Why We Don't Call Ourselves a Travel Company

Travel companies sell destinations. We don't.

When someone asks me what Before Maps does, I usually say: 'We find places that haven't been packaged yet, and we take small groups there before they change.' That's not a travel company. That's something else - part scouting operation, part editorial project, part community.

The word 'travel' has become synonymous with consumption. You consume a destination the way you consume a Netflix series - binge it, review it, move on. We're trying to do the opposite. We're trying to create journeys where the place changes you, not the other way around.