A Call for
True Adventure

by the founders of Polarsteps

A Call for
True Adventure

by the founders of Polarsteps

A CALL FOR TRUE ADVENTURE

The path often traveled is one that offers comfort and certainty at the expense of authenticity.

Even adventure is being delivered as something neatly packaged and predictable, stripped of any uncertainty, freedom, and hardship, and glossed up to appear more appealing. This not only risks overtourism, but it has turned adventure into something to be consumed and sold, rather than something to be lived.

So, can this type of travel still be called ‘adventure’? It would be easy for us to say yes — and focus on picture-perfect experiences and one-size-fits-all trips. But that’s not who we are.

We want to take a stand for true adventure.

Why? It’s in our very DNA. Polarsteps wasn’t born in a boardroom but on a sailboat halfway across the Atlantic.

We believe that it’s our calling to inspire and encourage travel that embraces the very nature of adventure. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a trip across oceans or continents — it simply needs to be a journey that allows us to grow as humans and forge a deeper connection with the world around us.

And that’s why we’ve created five core principles of true adventure to help steer Polarsteps on its own journey:

Be curious to explore the world you travel in, whether that is otherworldly landscapes, enigmatic cultures, or simply the wonderful variety of people you encounter on the road. Drop your preconceptions and always crave to know what is around every corner, at the top of the next summit, and beyond the distant horizon. It’s easy to follow the well-trodden path, but you often find the biggest rewards in the unknown.

When you’re at your limits and most vulnerable, you open the door to life-changing personal growth. It might be discovering the physical potential you never knew existed or more profoundly, coming to understand a new way to look at the world. Either way, your life will never be the same afterward. Learn to trust in yourself as you hurdle over language barriers, start to feel at ease with feelings of loneliness on your travels, and rely on the kindness of strangers. The road is not always smooth, and sometimes you might feel like giving up, but it’s often the hardest parts of a journey that you end up looking back on most fondly.

An open road, a one-way ticket, a loose and frequently changing plan — true adventure requires you to surrender, if not exactly to fate, then to opportunity. It is making space to say yes to a new turn in the road, or an invite from those you have just met. Accept that sometimes you lead the journey, and sometimes the journey leads you, and there can be beauty in both.

As children, we trip over moments of wonder daily. But as adults, they get harder and harder to find, lost in the familiarity of everyday life. And therein lies the power of travel: awe-inspiring experiences pull you into the here and now, making everything else feel insignificant. It could be when you lock eyes with a gorilla deep in the jungle, or watch the Milky Way spin overhead in the darkest depths of a desert — moments so profound that they can even make you question your place in the universe.

True adventure encourages you to tread lightly. It means becoming a steward of the places you explore. Engage in responsible travel that supports, sustains, and respects local communities while preserving natural beauty for future generations. And recognize that any adventure is a privilege and should therefore be undertaken with gratitude.

Follow your curiosity

Savor moments of wonder

Surrender to uncertainty

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Push your boundaries

Respect the people and places that welcome you

By supporting these principles, Polarsteps can not only transform the way people travel, but also the world itself. True adventure can create a bridge between people and cultures, build understanding, and show us there’s more that connects us than separates us.

That’s why it’s crucial that inspiring and encouraging travel that embraces the very nature of adventure should always be central to Polarsteps’ journey, even if outside pressures try to lead us astray.

At our core, this is who we are and always want to be. We can’t push travelers into the unknown, but we can show them the way.

Take the path of
true adventure.

By Polarsteps founders:

Niek

Bokkers

Koen

Droste

Job

Harmsen

Maximiliano

Neustadt

Endorsed by:

Clare Jones

CEO of Polarsteps

Thanks to:

Matt Phillips

Managing Travel Editor &

Author of "Lonely Planet - The Africa Book"

Managing Travel Editor &

Author of "Lonely Planet - The Africa Book"

Lottie Coltman

Copywriter at Polarsteps

Sara van Geloven

Travel Editor &

Author of "Take a Break"

Travel Editor &

Author of "Take a Break"