Travel Innovation
BUFFALO TOURS IN LAOS
Don’t Travel Light: How to utilise your baggage
allowance to change the world
What started as a moment of thoughtfulness by a teacher and her husband on holiday has become a travelling innovation so unique and meaningful that it recently won its creator National Geographic’s Traveller of the Year award.
WORDS: LINA PREUSS IMAGES: PACK FOR A PURPOSE
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ebecca Rothney, founder of ‘Pack for a Purpose,’ a US-based not-forprofit encouraging travellers to use spare luggage allowance to carry needed school, medical and other supplies to communities they visit, says it was her upbringing that helped her to develop a sense of community and generosity. “[Growing up], I was inculcated with the belief that if you are part of a community, for however short a time,
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you are responsible for contributing to that community in whatever way you are able,” she said in her recent interview with National Geographic Traveller. Pack for a Purpose is the outcome of her vision. With a mission to positively impact communities by assisting travellers who want to bring meaningful contributions to the destinations they visit, Pack for a Purpose is all about small efforts having a big impact.
Travellers with spare luggage allowance (as little as 2.27kg, or 1 pound) can search the Pack for a Purpose website for destinations on their itinerary, look for existing projects and find up-to-date and detailed lists of supplies needed. They can then pack supplies from this list, deposit them at a participating local accommodation provider for distribution, and in doing so make a small, yet significant contribution to the