How can you help people, engage deeply with communities and travel the world at the same time?
Meet Christopher Hill, founder of Hands Up Holidays, making a difference in the lives of others.
Pioneering luxury volunteer travel, Chris experienced first hand helping people in South Africa with his family building a town house for those in need. He found a perfect blend of travel, but with a purpose.
With a growing interest in social responsibility, Hands Up Holiday WILL benefit global communities.
Hear about helping paraplegics in Bali, delivering dignity to humans.
Learn more at Handsupholidays.com and hear about a variety of brands where you can impact the world. Impact Destination has many ways to serve others while experiencing the world. Visit www.impactdestination.com.
Leave your legacy today and see the world today through Hands Up Holidays. Site seeing with a service component.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-made-to-last-legends--4302039/support.
Meet Christopher Hill, founder of Hands Up Holidays, making a difference in the lives of others.
Pioneering luxury volunteer travel, Chris experienced first hand helping people in South Africa with his family building a town house for those in need. He found a perfect blend of travel, but with a purpose.
With a growing interest in social responsibility, Hands Up Holiday WILL benefit global communities.
Hear about helping paraplegics in Bali, delivering dignity to humans.
Learn more at Handsupholidays.com and hear about a variety of brands where you can impact the world. Impact Destination has many ways to serve others while experiencing the world. Visit www.impactdestination.com.
Leave your legacy today and see the world today through Hands Up Holidays. Site seeing with a service component.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/success-made-to-last-legends--4302039/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome back to truly significant presents. I'm Rich Tokenny. We
recently received information on the following gentleman, Christopher Hill, a
pioneer of luxury volunteer travel. It stopped us in our
tracks because here we are in our company trying to
(00:33):
give back and we have this love of travel, and
we're thinking about how in the world can we help
the people in Uganda that we just visited, much less
in the Nairobi area. And lo and behold, Christopher Hill
appears on our show today to talk about his great company,
(00:54):
Hands Up Holidays. Christopher welcome, Thank you, Rick.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You got to tell us your backstory, starting with where
are you from originally and how did you find your
way to this wonderful position of leading Hands Up Holidays.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Well, I am a little bit of an international child.
I was born in New Zealand and lived here till
age of twelve, and then lived in Australia for another
six years, and then moved back to New Zealand for
five years where I studied a law degree and a
business degree, and then I moved to London and went
(01:40):
into investment banking there and worked in finance for six years,
and in that in my sixth year, I took a
trip to South Africa, and on that trip, in addition
to Gayan Safari and staying in beautiful luxury lodges and
exploring the wonders of k Town and the Garden Route
(02:01):
and so on, I also helped to build a house
for a family in one of the townships.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And this.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Really enriched the whole travel experience for me in two
main ways. One, it enabled me to actually engage with
and share stories and gain insus into the lives of
the family that we were working alongside to get the
house built for. And I'd done quite a bit of
(02:33):
travel prior to that. In that intervening period between finishing
university and starting work in London, I traveled about seven
months through Australia, Africa and Europe and it was all
incredible and lifelong memories that I'll cherish. But on that
trip still I didn't get that much engagement with the
(02:57):
local people, and so that that was a fact that
was missing, and this is something that this particular experience
of the house building really.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Gave me in spades.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And then the second way was that it just felt
great to actually make a difference in their lives. And
so I got thinking, well, I've learned some good business skills,
why didn't I put into something I'd find a bit
more meaningful and fulfilling and make it easy for others
to have similar experiences.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
And so that was the.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Birthing of what.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Two and a half years later became Hands Up Holidays Fabulous.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
This is like a classic example of the intersection of
ad vocation and vocation.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Sure, yeah, nice description.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Why did it take you so long to reach this epiphany?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I think because I needed to experience it firsthand
and yep, and that's that was what that opportunity in
South Africa gave me.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And today you're not in the business of luxury travel.
You're in the business of honoring and helping other people
and helping them discover their significance.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Zone. That is such a beautiful description.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
What what are you doing this month and in the
coming six months to get more people to take these
trips and help other people?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Well, a significant thing that that is is quite new
for us is doing podcasts like this, and it's really
being the driver for that is that you know, we
have fantastic reviews, we have great repeat clients who spread
(05:08):
the word for us, which which is absolutely gold, no
question about it. But we're still we're still a small company,
and our biggest challenge is awareness, awareness that it is
possible to travel in luxury and make a difference. And
and so yeah, so I'm out here speaking in order
(05:30):
to help raise that awareness really and and make more
people know that it is possible to travel in the
way I just described. And then secondly, I just really
quickly mentioned the reck if It's Okay, another brand that
we recently launched, which is similar in concept in that
(05:51):
it all it includes an element of giving back, but
the give back component isn't in a hands on way.
It's actually using a travelers philanthropic donation to enable the
experts in the destination to do what they do best,
but still unlock a unique experience for the traveler. And
that might sound a bit esoteric, So I'll give you
(06:13):
an example of what that could look like actually coming
back to South Africa, say on a safari day. There,
guests can fund and witness a rhino relocation from a
reserve which is facing a lot of rhino loss due
to poaching to a reserve that's much better protected in Botswana.
(06:36):
And so this is where the guests actually sit in
the helicopter with the veterinarian while he's preparing to dart
the rhino. And then once the rhino is darted, land
for the helicopter and spend some time actually with the
sedated rhino and then see it lifted off, loaded into
the into the container and and airlifted off, as I said,
(06:57):
off to Botswana. So this is really about leaving a
legacy and being able to say, you know, I save
the life of a rhino whilst.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
On safari exactly versus let me show you my hundreds
of pictures in my shutterfly book of my safar. You've
actually left the place better than you found it, which
is a beautiful thing. Let's unpack a couple of the
trips that you guys already have planned and how they work,
(07:27):
and don't be afraid to mention the cost of it,
because folks, this is about giving back and there's no
price tag to lives change.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
So let's give me unpack a couple of the trips
for me.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Okay, I'll take one from Hands the Holidays and one
from Impact Destinations, which is the other brand I mentioned.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
So hand of holidays, Let's say.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
One I recently did with with my kids, which was Tabali, Indonesia,
where in Bali it's a Hindu island and because of that,
if you're born with a disability, you as considered bad
karma and so you can be kind of sort of
hidden away from from the rest of the world to
(08:17):
an extent, and particularly paraplegics, and that's where where we
come in. Paraplegics in Bali can lead very lonely, live
very isolated lives. And what we did as a family
and what we offer is the opportunity to build a
disabled accessible bathroom for the for a paraplegic. And it's
(08:43):
unique for us in that the benefit that a cruise
is really it is to one person, the paraplegic, but
the transformation in them and the dignity that you're able
to bring about in this in this very personal area
of going to the bathroom and giving them a measure
of independence is so profound.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That I just love it.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And it's a great family project. My kids were able
to get involved with drawing water from the well in
the village and then taking it over to where we
were mixing cements and them getting themselves involved in that
mixing of the cement, then putting into the wheelbarrow and
then wheeling it over to the local experts who were
doing that the tricky parts with the bathroom. And then
(09:28):
that they also got on the end of a brush
and were helping us all to paint the house of
the family.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And yeah, so it was a great trip.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
And just also probably worth emphasizing is that these trips
are That component was a three day component out of
a ten day trip that we had in Bali. So
the rest of the time was doing things like whitewater
rafting and mountain biking and hiking and Balinese cooking.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Classes and so on.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So it's it's very much this combination of of of
sightseeing with a service component is our as our model
really and it's all I should add.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
All trips are.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
One customized to the client, to their to their preferences
and interests. And and then on the impact destination side,
another favorite of mine is in Australia and and that
is were guests can fund a scholarship for a promising
(10:36):
Aboriginal art student and in return for that they can
have a exclusive session with an established Aboriginal artist from
whom they can commission their own work of art. And
so I love this.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
And that it's that you're your listeners, you know probably
aware of a lot of Indigenous communities there's.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
The increasing with urbanization is on and increasing disconnection with
their with their culture. And so what I love about
this is that it's it's reinforcing the traditions and the
cultural strengths of the Aboriginal people through the art scholarships
and so that they that the youth are retaining that connection.
(11:23):
And as I say, at the same time, our guests
get to bring home a beautiful piece of art and
that as I said, that's combined with uh, whatever they
want to do in Australia for the sight seeing. You know,
it's a huge, huge country, so there's so many opportunities.
But you know, just to touch on it a few
(11:44):
flavors that I love. We have some wonderful Aboriginal guides
that our clients can can go out and trouble with.
We also have some experts, expert wildlife guides such as
a kidnaper experts. It's on on Kangaro Island, which is
the sort of Australia's equivalent of Galapagos.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Or as well.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We have one of one of Australia's sort of iconic
species is the Tasmanian devil and they suffer from a
facial tumor.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And so another experience that.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Guests can have is is funding making a donation to
the research into this fatal facial tumor. But also they
can visit a an island which is which is not Tasmania.
It's it's an island off Tasmania where the where the
Tasmanian devils are not afflicted by this, by this tumor,
(12:41):
and so they can but and there they can encounter
them in the wild.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Hm hmm.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
It goes without saying, but what you are doing is
opening up the eyes of the world two travelers who
have the means probably to go anywhere, but something has
fallen short in that experience of travel and you've hit it,
(13:09):
you've touched upon it.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, that certainly was my experience, Rick, and it's the
experience of our clients for sure, and they would also.
When I first started Hands of Holidays, back when we
launched in two thousand and six, I had young professionals
in mind, sort of cash rich, time poor people who
(13:31):
wanted to have a great vacation and also wanted to
make a difference on that. But really, right from the
get go, we were getting bookings from families, and families
weren't on my radar at all when I was setting
it up, and I didn't have kids on my own
at that point, and it just didn't occur to me
that families was a market for us. So I was
(13:52):
talking with our clients who were booking and that'd say
things like, you know, our kids come from pretty privileged
backgrounds and we really want them to shit how fortunate
they are, or that's a we're we're looking for a
great family bonding experience and this really nails it for us.
So so that messaging as well really very much resonated
and and certainly is is a motivation for for a
(14:15):
lot of our particularly family clients to trouble with us.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
You become the glue for a family because years from now,
that's what they're going to be talking about. They're not
going to be talking about the right at Disney World.
No offense to the Disney Company, they're not sponsorship the show.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
But if this is this is the stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
That matters within families, Okay, Christopher, We're going to take
a quick commercial break. I'm going to let you take
the first part of it. Tell our listeners where they
can find out more about your wonderful company, hands up Politics.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, well, the best way would be the website itself,
which is hands upolitics dot com. And then there's Impact
Destinations dot com for the for the other and I
mentioned very good.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
We'll be right back with Christopher Hill right after this
quick message.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
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(16:29):
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Speaker 1 (16:50):
And we are back here on truly Significant presents. And
when we read about Christopher Hill and hands Up Holidays,
we thought, oh, my gosh, does he fall on the
does he go on the Transformative Travel Show to talk
about the five Sensits of travel? Or do we honor
(17:10):
him on truly significant and tell him that he's going
to be in the next book, which you will.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
And then so.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
What we decided in general was get him on the
show so he can talk about these meaningful projects. And
I want you to tell us a little bit about
the collaboration with Tom Shoes and how that's working.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Okay, yeah, awesome. Well so that was actually really quite
early on in a inception really, so I think two
thousand and.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Nine I've read about what Tom's were doing in South
Africa with this shoe drops, and thought, well, there's, you know,
an incredible company and such a great match of values
and philosophy, and so I reached out literally just reached
out to them and said, you know, hey, see what
(18:06):
you're doing, can we can we help and get involved
and they were very responsive. And so the first trip
we did with them actually had Blake mccoskey came on
the trip with us, and it was actually a collaboration
that Tom's.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Were doing with.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Gosh, I can't remember it now. It was with a
skateboard company with a skateboard brand, I can't remember the
name of it. But and so there was actually a
branded Tom's skateboard that we that we well a bunch
of them that we also brought down to South Africa,
and they had some professional skateboarders on the trip as well.
(18:50):
It was a wonderful combination actually of kind of a
corporate trip in that and that there were a.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Number of employees on it. Probably half were employees.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Then we had about twenty six people in total, but
half were employees, and then a good ten others were
members of the public who just loved the concept and
came along as well. And then there were some prize
winners that Tom's were sponsoring, and and so yeah, we
(19:27):
we did the trip down in the Quasulin Tatal area
of South Africa and and so visited mostly schools where
kids were showing up barefoot. And so we would come
in and there'd be you know, a line at least
(19:50):
a quarter mile long of all these barefoot kids.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
And so we just got together and.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Kind of like a as I say, a convey about
just each kid would come along barefoot, size them up
and give them a pair of tom shoes.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Which is so.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Incredible to to work with an organization that, you know,
truly that does what they say on the label. You know,
one pair, one pair that you buy, they give a
pair to a child and they literally do do it.
They have since adjusted their model, so we're not currently
(20:30):
working with them because they've they've switched their model to
fully local people doing the distribution of the shoes. But
for the times that we did work with Tom's, it
was just an incredible experience. And yeah, I mean Blake
is one of my all time heroes.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Listen, you've mentioned now twice, two examples of when there
were moments of dignity for the paraplegic and then for
the barefoot child. I want to know this is let's.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Talk to each other, Dad to dad for a second.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
What better way to teach your children a powerful life
lesson about giving dignity to another human being?
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, I don't know that there is something more powerful, Rick,
It's it's it's why I do what I do and
and love focusing on that family market because I mean, yes,
dignity and beyond that empathy, teaching empathy and generosity and compassion.
(21:47):
These values that you know, we see it in the
news are so sadly lacking these days. So to be
able to play a part in my own family and
another families and instilling these values into our kids is
very humbly.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
It must be.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Hey, folks, if you're not getting the message here, if
you've got a budget for travel and you want to
do it with your kids, with your children, and this
is one hundred percent customizable, then you need to be
talking to hands up holidays. And we just got back
(22:27):
from three weeks in France and Switzerland and Italy and Carla,
my wife, does a meticulous job of planning. It is
a unbelievable amount of work to plan three weeks of
where you're going to be, where you're going to eat,
(22:49):
who are you going to help, etc. And so you
can't really put a price tag on that service if
you're changing another person's line. So I'm glad that we
haven't mentioned the cost of anything, because let the people
call you or contact you guys, and figure out what
(23:09):
they want to do from a customized perspective, which leads
to the big question of the day. A lot of
people that aren't as skilled as your team or Carla
Tolkeini about where to go and how to serve. How
do you solve that problem for somebody who comes in
with no idea of what they want to do or
(23:32):
where they want to go.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yes, it's not that uncommon.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Really, it's then it just it's a conversation with multiple
conversations to drill down into into what the clients interests.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
And if it's a family, then you know what the
overall family's interests are. And and then taking it from there,
I mean, I actually handle all of our inquire is
it come through and because that's my my passion is
to craft these unique itineries.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
For our for our clients.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
And you know, it helps to have been doing this
for twenty years that I can, with with not much
information to go on, get a good sense for what
would be what would work for our clients and present
that to them. And yeah, I'm really thrilled to say
(24:29):
that the strike creator of success with nailing it even
with those clients who really are incredibly open and don't
have any set ideas, being able to craft something that
they love is really rewarding.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
It must be, Christopher.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Over the course of the years you've been doing this,
have you seen an increasing number of days that people
want to spend in service to others?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Hmmm, yeah, particularly with repeat clients.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
So you know, quite often our you know, first time
is really happy with the two to three days and
it works well. I should clarify that even even with
those sort of things, our model is one where let's
say it's a house to be built, and you know,
(25:26):
house takes longer than two to three days, but the idea, well,
what happens is that most of the work is actually
done before our clients get there by local experts, and
so we time it so that there is just enough
work left for the family to complete, get that level
of engagement with the local people, that level of immersion,
(25:50):
and then hand it over to the family if it's
a house. So so yeah, it can still be really
meaningful and significant with even with two or three days.
But yes, with with our APEAK clients, quite often they
do say, yeah, we want to go a bit deeper
and and and spend spend longer, even I mean at
(26:11):
the more extreme end. And this is I should absolutely
clarify this is extreme. We get some who who have said, yeah,
we I can think of this has happened in Africa
and India where clients have said they've actually literally moved
their whole family to to India to spend a year there.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
As I say, very extreme, but it but it does.
It has happened.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
It has happened.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
That's that's the transformation of that can happen from your
your company and participating in a hands up holidays. We
went on a mission trip to Cuba to help the locals.
(26:57):
Our daughters worked in the coffee fields picking beans and
then we roasted them with the with the natives, with
the locals. And it was during the time of the
Obama administration when you could actually go to Cuba, and
I think about all the mission trips that are out
(27:18):
there that go somewhere with the sole purpose of helping others.
You've come up with this special cocktail, if you may,
if I may call it that that has the right
mix of experience and helping others, and this question about
(27:40):
increasing number of days to go out and serve people.
When you're in that process of creating that right cocktail
mixture of the alchemy for the customer, do you get
a chance to say, how about a fourth day of
working with the Mountain guerrilla veterinarians as they transfer Ruhn
(28:00):
deser from this camp to this camp, do you get
a chance to.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Give them bonus experiences?
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Definitely, definitely, yeah, if they're particularly if in the course
of the conversation or the or the form that filled out,
they've they've.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Tacked a couple of boxes.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I mean, for instance, uh, one that a itinerary we're
working on at the moment with a with an American client.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
I won't name, but he's he's quite a.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Well known chef, and and he the itinerary that was
it's not as it has not yet finalized, but it
actually it's covering Thailand, doing some elephant conservation work in Thailand,
and then it's going to Laos and being a reading
partner there, and then it's going to Cambodia and building
(28:55):
a house there, and so through really very different experiences,
and and that was you know, a combination of me
getting the strong sense that they will open to it,
but also you know, taking any opening I could get
to promote various opportunities.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Oh man, I just I think that you're in the
right place and the right time.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
I feel so. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, even particularly in the post COVID era, there's there's
something about people wanting to connect more and experience authentic travel.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I'm so glad that you joined us today on the podcast.
I really appreciate what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
And I'm going to.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Use the transcript of this show as the construct for
the chapter that will honor you and your company. But
what I need to know, Christopher, in addition of that,
and we'll follow up with it, is some examples of
people that have been transformed and their children.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
As results.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
And so if you could help me name names so
I could tell that story in our next book and
then help you guys grow your enterprise Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, sure, obviously with their permission.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Yeah yeah, exactly, you got to have their permission.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
But it's a what a what a fabulous company. Christopher
tell our listeners one more time how they can contact you.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
The best way is go to handsup Holidays dot com
or Impact Destinations dot com, go to the contact us
tab and all those emails come through to me.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Thanks again, that was Christopher Hill from hands up Holidays
and Christopher, if you'll hang on a second after we
stop recording here so we can make sure that everything
is set and we appreciate the significant impact that his
company is making on you're you, the people that are
(31:03):
participating in and also on luxury vacations.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Just a beautiful idea. Thanks folks for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
We appreciate it, and you can go to truly significant
dot com to read more stories about people like Christopher,
and you can buy our book and support the many
new ideas that are coming out of that, including the
conservation of mountain gorillas in the great country of Uganda.
(31:33):
Until next time, we wish everyone great success, but on
your way to significant, have good week.
Welcome back to truly significant presents. I'm Rich Tokenny. We
recently received information on the following gentleman, Christopher Hill, a
pioneer of luxury volunteer travel. It stopped us in our
tracks because here we are in our company trying to
(00:33):
give back and we have this love of travel, and
we're thinking about how in the world can we help
the people in Uganda that we just visited, much less
in the Nairobi area. And lo and behold, Christopher Hill
appears on our show today to talk about his great company,
(00:54):
Hands Up Holidays. Christopher welcome, Thank you, Rick.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You got to tell us your backstory, starting with where
are you from originally and how did you find your
way to this wonderful position of leading Hands Up Holidays.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Well, I am a little bit of an international child.
I was born in New Zealand and lived here till
age of twelve, and then lived in Australia for another
six years, and then moved back to New Zealand for
five years where I studied a law degree and a
business degree, and then I moved to London and went
(01:40):
into investment banking there and worked in finance for six years,
and in that in my sixth year, I took a
trip to South Africa, and on that trip, in addition
to Gayan Safari and staying in beautiful luxury lodges and
exploring the wonders of k Town and the Garden Route
(02:01):
and so on, I also helped to build a house
for a family in one of the townships.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
And this.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Really enriched the whole travel experience for me in two
main ways. One, it enabled me to actually engage with
and share stories and gain insus into the lives of
the family that we were working alongside to get the
house built for. And I'd done quite a bit of
(02:33):
travel prior to that. In that intervening period between finishing
university and starting work in London, I traveled about seven
months through Australia, Africa and Europe and it was all
incredible and lifelong memories that I'll cherish. But on that
trip still I didn't get that much engagement with the
(02:57):
local people, and so that that was a fact that
was missing, and this is something that this particular experience
of the house building really.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Gave me in spades.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
And then the second way was that it just felt
great to actually make a difference in their lives. And
so I got thinking, well, I've learned some good business skills,
why didn't I put into something I'd find a bit
more meaningful and fulfilling and make it easy for others
to have similar experiences.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
And so that was the.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Birthing of what.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Two and a half years later became Hands Up Holidays Fabulous.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
This is like a classic example of the intersection of
ad vocation and vocation.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Sure, yeah, nice description.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Why did it take you so long to reach this epiphany?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well, I think because I needed to experience it firsthand
and yep, and that's that was what that opportunity in
South Africa gave me.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
And today you're not in the business of luxury travel.
You're in the business of honoring and helping other people
and helping them discover their significance.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Zone. That is such a beautiful description.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
What what are you doing this month and in the
coming six months to get more people to take these
trips and help other people?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Well, a significant thing that that is is quite new
for us is doing podcasts like this, and it's really
being the driver for that is that you know, we
have fantastic reviews, we have great repeat clients who spread
(05:08):
the word for us, which which is absolutely gold, no
question about it. But we're still we're still a small company,
and our biggest challenge is awareness, awareness that it is
possible to travel in luxury and make a difference. And
and so yeah, so I'm out here speaking in order
(05:30):
to help raise that awareness really and and make more
people know that it is possible to travel in the
way I just described. And then secondly, I just really
quickly mentioned the reck if It's Okay, another brand that
we recently launched, which is similar in concept in that
(05:51):
it all it includes an element of giving back, but
the give back component isn't in a hands on way.
It's actually using a travelers philanthropic donation to enable the
experts in the destination to do what they do best,
but still unlock a unique experience for the traveler. And
that might sound a bit esoteric, So I'll give you
(06:13):
an example of what that could look like actually coming
back to South Africa, say on a safari day. There,
guests can fund and witness a rhino relocation from a
reserve which is facing a lot of rhino loss due
to poaching to a reserve that's much better protected in Botswana.
(06:36):
And so this is where the guests actually sit in
the helicopter with the veterinarian while he's preparing to dart
the rhino. And then once the rhino is darted, land
for the helicopter and spend some time actually with the
sedated rhino and then see it lifted off, loaded into
the into the container and and airlifted off, as I said,
(06:57):
off to Botswana. So this is really about leaving a
legacy and being able to say, you know, I save
the life of a rhino whilst.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
On safari exactly versus let me show you my hundreds
of pictures in my shutterfly book of my safar. You've
actually left the place better than you found it, which
is a beautiful thing. Let's unpack a couple of the
trips that you guys already have planned and how they work,
(07:27):
and don't be afraid to mention the cost of it,
because folks, this is about giving back and there's no
price tag to lives change.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
So let's give me unpack a couple of the trips
for me.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Okay, I'll take one from Hands the Holidays and one
from Impact Destinations, which is the other brand I mentioned.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
So hand of holidays, Let's say.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
One I recently did with with my kids, which was Tabali, Indonesia,
where in Bali it's a Hindu island and because of that,
if you're born with a disability, you as considered bad
karma and so you can be kind of sort of
hidden away from from the rest of the world to
(08:17):
an extent, and particularly paraplegics, and that's where where we
come in. Paraplegics in Bali can lead very lonely, live
very isolated lives. And what we did as a family
and what we offer is the opportunity to build a
disabled accessible bathroom for the for a paraplegic. And it's
(08:43):
unique for us in that the benefit that a cruise
is really it is to one person, the paraplegic, but
the transformation in them and the dignity that you're able
to bring about in this in this very personal area
of going to the bathroom and giving them a measure
of independence is so profound.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That I just love it.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And it's a great family project. My kids were able
to get involved with drawing water from the well in
the village and then taking it over to where we
were mixing cements and them getting themselves involved in that
mixing of the cement, then putting into the wheelbarrow and
then wheeling it over to the local experts who were
doing that the tricky parts with the bathroom. And then
(09:28):
that they also got on the end of a brush
and were helping us all to paint the house of
the family.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And yeah, so it was a great trip.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
And just also probably worth emphasizing is that these trips
are That component was a three day component out of
a ten day trip that we had in Bali. So
the rest of the time was doing things like whitewater
rafting and mountain biking and hiking and Balinese cooking.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Classes and so on.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So it's it's very much this combination of of of
sightseeing with a service component is our as our model
really and it's all I should add.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
All trips are.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
One customized to the client, to their to their preferences
and interests. And and then on the impact destination side,
another favorite of mine is in Australia and and that
is were guests can fund a scholarship for a promising
(10:36):
Aboriginal art student and in return for that they can
have a exclusive session with an established Aboriginal artist from
whom they can commission their own work of art. And
so I love this.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
And that it's that you're your listeners, you know probably
aware of a lot of Indigenous communities there's.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
The increasing with urbanization is on and increasing disconnection with
their with their culture. And so what I love about
this is that it's it's reinforcing the traditions and the
cultural strengths of the Aboriginal people through the art scholarships
and so that they that the youth are retaining that connection.
(11:23):
And as I say, at the same time, our guests
get to bring home a beautiful piece of art and
that as I said, that's combined with uh, whatever they
want to do in Australia for the sight seeing. You know,
it's a huge, huge country, so there's so many opportunities.
But you know, just to touch on it a few
(11:44):
flavors that I love. We have some wonderful Aboriginal guides
that our clients can can go out and trouble with.
We also have some experts, expert wildlife guides such as
a kidnaper experts. It's on on Kangaro Island, which is
the sort of Australia's equivalent of Galapagos.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
Or as well.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
We have one of one of Australia's sort of iconic
species is the Tasmanian devil and they suffer from a
facial tumor.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And so another experience that.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Guests can have is is funding making a donation to
the research into this fatal facial tumor. But also they
can visit a an island which is which is not Tasmania.
It's it's an island off Tasmania where the where the
Tasmanian devils are not afflicted by this, by this tumor,
(12:41):
and so they can but and there they can encounter
them in the wild.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Hm hmm.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
It goes without saying, but what you are doing is
opening up the eyes of the world two travelers who
have the means probably to go anywhere, but something has
fallen short in that experience of travel and you've hit it,
(13:09):
you've touched upon it.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, that certainly was my experience, Rick, and it's the
experience of our clients for sure, and they would also.
When I first started Hands of Holidays, back when we
launched in two thousand and six, I had young professionals
in mind, sort of cash rich, time poor people who
(13:31):
wanted to have a great vacation and also wanted to
make a difference on that. But really, right from the
get go, we were getting bookings from families, and families
weren't on my radar at all when I was setting
it up, and I didn't have kids on my own
at that point, and it just didn't occur to me
that families was a market for us. So I was
(13:52):
talking with our clients who were booking and that'd say
things like, you know, our kids come from pretty privileged
backgrounds and we really want them to shit how fortunate
they are, or that's a we're we're looking for a
great family bonding experience and this really nails it for us.
So so that messaging as well really very much resonated
and and certainly is is a motivation for for a
(14:15):
lot of our particularly family clients to trouble with us.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
You become the glue for a family because years from now,
that's what they're going to be talking about. They're not
going to be talking about the right at Disney World.
No offense to the Disney Company, they're not sponsorship the show.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
But if this is this is the stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
That matters within families, Okay, Christopher, We're going to take
a quick commercial break. I'm going to let you take
the first part of it. Tell our listeners where they
can find out more about your wonderful company, hands up Politics.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Yeah, well, the best way would be the website itself,
which is hands upolitics dot com. And then there's Impact
Destinations dot com for the for the other and I
mentioned very good.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
We'll be right back with Christopher Hill right after this
quick message.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
This is Marcus Aurelius reappearing to proclaim that truly Significant
Conversations with big hearted people is a rare piece of literature.
This book reminds me of one of my more stirring quotes,
waste no more time arguing what a good man should
be be one. If you're stepping into your next life
(15:33):
chapter of your career and questioning what lies beyond success,
this book is for you. Dive into forty soul stirring
stories from luminaries like doctor Jane Goodall, Ed Asner, and
Emily Chang.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Stories that urge you to pursue purpose.
Speaker 6 (15:54):
Serve others, and build a legacy that outlasts you.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
By Rick TOLKINI Truly Significant will challenge your view of success.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
And ignite a life of impact.
Speaker 5 (16:08):
Order now at TinyURL dot com backslash truly significant and
begin living intentionally. Maybe your epitaph will read she gave
outrageously extended grace unceasingly and lived to help others so
(16:29):
that death found her. MDED.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
Visit truly significant dot com and celebrate the most truly
significant people in your life with the truly Significant community.
How bold of you to make your next chapter matter
and be truly significant.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
And we are back here on truly Significant presents. And
when we read about Christopher Hill and hands Up Holidays,
we thought, oh, my gosh, does he fall on the
does he go on the Transformative Travel Show to talk
about the five Sensits of travel? Or do we honor
(17:10):
him on truly significant and tell him that he's going
to be in the next book, which you will.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
And then so.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
What we decided in general was get him on the
show so he can talk about these meaningful projects. And
I want you to tell us a little bit about
the collaboration with Tom Shoes and how that's working.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Okay, yeah, awesome. Well so that was actually really quite
early on in a inception really, so I think two
thousand and.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Nine I've read about what Tom's were doing in South
Africa with this shoe drops, and thought, well, there's, you know,
an incredible company and such a great match of values
and philosophy, and so I reached out literally just reached
out to them and said, you know, hey, see what
(18:06):
you're doing, can we can we help and get involved
and they were very responsive. And so the first trip
we did with them actually had Blake mccoskey came on
the trip with us, and it was actually a collaboration
that Tom's.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Were doing with.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Gosh, I can't remember it now. It was with a
skateboard company with a skateboard brand, I can't remember the
name of it. But and so there was actually a
branded Tom's skateboard that we that we well a bunch
of them that we also brought down to South Africa,
and they had some professional skateboarders on the trip as well.
(18:50):
It was a wonderful combination actually of kind of a
corporate trip in that and that there were a.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Number of employees on it. Probably half were employees.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
Then we had about twenty six people in total, but
half were employees, and then a good ten others were
members of the public who just loved the concept and
came along as well. And then there were some prize
winners that Tom's were sponsoring, and and so yeah, we
(19:27):
we did the trip down in the Quasulin Tatal area
of South Africa and and so visited mostly schools where
kids were showing up barefoot. And so we would come
in and there'd be you know, a line at least
(19:50):
a quarter mile long of all these barefoot kids.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
And so we just got together and.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Kind of like a as I say, a convey about
just each kid would come along barefoot, size them up
and give them a pair of tom shoes.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Which is so.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Incredible to to work with an organization that, you know,
truly that does what they say on the label. You know,
one pair, one pair that you buy, they give a
pair to a child and they literally do do it.
They have since adjusted their model, so we're not currently
(20:30):
working with them because they've they've switched their model to
fully local people doing the distribution of the shoes. But
for the times that we did work with Tom's, it
was just an incredible experience. And yeah, I mean Blake
is one of my all time heroes.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Listen, you've mentioned now twice, two examples of when there
were moments of dignity for the paraplegic and then for
the barefoot child. I want to know this is let's.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Talk to each other, Dad to dad for a second.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
What better way to teach your children a powerful life
lesson about giving dignity to another human being?
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, I don't know that there is something more powerful, Rick,
It's it's it's why I do what I do and
and love focusing on that family market because I mean, yes,
dignity and beyond that empathy, teaching empathy and generosity and compassion.
(21:47):
These values that you know, we see it in the
news are so sadly lacking these days. So to be
able to play a part in my own family and
another families and instilling these values into our kids is
very humbly.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
It must be.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Hey, folks, if you're not getting the message here, if
you've got a budget for travel and you want to
do it with your kids, with your children, and this
is one hundred percent customizable, then you need to be
talking to hands up holidays. And we just got back
(22:27):
from three weeks in France and Switzerland and Italy and Carla,
my wife, does a meticulous job of planning. It is
a unbelievable amount of work to plan three weeks of
where you're going to be, where you're going to eat,
(22:49):
who are you going to help, etc. And so you
can't really put a price tag on that service if
you're changing another person's line. So I'm glad that we
haven't mentioned the cost of anything, because let the people
call you or contact you guys, and figure out what
(23:09):
they want to do from a customized perspective, which leads
to the big question of the day. A lot of
people that aren't as skilled as your team or Carla
Tolkeini about where to go and how to serve. How
do you solve that problem for somebody who comes in
with no idea of what they want to do or
(23:32):
where they want to go.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yes, it's not that uncommon.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Really, it's then it just it's a conversation with multiple
conversations to drill down into into what the clients interests.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
And if it's a family, then you know what the
overall family's interests are. And and then taking it from there,
I mean, I actually handle all of our inquire is
it come through and because that's my my passion is
to craft these unique itineries.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
For our for our clients.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
And you know, it helps to have been doing this
for twenty years that I can, with with not much
information to go on, get a good sense for what
would be what would work for our clients and present
that to them. And yeah, I'm really thrilled to say
(24:29):
that the strike creator of success with nailing it even
with those clients who really are incredibly open and don't
have any set ideas, being able to craft something that
they love is really rewarding.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
It must be, Christopher.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Over the course of the years you've been doing this,
have you seen an increasing number of days that people
want to spend in service to others?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Hmmm, yeah, particularly with repeat clients.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
So you know, quite often our you know, first time
is really happy with the two to three days and
it works well. I should clarify that even even with
those sort of things, our model is one where let's
say it's a house to be built, and you know,
(25:26):
house takes longer than two to three days, but the idea, well,
what happens is that most of the work is actually
done before our clients get there by local experts, and
so we time it so that there is just enough
work left for the family to complete, get that level
of engagement with the local people, that level of immersion,
(25:50):
and then hand it over to the family if it's
a house. So so yeah, it can still be really
meaningful and significant with even with two or three days.
But yes, with with our APEAK clients, quite often they
do say, yeah, we want to go a bit deeper
and and and spend spend longer, even I mean at
(26:11):
the more extreme end. And this is I should absolutely
clarify this is extreme. We get some who who have said, yeah,
we I can think of this has happened in Africa
and India where clients have said they've actually literally moved
their whole family to to India to spend a year there.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
As I say, very extreme, but it but it does.
It has happened.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
It has happened.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
That's that's the transformation of that can happen from your
your company and participating in a hands up holidays. We
went on a mission trip to Cuba to help the locals.
(26:57):
Our daughters worked in the coffee fields picking beans and
then we roasted them with the with the natives, with
the locals. And it was during the time of the
Obama administration when you could actually go to Cuba, and
I think about all the mission trips that are out
(27:18):
there that go somewhere with the sole purpose of helping others.
You've come up with this special cocktail, if you may,
if I may call it that that has the right
mix of experience and helping others, and this question about
(27:40):
increasing number of days to go out and serve people.
When you're in that process of creating that right cocktail
mixture of the alchemy for the customer, do you get
a chance to say, how about a fourth day of
working with the Mountain guerrilla veterinarians as they transfer Ruhn
(28:00):
deser from this camp to this camp, do you get
a chance to.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
Give them bonus experiences?
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Definitely, definitely, yeah, if they're particularly if in the course
of the conversation or the or the form that filled out,
they've they've.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Tacked a couple of boxes.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
I mean, for instance, uh, one that a itinerary we're
working on at the moment with a with an American client.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
I won't name, but he's he's quite a.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Well known chef, and and he the itinerary that was
it's not as it has not yet finalized, but it
actually it's covering Thailand, doing some elephant conservation work in Thailand,
and then it's going to Laos and being a reading
partner there, and then it's going to Cambodia and building
(28:55):
a house there, and so through really very different experiences,
and and that was you know, a combination of me
getting the strong sense that they will open to it,
but also you know, taking any opening I could get
to promote various opportunities.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Oh man, I just I think that you're in the
right place and the right time.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
I feel so. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, even particularly in the post COVID era, there's there's
something about people wanting to connect more and experience authentic travel.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I'm so glad that you joined us today on the podcast.
I really appreciate what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (29:45):
And I'm going to.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Use the transcript of this show as the construct for
the chapter that will honor you and your company. But
what I need to know, Christopher, in addition of that,
and we'll follow up with it, is some examples of
people that have been transformed and their children.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
As results.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
And so if you could help me name names so
I could tell that story in our next book and
then help you guys grow your enterprise Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, sure, obviously with their permission.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Yeah yeah, exactly, you got to have their permission.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
But it's a what a what a fabulous company. Christopher
tell our listeners one more time how they can contact you.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
The best way is go to handsup Holidays dot com
or Impact Destinations dot com, go to the contact us
tab and all those emails come through to me.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
Fantastic.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Thanks again, that was Christopher Hill from hands up Holidays
and Christopher, if you'll hang on a second after we
stop recording here so we can make sure that everything
is set and we appreciate the significant impact that his
company is making on you're you, the people that are
(31:03):
participating in and also on luxury vacations.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
Just a beautiful idea. Thanks folks for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
We appreciate it, and you can go to truly significant
dot com to read more stories about people like Christopher,
and you can buy our book and support the many
new ideas that are coming out of that, including the
conservation of mountain gorillas in the great country of Uganda.
(31:33):
Until next time, we wish everyone great success, but on
your way to significant, have good week.
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