Visit Costa Rica with kids based in a family-style resort offering fun, recreation and learning activities for kids, parents and grandparents.

Ann Arbor, MI – November 2, 2010 — Building on more than 25 years of nature and culture oriented travel in Costa Rica with kids, students, adults and nature lovers, tour operator JOURNEYS International is partnering with a Costa Rican family-owned jungle resort to provide a unique seven-day adventure camp and exploration experience. Your family’s Costa Rica with Kids adventure vacation will feature visiting local schools, hiking in the rain forest, viewing a volcano, activities in butterfly and frog sanctuaries, activities with local children, swimming, horseback riding and white water rafting in lush tropical environments.

The Costa Rica with Kids Family vacations are scheduled as multi-generation, group trips from June 18-24 and Jun 25-Jul 1, 2011. Extensions to visit sea turtle nesting areas, tropical beaches and other Costa Rica national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are available.

JOURNEYS can also help you visit Costa Rica with kids on a private family vacation at any time of year customized to your personal family travel interests and dates. Family and multi-generation trips are scheduled for Christmas and Spring break school vacation periods

JOURNEYS also offers family adventure travel vacations and other trekking, safari and photo trips in 50 other destinations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australia.

About JOURNEYS International:
JOURNEYS International of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was recently chosen by National Geographic Traveler magazine as one of Ten “Best Outfitters on Earth.” Condé Nast has named director Joan Weber as Top Travel Specialist for family travel every year since 2002. JOURNEYS International has specialized in ecotourism since 1978. JOURNEYS mission is to offer the best nature tours, safaris, treks, adventure travel, family and cultural trips on earth. Whether it is called an eco vacation, adventure travel, ecotravel, ecotour, sustainable travel or responsible travel, for nearly 30 years JOURNEYS has been creating ecologically sensitive and culturally responsible travel to exotic destinations around the world. Specialty ecotrips include women’s tours, Kilimanjaro climbs, exploration cruises, festival trips, student group trips and cross cultural and wildlife safaris. For more information about this trip or other JOURNEYS trips, visit http://www.journeys.travel or contact JOURNEYS at 800-255-8735.
Contact: Kirsten Kulik
Marketing Director
JOURNEYS International
800-255-8735
Fax: 734-665-2945
http://www.journeys.travel

National Geographic, publisher of Adventure Travel magazine awarded JOURNEYS International top honors for a second year in a row in the prestigious “Do-It-All Adventure Travel” category.

National Geographic Adventure surveyed clients of more than 240 adventure travel companies around the world and ranked them according to education, sustainability, quality of service, spirit of adventure and client satisfaction. Ranking in the top ten in all categories, JOURNEYS scored 100% for client satisfaction.

“We are honored by National Geographic Adventure and our clients for awarding us one of the highest recognitions in the adventure travel industry,” states Joan Weber. “We are dedicated to continuing to provide travelers with ecologically responsible trips that will delight the senses and renew the spirit.”

In 1978, before the terms eco-travel, sustainable travel, or responsible travel became popular, Will and Joan Weber, the founders and directors of JOURNEYS International, took a small group of open minded travelers on a journey to discover Nepal. Their hope for this trip was to provide their travelers with an emotional and spiritual experience as well as a physical one .  The tour involved learning about the local culture and the natural environment through direct, respectful interaction and contributing to the preservation of the Nepalese culture.  Since then, the JOURNEYS staff has continually searched for new destinations and new ways for clients to experience them. “At JOURNEYS, adventure travel means more than just a physical experience – it should be emotional, intellectual and spiritual too,” according to the editors of National Geographic Adventure. “Clients explore these inner realms during tours that might include a mediation session with Buddhist monks in Ladakh or hang time with local healers in the volcanic highlands of Guatemala”

For more information on JOURNEYS family trips, community based tours or other types of adventure travel go to www.journeys.travel or call 1-800-255-8735.

About JOURNEYS International:
JOURNEYS International of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was recently chosen by National Geographic Adventure magazine as one of the Ten “Best Outfitters on Earth.” JOURNEYS International has specialized in ecotourism since 1978. They offer the best nature tours, safaris, treks, adventure travel, family and cultural trips on earth. Whether it is called an eco-vacation, adventure travel, eco-travel, eco-tour, sustainable travel or responsible travel, for 30 years they have been creating ecologically sensitive and culturally responsible travel to exotic destinations around the world. Specialty eco-trips include women’s tours, Kilimanjaro climbs, exploration cruises, festival trips, student group trips and cross cultural and wildlife safaris. For more information about this trip or other JOURNEYS trips visit www.journeys.travel or contact JOURNEYS at 800-255-8735.

JOURNEYS International is proud to announce that Condé Nast has chosen Directors Will and Joan Weber for 2 Top Travel Specialist Awards

For the 6^th year running, Joan Weber, Director and Co-Founder of JOURNEYS International has won the Top Travel Specialist Award for Family Travel:  International Adventure and Eco-travel.  Joan, a former teacher in the United States and Nepal, has an extensive history in planning family travel.  Since the time her children were toddlers, about 20 years ago, Joan and her husband, Will, have been trekking their children across the world to learn about new destinations, cultures and adventures.  She has taken this knowledge and has help plan over 300 annual family trips.

“The one of the many reasons we have won this award for the last 6 years is that we have learned from our own family travel experiences and have applied these ideas to our trips.  We have learned that good planning does not mean over-scheduling. There need to be spaces of time for discovery and serendipity. We know that parents enjoy our trips when their kids are happy, and we know that kids are happy when they rest, eat well, and participate in engaging activities, which stimulate their curiosity,” States Joan Weber.

For the 5th year running, Will Weber, Director and Co-Founder of JOURNEYS International has won at Top Travel Specialist.  This year he received the Top Travel Specialist for Community Based Tourism.  As a former Peace Corps volunteer and ecotourism pioneer, Will has developed programs through out the world where travelers can stay in private quarters adjacent to a village family’s home, accompany them to market, learn their craft, join them for meals and more. 

“Through JOURNEYS I have been instrumental in helping local communities in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Latin America develop a capacity for hosting American tourists. I have served as a consultant to US/AID in this capacity in the Pacific and Guyana. Our company offers high quality community-based tourism in 20 countries. We support financially, through our charitable, non-profit Earth Preservation Fund, numerous incipient programs around the world with an expectation they may grow in capability to host high end travelers in acceptable standards.  Most of our trips throughout the world feature opportunities to add extensions or create whole FIT itineraries based in community-hosted environments, if the main trip utilizes more conventional accommodations. This is not just a matter of responding to growing market for such travel opportunities but a long-term philosophical commitment to building cross cultural strategies for sustaining local communities, cultures and environments.” States Will Weber

For more information on JOURNEYS family, Community Based or other types of adventure travel go to www.journeys.travel