Introducing the Indie Travel Manifesto


We are naturally drawn to people who share the same interests as us – whether it’s food, sports, books, television, politics, or travel – we tend to make strong connections and bonds with those who are most in line with how we live our daily lives. For those of us who put a priority on travel, we enjoy making connections with others who have that same passion.

As an employee of BootsnAll, I believe strongly in our company’s core valuesEmbrace change, Love learning, Make meaningful connections, and Work & play with passion. These four values drive what we do as a company, and everyone who works here lives our lives by these same values.

These values also speak to how we travel. We embrace the idea of visiting a country or city that is totally different from ours. We love learning about the culture in that new place. We strive to make connections while on the road, both with other travelers and the local people. And even if we do have to do some work while on the road, we do it passionately, and we certainly like spending our non-work hours doing what makes us happy.

While we talk about these passions daily and they come across in the content on our site and the services we offer, we wanted to take it a step further. Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding and owner of this site, feels the same way about travel as we do. So he hooked up with our CEO and helped create the Indie Travel Manifesto.

This isn’t a guide on how we think other people should travel. The tourist vs. traveler debate is a rather tired one, and we embrace the idea that everyone travels differently. This is how we travel. What are our priorities are as travelers. What we hope to get out of traveling – both domestically and abroad. We hoped that by putting our thoughts, ideals, and priorities onto paper, we would be able to create a manifesto that would have other like-minded travelers nodding your heads in unison.

We want to hear from you. We want your input on this. Read it. Vote up or vote down on the statements that you agree or disagree with. Comment on them. Share them with your social networks. And finally, if you agree with our assessment of indie travel, then go ahead and sign it. In the spirit of making meaningful connections, we hope to foster a community of travelers who love all the same things about travel that we love.

Posted by | Comments (1)  | February 6, 2012
Category: Notes from the collective travel mind


One Response to “Introducing the Indie Travel Manifesto”

  1. Link Roundup: The Inspiration Edition | Travel Junkette | Adventure travel tips, photos, and inspiration - Travel Junkette | Travel Junkette Says:

    […] The Indie Travel Manifesto. Don’t talk about it, be about it! […]