Why did you choose the Sustainable Tourism program at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences?
After graduating from high school, I lived in Canada for a while and discovered my love for untouched nature and the mountains there. During the freezing winter, with temperatures as low as -56°C, I decided to take a typical backpacker job at a hotel nestled in the beautiful Rocky Mountains to “hibernate” for the season. The hotel was located in a national park, right on a river, and nature was the highlight for the park’s visitors—and, of course, for me as well.
Unfortunately, the practices employed by this hotel were not sustainable at all and, in some cases, even shocking. Not only was the treatment of employees poor, but the use of resources was also extremely wasteful. There was an extreme amount of avoidable plastic waste in internal processes, water was wasted on a daily basis, and chemicals were everywhere, which were then disposed of in the river. “Our guests want it this way” was the only answer you’d get if you advocated for more sustainable methods. During my time there, I thought every day that there had to be another way. This was incredibly stressful for many employees.
Driven by the urge to protect nature while traveling through it, I then came across the Sustainable Tourism B.A. program. The university is located about 30 minutes from my home village, so it was clear to me right away that this was the path I wanted to take.
What happened next in your career after you graduated?
After graduating in February 2023, we were already working full steam ahead on developing our “Meaningful Travel” program with a team similar to the one we have today. This allowed me to lead an expedition to Armenia in June and another to Iceland in August. In Armenia, we documented water sources in a poorly mapped area; in Iceland, we collected botanical samples for a research project at the University of Greifswald.
In September 2023, I moved to Innsbruck, Austria, to pursue a master’s degree in marketing and to live out my passion for mountains and nature in my daily life. It’s wonderful to see that sustainability is also becoming increasingly important in Austrian tourism.
In December, we took the plunge and founded ExpeditionXplore GmbH. Since then, our team has been working remotely, and I’ve been striving to balance my master’s studies with my work for ExpeditionXplore. Sometimes it works better, sometimes less so, but a lot has happened since we started, and we’re excited to be able to carry out five expeditions with great projects this year.
What is your typical workday like?
In our startup, every day is different. Many of us live in Innsbruck, but our team of about 12 works remotely and is spread across several countries.
It’s important to us to stay in regular contact and distribute our tasks based on interest, availability, and skills.
We make important decisions together during our weekly meeting and update each other on progress in our respective areas. At the same time, we use several project management tools that allow us to tackle tasks together. The areas of responsibility primarily differ between back-office tasks and those of the expedition leaders. Many team members serve in both roles.
My primary responsibilities lie in marketing and the planning, organization, and execution of the trips. That’s why my daily routines are very flexible and always focus on whatever is most urgent at the moment. This could be working on the website, writing blog posts and social media content, or handling email correspondence with local contacts in our destination countries. It’s not uncommon for us to have team calls in between to discuss specific topics or trips, go over to-do lists, and exchange ideas.
What do you particularly like about your job?
Honestly? Simply everything. The creativity I can bring to my tasks, the flexibility with which I can complete my work and choose my areas of responsibility, right down to the remarkable trips we put together.
It’s so wonderful when you can fully identify with the work you do and the values behind it. To give some context to my enthusiasm, I’d like to briefly explain exactly what we do:
Our goal is to redefine tourism—which is often viewed negatively—by emphasizing the value of giving and sending small travel groups on expeditions that actively support local projects. From supporting nomads in Mongolia to collecting trash in Norway—our projects vary widely, depending on the destination and the local NGOs we partner with.
ExpeditionXplore is thus built on four pillars:
1. Unforgettable Adventures: Explore, Immerse, Expand—Step out of your comfort zone and discover rare perspectives on nature. We offer meaningful travel and create unique experiences.
2. Sustainability: Experience, Engage, Connect – To ensure a more holistic, environmentally friendly, and socially just approach to our adventures, we place special emphasis on connecting with nature, reducing emissions, and promoting social sustainability.
3. Our Community: Connect, Exchange, Experience Together – Regular events foster an active and friendly community. Like-minded people with a deeper sense of adventure find one another.
4. Photographic Documentation: Discover, Capture, Share – Every expedition includes a photographer to capture and share unforgettable moments.
Working on these meaningful trips attracts extraordinary people who share the same values and have the same interest in sustainable and authentic travel. As a result, deep friendships have already formed, we’ve come across remarkable projects, and we’ve built a warm community that enthusiastically supports what we do.
That’s probably the best part of my job: that I can personally identify deeply with what we do and fully stand behind it. So every day is a fulfilling adventure that brings us closer to our goal of redefining tourism.
What skills did you acquire through your studies that you can effectively apply in your profession today?
In my experience, my studies laid the foundation for my success. The basic understanding of the complexity of tourism, as well as the deep understanding of sustainable tourism and its importance for the future, really helped me during my first practical experiences.
Nevertheless, you have to have the courage and the will to bridge the gap between theory and practice and think ahead in order to be able to apply what you learned in your studies.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
When I look at the progress I’ve made personally and what we’ve achieved as a team over the past two years, it seems impossible to imagine what the whole thing might look like in 10 years.
If I were to dream, ExpeditionXplore and “Travel with Purpose” would be an established concept in 10 years. Our trips will be even better optimized for sustainability, and all our happy participants will be part of a warm community.
I hope we never lose our sense of adventure and our team spirit—hopefully, in 10 years, we’ll be sitting in a sustainably designed office with all our team members, brainstorming new trips and discussing the projects we’d like to support.
Personally, I also see myself in the field of tourism marketing in 10 years, with a passion for inspiring others to join our adventures.
What is your fondest memory when you think back on your time as a student at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences?
Unfortunately, my studies at HSRW were almost entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and my time as a student required a lot of self-discipline. After an initially rather difficult phase, I learned to enjoy the flexibility of managing my own time, and that’s what made it possible for me to accept a remote internship and really thrive in my work.
I think my fondest memory of my studies is therefore my internship semester, during which I was able to apply my knowledge and met my current co-founders, Fabienne and Martin. At the end of my internship, the entire team thanked me for my work and expertise with warm words and big smiles. I will never forget the feeling of having made a difference and brought about change in sustainable tourism.
Date of interview: June 2024