Connect and Go Wild!
By Peter Grubb, Founder, ROW Adventures
Today’s digital world is inspiring people to travel more than ever. We experience so much online and onscreen that gives us ideas and opens doors to new possibilities. The images and stories we see, make us yearn to get out and immerse ourselves in the real world. For this reason, travel will forever remain alluring. Our role, as a travel company, is to open the door for you to experiences and places where you can unplug, diverge from your routines, release yourself from the definitions of how the world sees you, and find out in new ways who you truly are. In a sense, travel can be a detox from both your digital world as well as your established place.
As a guide for nearly 50 years, I have seen firsthand the value of being in wild places and especially those places with no connectivity. These experiences are getting harder to find, as satellites crisscross the skies, Apple offers text connectivity from new iPhones, and companies offer yet more ways to keep you hooked. My recommendation? Just say no and go wild!
On trips I’ve led over the decades I’ve seen marriages made and broken, careers shift, new businesses hatched and lifetime friendships born. What I’ve observed seems so obvious when I say it out loud - looking people in the eyes and sharing real experiences is much more meaningful than staring at a screen. And travel is one sure way to find this meaning.
It has been an honor to be a part of this journey for so many people. I’ve seen many beautiful relationships ignited – between people who know each other, and people we are meeting for the first time. The families that met on a 5-day Family Magic rafting trip, return to adventure together on one of our Baja, Mexico sea kayaking journeys. The two couples that met on one of our Ride Our World biking tours, find a shared passion of cycling, discovered they live just an hour apart and, started to meet for weekend rides and plan their next biking vacation together. Or a 17-year-old daughter who was traveling with her mother and inspired by a capable and strong woman guide she met. She kept in contact with this guide and newfound mentor and is inspired to pursue an education in marine biology and tourism.
When people meet while traveling, in new or wild places, meaningful connections happen. Part of this has to do with risk-taking and vulnerability that is woven into the fabric of any travel. Part of it is the quiet and lack of distraction that allows for a natural flow of conversation. Part is the inspiration for sincerity that nature inspires, allowing us to drop pretense and show the world our true self, stripped of the conventions life sometimes asks of us.
Delta Airlines recently conducted a survey they named “The Connection Index.” The survey shows that travel is a concrete solution to the dilemma of living too much of life digitally and the distance created by the digital world between both the physical world and one another. In a world where AI blurs the line between reality and artificial, it’s easy to get lost and confused.
The report found that:
“Travelers crave encounters that remain exhilaratingly offline: A landscape that must be felt, a conversation that can’t be simulated, a moment of collective effervescence that exists only if you’re there to experience it with others.”
And
“Travel has long played a role in collapsing the distance between humans to foster a deeper sense of belonging, which is especially necessary now given the challenges of forming meaningful relationships. It turns out that the fundamental needs for friendship, partnership and community cannot be met through digital channels without losing that real sense of connection.”
The report quantifies that a high percentage of millennials and Gen Z are looking for these real- life experiences, more so than boomers, who have not been so infiltrated by the digital world. It also supports my own anecdotal observations from a lifetime of guiding. Specifically:
- Travel has helped 82% of respondents connect with someone, up from 79% in 2025 and 83% say they have kept in contact with the new acquaintances they made during their trips.
- 38% say that travel helps them to be more present in their existing relationships.
- 80% of global travelers say travel is an important way to connect with new people and combat loneliness
- 73% of global travelers went somewhere to experience in person, what they first discovered online.
So, step out the door! We’re ready to connect with you and connect you to the world.
