Visiting Sri Lanka on a G Adventures Tour

I never thought that I was a group tour person. I imagined being crammed on a big bus with a bunch of people that I had nothing in common with, spending hours driving around and stopping at sites just long enough to snap a picture. Definitely not my idea of fun!

​However, after I became a travel advisor, I started learning about all of the different companies out there, and there are a lot. One that really interested me was G Adventures. I love their story and what they stand for - they are all about sustainable tourism, basically keeping the travel dollars in the community that you are traveling in. On top of that, there are a maximum of 16 people on each trip, so you have a more intimate experience and there is a fair amount of free time built in so you can explore on your own. Sounded great, so I decided to experience one of their trips for myself. Last year my boyfriend and I traveled to Peru with them. It was an amazing experience and I realized that I just might be a group tour person after all. It’s all about finding the right tour for you.

Where is Sri Lanka? It's the small island off the southeast coast of India.

G Adventures recently partnered with National Geographic and offered an opportunity for travel professionals to experience one of these tours first hand. I immediately applied for a spot and crossed my fingers. There may also have been a phone call to my contact at G that involved some begging and pleading but I believe that it was the extremely impressive application that secured my spot.

Where I'll be headed over the next 10 days

So why Sri Lanka? It’s not easy to get to - it took me 12 ½ hours from New York to Doha, Qatar and from there it’s another four to get to Colombo, Sri Lanka. That, along with the 9 ½ hour time difference (I have no idea where that half hour comes from…) ensures a major case of jet lag! There are a few reasons. I’ve been curious about the country for a while. I’m half Indian and I’ve wondered how similar the culture is to India’s. But what really made the decision for me is the itinerary that was put together for this trip. Spending time on a tea plantation and learning about that process, visiting the elephant orphanage, hiking in the hills, a safari and temple visits all sounded great. The you add in the National Geographic experiences like learning about Ayurveda from a local practitioner and visiting a seed farm to learn about farming techniques - how could I pass this up?