by GBP | Sep 11, 2017 | Travel
It’s with a heavy but inspired heart that I write the first blog post since the Give Backpacker’s founder Lindsay M. Hawley’s passing on New Years Day 2017. She was more then a best friend, she was my idol who made me want to give back, travel and live more. Lindsay was a guiding light for so many of us, and her shocking and sudden death left us all speechless. Unsure how to deal with the loss and feeling the urge to do what she always inspired me to do, I chose to embark on a wild journey through South East Asia that April, flying out of LAX on 4-14-17. Following in her footsteps quite literally, I researched all the places she went to and asked a couple mutual friends if they’d like to join my quest to keep Give Backpackers alive. Even though our kind hearted friend is gone, we can keep her spirit with us in so many ways. This was my way of keeping Lindsay close, and I learned so much along the way. I encourage others to follow their heart when dealing with pain and loss, it helped me so much and I cannot wait for the next trip. This is a brief summary of the latest Give Backpackers journey, hopefully I’ll see you on the next one! I flew to Siem Reap with Elliott Breit, a friend of Lindsay’s and Give Backpacker advocate from San Diego. Carissa Castro, a long time friend and fellow model that worked for Lindsay’s other company LMH promotions (yeah, Linz was a badass), had already arrived the night before....
by GBP | Dec 1, 2015 | Cause, Connect, Givebackpackers, Shop, Travel
I do not believe in Black Friday and I do not believe in Cyber Monday. Today is #GivingTuesday but I believe every day should be a Giving Day. Givebackpackers was not started to sell the world more stuff. It was started on the idea of connecting purpose driven travelers and good causes to the resources they need to do more good in the world. We first introduced the concept of selling handmade goods from around the world after I had some success selling Mexican artisan accessories on Krissy’s etsy shop to raise money for Door of Faith Orphanage in Baja. On our trip around the world last year we collected the most amazing handmade things along the way and began selling them online and at markets and events. It was a lot of work to keep that much inventory organized and to physically manage all of it. I quickly realized the idea of selling stuff did not align with my values and my mission to create meaningful experiences that made an impact. Earlier this summer Krissy and I parted ways as business partners. She kept the stuff and started a new company, Twin Peaks Apparel and the Givebackpackers got back to what we do best, travel! We have made two different trips to Nicaragua, where we are funding a clean water well in a rural village and sponsoring a school with supplies, security, playground equipment and seriously needed upgrades to the school. Each trip had about 5 volunteers from all backgrounds, with the shared goal of traveling with a purpose. (We made plenty of time for fun adventures like...
by GBP | Jan 21, 2015 | Cause, Connect, Travel
Build Your Future Tomorrow Center is one of those organizations that make you go, WOW, this is how it should be done. They provide a full range of services and support to communities affected by extreme poverty. BFT Center is dedicated to providing Cambodian people with the right intellectual and economic tools to be self sufficient. Their vision is built upon two beliefs: Knowledge is Hope & Peace is Development While we were in Siem Reap, we met with Mr. Sedtha Long, the founder of BFT and a survivor of the Khmer Rouge, one of the worst genocides in human history. Like most children at that time, he was taken from his family and enslaved, forced to work from 5am to midnight on very little to survive. After torturous years, and losing many of his family members he managed to escape to the Thai border, and start a life in the refugee camps. https://givebackpackers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Build-Your-Future-Today-Center.-14-September-20131.mp4 Being one of the few educated survivors, he started development work in the camps, assisting many orphaned children. He started teaching in the camps, along with educating western volunteers about Cambodian culture & issues, something he continues to practice today. He also started bringing in Buddhist monks & nuns to help people deal with crisis issues and understand morality even in such demanding times. He even took on Thai kick-boxing, crossing the border to compete and earn money to bring back to the camps. Once the civil war was over and people were allowed to return to Cambodian cities, he realized his primary goal in life had been defined by the struggle inflicted on...
by GBP | Jan 21, 2015 | Cause, Connect, Travel
www.TheBlogAbroad.com Traveling is truly an amazing concept. Not many other things in life can leave you speechless, yet turn you into a storyteller. But traveling does just that and more, depending on your attitude and aptitude to let it make an imprint greater than just the stamp in your passport. From a year’s worth of travel, I went from a passport of pages to a passport of purpose, as the stamps throughout my 15 countries of exploration decorated the empty spaces, silently singing the stories of spontaneous adventures, life-changing encounters, and the ever-lasting impact the people from other cultures had on me. But the biggest thing I had to learn was how to be a traveler and not a tourist. The minute you master this, the floodgates of opportunity and discovery will open for you, because there’s a special component to traveling with purpose that changes the way you see and approach life. Try and create unique experiences by going outside the norm to visit places under the radar. Not to mention breaking out of your shell by trying to speak the language and exchanging perspectives and cultural views with locals. As a global citizen, your duty is to enrich this world. People need you. We need you. I need you — to continue to push the agenda for the uniquely-born, free-spirited, adventure-junkies who eat bowls of pride and courage for breakfast every morning. With a side of bacon. Traveling is what I love to do. And when you love something enough, you find a way to make a living out of it. But money alone won’t fund...
by Dom LaBarbera | Dec 18, 2014 | Cause, Connect, Shop, Travel
Thank you so much to everyone who helped get Givebackpackers to the next step. With the 8k we raised on Kickstarter we were able to begin purchasing inventory from artisans around the world during our 8 week trip. Without your support we would not have had the funds between us to make any extra purchases during our trip. With the capital from Kickstarter, Givebackpackers was able to build relationships and purchase enough handmade items to launch a full line of goods for good! We were able to purchase the software, tools and supplies necessary for growing a successful products based business and are excited to share with you the story and the treasures from our journey, as well as invite you to join us on an adventure some time. Watch our kickstarter video to hear our whole story from the...
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