We are happy to share the story of Robyn, who was one of the winners of the “I travel2…” challenge on Facebook in April. Right now, Robyn is traveling in Samoa to realize her trip idea.
I have been thinking about the need for this project for the last 3 years. If you ‘live like a local’ things are really affordable. The people are relaxed and friendly and have pride in Fa’ a Samoa. I enjoy budget travel, not only does it make travel affordable for me it helps many families in countries with poor economies to support themselves with pride, while retaining their culture. I had hoped someone else would do something to help the smaller Fale operators in Samoa to thrive so I could continue lazing away my winters, but nobody did. So my social conscious kicked in and I started working on my project.
My aim is to make it easy for travelers to find the smaller struggling accommodation, which will help the accommodation survive and as they grow this in turn will encourage other related enterprises in the village- e.g food supply, cultural demonstrations, and handicrafts.
I discovered the travel2change Facebook Challenge and overcoming my nervousness, I entered. The scary part was, no more procrastinating, I had to move forward with my project now. The exciting part was, with travel2change I now felt I was part of a like-minded community who understood why and what I was trying to achieve.
This support and the grant of $500 from travel2change has encouraged me to commit to a website and when I return from Samoa in August I will have the photos and data I require to make it fully operational.
I have started a Facebook page to keep everyone updated with what I am doing in Samoa- and show a few photos. Anyone interested can view or friend. I have named the page ‘Aba Samoa’. Wish me luck, I will keep you updated.