TRAVEL. CONNECT. TRANSFORM.

You're starting to see Travel. Connect. Transform. in our social media posts - but what does it really mean?

As you know, here at Joyous Journeys, we're about more than just your average beach vacation. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Our mission is to connect hands and hearts with love globally through travel. As part of that mission, we aim to bring you news, tips, and tidbits like the article in last month's newsletter about Earth Overshoot Day.

Travel.

We firmly believe that travel can be a force for good - a way to experience a new culture deeply and to build understanding. To that end, we are committed to identifying and recommending trips that go deeper - whether that's delving into history to a particular region in the U.S. like our Savannah trip last month, or having a traditional dinner in the home of a family in a foreign country like India.

Connect.

Acts of service connect people. They allow both the receiver and the giver to feel good and they bring value to the people and places you're visiting. This can be as simple as visiting a school that part of the money you paid for your tour of the Amazon is helping to support; meeting the children and teachers who are benefitting directly from your amazing journey; or it can be as much as spending a week in an animal rescue in Thailand helping to care for the animals and the facilities. In Hawaii they are very intentional about this, inviting you to participate in their Malama Hawaii Program, extending the invitation to truly become part of the community when you visit (see Malama Hawaii)

Here at Joyous Journeys, we do the behind the scenes work to ensure that any programs or tours that we offer are supporting the communities we visit in meaningful ways; that our service is not taking jobs away from the local people (often, our service is allowing more jobs to be created, or continued); and to ensure that the suppliers and tour providers that we utilize are aligned with our mission and core values.

Transform.

Did you know that there's actual science that confirms there are real, physical benefits that come from serving others? Allan Luks, author of "The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others", has researched a phenomenon he calls "Helper's High" for many years. He found that, after helping someone, your body releases endorphins, brain chemicals that reduce pain and increase euphoria. This creates a rush of elation followed by a period of calm. He found evidence that you can even re-experience this high just by remembering their altruistic acts - even long after they take place.

He and other researchers have also found that both volunteering and charitable giving ease stress and improve physical and emotional health through strengthening immune system activity,

decreasing intensity and awareness of physical pain, activating positive emotions that support well-being, reducing negative attitudes that deplete well-being, and enhancing functioning of various body systems.

Helping others can also improve one's spiritual health. Altruism can provide a sense of direction and bring a purpose to life. Feeling like part of something greater than oneself, and seeing the power we have to touch lives can make us feel less alone in the universe and give us meaning.

Our purpose is to serve you by providing opportunities to travel in meaningful ways that bring soul enlivening purpose, a sense of adventure, curiosity, education, and love to this journey of life. May your journey be a joyous one!

With love,

Jennifer