashboard for your whole journey!

What Can I Do In My Voyage Screen?

• Name your Voyage
  • "Tom's 50th Birthday Trip," "Mike and Anna's Honeymoon," "Owen's Personal Mission to Drink Every Bottle of Wine in Italy," You get the idea... In this case, I was being rather boring ("Owen's Adventure with TOV"), but don't follow my lead. Have fun with it!
• Invite all your fellow Voyagers
  • You can invite all your friends, family, or traveling partners, or simply anyone else you want to chat with or get advice from! (People invited to your Voyage don't have to be participating members of the trip, they could be a friend or family member who has traveled to this destination before and just wants to help you brainstorm and plan.)
  • Invite new Voyagers by clicking the small button with three white dots beneath the Voyage name at the top of the page. Once you click that, you'll get a pop-up (see below). You can paste in your Voyagers' emails to invite them; or just copy the invitation link. It's unique to every Voyage you create!
• Share this Voyage link however you like, in iMessage, WhatsApp, or by email. Anyone who clicks on it can join your Voyage. (You can remove people at any time if they're not traveling with you anymore).

• Brainstorm your Voyage
  • Your Voyage page is your group chat hub to throw in all the notes, photos, and any other inspiration you want. Upload anything into the Chat window. Any attachments will be stored in the "Media" section of your Voyage so you can easily access them later.
  • If you've already booked any part of your Voyage (for example, if you've bought flight tickets elsewhere) you can upload those ticket PDFs, too.
  • Start chatting and making some travel decisions!
• Add Adventures to your Voyage
  • You can start adding Adventures to your Voyage at any time by using Search, and clicking "Add to Voyage." (More on the Search Tool below)
  • When you add an Adventure, the Operator who runs the Adventure will automatically be added to a separate, private tab in the same Voyage Chat window. (Operators cannot see your main group chat; and only the designated Group Leader can message the Operator. This is to make sure that everyone doesn't confuse the Operator with random thoughts and requests.)

• Add flights and accommodations
  • While all you need for a Voyage are the Adventures themselves, OutdoorVoyage is designed to be an all-in-one hub for your adventure. You can also add flights and accommodations into the Voyage page, ensuring your trip is fully planned, customized, and booked from one place.
• Don't forget to customize!
  • In addition to customizing your Voyage with different Adventures, you can also ask any Operator to customize their Adventure. You can string together a set of Adventures; or ask different Operators to price out a particular kind of Adventure (like a safari) and then remove any Adventure or Operator if their offer doesn't work for you.

How to Search for Adventures with OutdoorVoyage? Just Start Exploring!

When you land on OutdoorVoyage and make a free account, you can start to “Explore All Adventures.” This is just one way to start using the platform. It's a way to let you dream and get inspired, if you don't already have a destination or activity in mind. You're welcome to scroll around and explore, wishlisting trips and Adventures as you go along!

You can simply scroll our integrated map of the world, scanning the Adventures that pop up. If you don’t have a specific destination in mind, this is the best way to start. You can also conduct a targeted search. First, you’ll refine your search either by activity, by region, or both.

Search by Activity

Here, you’ll choose from three mediums: Land, Water, and Sky. This is fairly self-explanatory, but Land includes all terrestrial activities, like horseriding, trekking, rock climbing, cycling, animal watching, and so on. Water includes inland activities like whitewater rafting and canoeing, as well as maritime adventures like surfing, deep sea fishing, and scuba diving. Air includes aeronautical adventures, such as hot air balloon flying, skydiving, and paragliding.

Search by Region

Here, you’ll refine your search by continent: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Oceania. (Yes, we do have outfitters offering Voyages into Antarctica, the seventh continent, but they are based in actual countries, like this Antarctic Circle Expedition which operates out of Argentina.)

Refine Your Search: Discover YOUR Adventure

Once you’ve started searching for adventures and chosen a region or activity medium, you have the ability to further refine it with three modifiers: Price, difficulty, and specific activity.

Price

The price tool lets you set the minimum and maximum price (per person) for the adventure you’re searching for. There’s something for everyone here, from barebones budget to no-holds-barred luxury.

Difficulty

The difficulty slider lets you set the minimum (0) and maximum (10) difficulty of the adventure you’re searching for. On the low end, a “0” would be an adventure with little to no physical exertion, sometimes not even walking. A “10” might be a polar expedition, or a trip up an 8,000-meter peak like Everest. See our “Difficulty and Risk” page for more information.

Activity

This modifier lets you further refine your adventures. You might search for “Land” and then narrow it down further by searching specifically for “Climbing” and “Mountaineering” adventures. In addition to the three big activity classes (Land, Water, Air), there are also smaller subcategories for motorsports, snowsports, sailing, and lodging. As we continue to expand OutdoorVoyage, you’ll see even more options appear!

When you find Adventures you like, you can add them to your Voyage page. As we mentioned above, on your Voyage page you’ll have access to several chats, one with your fellow travelers for brainstorming and planning, one for each operator hosting any adventures you’ve added to the Voyage, and another connecting you directly to OutdoorVoyage support.

How Do I BOOK my Voyage? Remember, Travel Is About Human Interaction

One of the most frequently asked questions we get here at OutdoorVoyage is rather simple. “I’ve explored, I’ve weighed my options, I’ve mixed and matched…. But how do I book my trip?”

We get it. It’s the digital age. Everyone is used to clicking buttons and booking through automated tools. But that’s not how we do things at OutdoorVoyage. We believe travel is about connection. Connecting with your friends and travel partners. Connecting with local people, culture and destinations. Connecting with nature and this magnificent planet and its landscapes.

So one of the things that makes OutdoorVoyage different from other travel booking platforms is… You CANNOT book an Adventure without directly communicating with an Operator.

There is no big, flashy, automatic “BUY NOW” button that lets you pay and reserve an Adventure instantly.

When you find adventures you’re interested in, add them to your Voyage, and send messages to the operators. There must be some human-to-human interaction, to ensure you're happy, they're happy, and everyone is on the same page.

Once you and your operator discuss your options, have agreed on a customized Adventure and price, and are on the same wavelength, the Operator will send you a prompt to book your Adventure via the Voyage chat. It’s as simple as that.

You can choose either to book and pay only for yourself—with each member of your party checking out separately–or to pay for all members of your party. All transactions are fully secured on our payment platform before being sent to Operators. Your funds are 100% secure until your plans are locked in.

After you've paid for your Voyage, you're officially booked! You'll receive confirmation via email, and an invoice to download for your records. Congratulations on designing your first fully-customized Voyage!

Why can’t I book my Adventures instantly?

Some might see this feature as a design flaw, but it was an intentional choice. We’ve talked to enough international travelers (and traveled enough ourselves) to have no shortage of horror stories.

We've had trips cancelled or changed at the last minute, adventures booked on misunderstandings, only revealed once you’re standing outside a guide shop in a foreign country, when it’s far too late to remedy.

By requiring you to communicate directly with a real, living human being (not an AI chatbot or automated booking funnel), we’re ensuring there are no mistakes, miscommunications, or misunderstandings. Only when the operator is satisfied that they 1) understand your request and 2) can provide the adventure you’re looking for on the given dates, will they send you your booking prompt.

Yes, it’s a slightly more involved process, but it’s worth it in the long run. We’re ensuring that before any credit cards come out (and certainly before you hop on a flight halfway around the world), you know exactly what adventure you’re about to embark on, and your operator knows exactly what adventure you expect!

What’s on an Operator Page?

Now that we've learned about the basics of your personal Voyage page and how to craft and book a custom Voyage, let's learn about the two other types of pages: Operator pages and Adventure pages and answer a few Frequently Asked Questions.

Operator pages are the hub for all things offered by given operator. (Here is an example, from German-Ecuadorian outfitter Responsible Travel.)

The operator page will include basic information about the operator, including their history as a company, the countries they operate in, the languages they speak, and what you can expect on their Adventures. You'll also be able to browse a collection of all the Adventures they offer, check out their direct websites and social pages, and click the "Send Message" button at the bottom of the page if you want to get in touch.

OutdoorVoyage has direct relationships with every operator on the platform and a contract that legally ensures you get the best price this operator offers.

What’s on an Adventure Page?

An Adventure page, like this one for "An Amazon Jungle Adventure," is a page dedicated to a specific "Adventure" offered by a given operator. Some operators offer only one adventure, other operators offer multiple different types of adventures, sometimes in multiple different countries.

The Adventure page will put everything you need to know about an adventure front and center. You'll see the country the adventure takes places in, the operator hosting it, the duration, a gallery of photos taken from the adventure, and the per person price.

As you scroll, you'll see an overview of what you can expect on your adventure. For example:

On this eight day adventure, you will get to explore Quito, the capital of Ecuador and a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as Cotopaxi National Park, the icon of the Andean Highlands. We then take off to explore the jungle, five wonderful days of adventure in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Expect wildlife encounters and unique interaction with the indigenous culture.

Every Adventure page is slightly different (they're designed by the operator, not Voyage), but you'll usually also be shown what is and isn't included in the price, and then a full suggested itinerary, breaking down each day of your adventure from start to finish, letting you know where you'll be and what to expect.

Most adventures are largely modifiable, so keep in mind that these itineraries aren't set in stone, you can add and subtract days, mix and match activities, and change destinations as you see fit!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I book my Voyage?

You'll book your Voyage through our platform after coordinating with the Operators that are hosting your Adventures. First, add Adventures to your Voyage. They'll be listed as "Planning" in this first phase. You can see this in the right sidebar, next to the Adventure's price.

Once you've started chatting with the Operators and have customized and confirmed the details of your Voyage, your Operator will send you a link to book your Voyage. All payments are made through our internal platform, so you can rest assured that your money is secure.

Once you've paid, that given Adventure will be listed as "Booked," and you can click on "Details" for a breakdown of payment and to download your invoice (which will automatically be emailed to you, as well).

Can my Voyage contain Adventures from different Operators?

Yes! This is one of the key advantages of designing trips with OutdoorVoyage. Our tool allows you to combine as many different Adventures as you want into one trip, complete with flights and accommodations, as well. Maybe you'll go on a wellness retreat in rural Vietnam with one Operator for the first half of your trip, then crank up the adventure with a trek to remote cave systems.

How do I remove an Adventure or Operator from my Voyage?

To remove an Adventure or Operator from your Voyage, simply click on the three dots to the right of the Adventure's name in the Operator chat. You'll see two options, "View" and “Remove.” The former option will send you to the Adventure page, the latter will remove the Adventure from your Voyage.

However, the Operator will still be accessible in the chat. (For example, you may have multiple adventures with one operator, and want to remove one, but keep another). To remove the Operator from your chat, click the “X” next to the operator’s name in the top bar. This will delete your conversation with them and remove them from your Voyage page.