VentureCo Worldwide: Adventure with purpose

In 1999, a group of people came together to found a travel company for all those who believe that travelling is about more than simply flying to a foreign country. VentureCo was created out of a need to get under the skin of the cultures we encounter, for those who seek to genuinely understand our world and the part we play in it thorough a spirit of adventure, exploration and cooperation.

Our Story

VentureCo was set up by current directors Mark Davison and David Gordon. A chance conversation between Dave and Mark in a back street ceviche bar in Quito, Ecuador in 1998 gave rise to the idea of combining our experience and creating VentureCo.

A brainstorming session identified three crucial elements to a successful expedition: people need to be able to converse with host communities, even if it's at a basic level. Second, we, as expedition leaders, had always worked directly with local people, haggling for diesel on the black market, arguing with welders in local workshops and cajoling reluctant border officials, so we had gained a different perspective of indigenous society. And the final "must do" is to get off the beaten track and explore the backcountry as well as the famous heritage sites. These three elements, communicating, working and expeditioning, combined into one massive experience, form the fundamental ethos of VentureCo.

In 1999 we put our money where our idea was, and VentureCo was formed. An ATOL licence was granted by the Civil Aviation Authority and the VentureCo Trust was added in 2005. Our first venture was Inca Venture in 2000.

Our work with charity groups includes organising "The Trail of the Incas to Machu Picchu" which is a horse riding trek to Machu Picchu, and is a unique VentureCo itinerary. We have also arranged several challenging fundraising treks including The Great Wall of China Trek, Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya and The Aberdares, Mountain Biking in Peru and camel treks in the Rajasthan Desert of India. We also design personal or "Bespoke Group" itineraries for school teams, university groups and private groups of friends, many of whom have travelled with us in the past.

Looking back over the years, the travellers' tales and experiences that we have to share would fill volumes! The satisfaction of life with VentureCo today is that hundreds of Venturers, as well as our friends from all over the world, also have stories, experiences and, most importantly, an understanding of each other that can only be for the good of the global village in which we all live.

Looking to the future, we relish the prospect of developing our current Venture programme and of introducing southern India, Madagascar and the Trans-Siberian Express to the "Venture World".

Watch this space!