ReefCI is a not-for-profit organisation that sustains itself by offering all-inclusive Monday-Friday Marine Conservation SCUBA diving packages on a beautiful private island in Southern Belize, Central America. ReefCI guests help with various projects such as Reef Check surveys; Coral watch bleaching surveys, commercial fish and species surveys, turtle projects and removing the invasive Lionfish.

By Thomas Marvin

Back in 2006 my friend Legs and I packed our bags and bikes and headed to Iceland for a 6 week pootle round the island. We’d originally been looking at cycling to Norway’s North Cape, but for a variety of reasons (which I can’t quite remember) we sacked that in, and decided to go cycling in Iceland. The cycling trip ended up being one of the most amazing 6 weeks of my life – howling gales which lasted days, thoroughly pot-holed dirt tracks, stunning views and the invention of tuna tikka-massala.

By Alex Narracott

UK charity The Converging World (TCW) and ethical travel resource Much Better Adventures have partnered to deliver an alternative way to reduce the carbon footprint of travel, without resorting to carbon offsetting. The effectiveness of carbon offsetting is widely debated, but donating to TCW brings carbon savings and social benefits above and beyond the traditional offsetting schemes available.

Whether you believe in Old Icelandic tales or not, Troll peninsula is believed to be the last home of trolls. They happen to be afraid of daylight, and a strong ray of sun can petrify them to eternity. At the end of winter, forced by the ever-rising arctic sun, they make gigantic steps, crossing glaciers, plateaus, ridges and torrents to reach their secret hiding places, before it is too late. Everlasting snow on its dominant peaks, luxuriant green valleys with small farms and cattle randomly scattered and much, much more is to be found in this tranquil area, suitable for trekking all year round.

Yurts – rounded wooden structures, canvas covered, comfortable, spacious, more like a home than a tent – are easily dismantled and moved (in theory). Mongolian yurts evolved as the home of choice for the nomads of Central Asia. In Mongolia, one of the regions yurts originally hail from, an innovative foundation called Ger to Ger (or ‘Yurt to Yurt’) is working with nomadic families to invite adventurous soles to discover their world.

Katrina from Alaska Ultra Sport introduces us to the wild wonders of the Alaskan wilderness, and exposes the numerous threats to these areas from mining. Perhaps a good adventure can help save the day?

“When I first came to Alaska in 1996 I fell in love with this huge wild place. I moved to Alaska permanently from Germany in 2002 and have since guided people from all over the world into Alaska’s vast wilderness on multi-day hiking, rafting and kayaking trips.

Much Better Adventures wants to build a word-of-mouth open-to-all travel guide for the adventure community, designed to unearth the independent, individual local gems you otherwise never hear about, to support local businesses and to reward ethical practices. How? By enabling travelers to share their suggestions and tips on their favorite local travel companies, unique adventure activities and authentic community encounters.

Alex, Ed, Sam and Tom of the Much Better Adventures team are seeking muchbetter Ambassadors to help their mission of making travel muchbetter for travellers, locals and environments alike. This is a unique opportunity for travellers and locals to help us build guides which support local businesses and reward ethical practices in adventure hot spots around the world. Ambassadors will even receive some extra travel money in the process!

By Alex Narracott, Managing Director, Much Better Adventures

15 months ago Tim, Will and Lynn of the Atlantic Rising team set off on a voyage of discovery, to explore the Atlantic coastline and discover what will be lost if seas levels rise by one meter. Travelling, living and working in a Land Rover, they covered 32,000 miles and 21 countries, hopping on container ships for the Atlantic ocean crossings, and biking, sailing or walking in between. Travelling overland through West Africa, Latin America and the US, they had no end of adventures.

Relief Riders International is an adventure travel company that leads relief missions on horseback through the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Alexander Souri founded Relief Riders International (RRI) in 2004 and Relief Workers International (RWI) in 2008. He designs and supervises the relief missions, coordinates the work of the core team, and directs marketing and sales efforts for both RRI and RWI.