“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”

Mark Twain

Unexpected meetings, fleeting connections, what is travel if you’re not meeting random people along the way? Chance Encounters features stories of romances that sparked at 30,000 feet to unlikely friendships that began on the road.

Share your go-to travel playlist or podcast with us. Whether it's road trip anthems or deep-dive travel stories, we want to hear and feature what fuels your adventures!

📚 Read, Retreat, Repeat: Bye bye Wifi, these reading retreats are the ultimate digital detox.

💃🏻 Who run the world? Women-led travel experiences are flipping the script.

♻️ Japan’s zero-waste wonder: A town that recycles 80% of its trash and turns waste into community treasure?

💼 Hack growth, not experiences: Tukio Booking is on the look out for a Growth Hacker who can turn clicks into conversions and curiosity into loyal travellers.

Wild Sumatra

📍Sumatra, Indonesia
Website | Instagram 

Deep in Indonesia’s last wild frontier, Wild Sumatra isn’t just another typical tour company. It’s raw, untamed adventure with a purpose, where every step leaves an impact, not just on you, but on the communities that have called these rainforests home for centuries.

Founded by passionate conservationist Luke Mackin and Kerinci local Zacky Zaid, Wild Sumatra takes you way beyond the beaten path. We’re talking multi-day treks through ancient jungles, mist-shrouded waterfalls, and real, unfiltered encounters with the indigenous people of the region.

And the best part? 100% of their profits go straight back into local communities and conservation efforts. No OTAs, no payable platforms, just tourism done right, ensuring that every dollar stays where it belongs.

At Wild Sumatra, they’re not just guiding; they’re protecting. Supporting village economies, preserving wild places, and redefining what responsible travel actually looks like.

No BS. Just wild places, wild stories, and a rare chance to see Sumatra the way it was meant to be seen.

Born and raised in the concrete jungle of New York, Rob developed a deep love for culture and people. In 2019, he left his stable military career to pursue his lifelong dream - explore the world without bounds.

He's called Indonesia home for the past 5 years, traveling extensively across six of the major islands by motorbike, immersing himself in the language and culture, and built a YouTube channel (The Lost Boys) to showcase the country's hidden gems.

Here’s his take on what’s hot and what’s not in travel 🔥

🔥 What’s Hot

long-term travel, slow travel, gap years, supporting small/local businesses, recommendations from locals, staying at remote villages, visiting places you don’t see on Instagram, walking tours in Europe, motorbike trips across Asia, van life in New Zealand, road trips with friends in the US.

❄️ What’s Not

tourist traps, posing for photos, waiting in lines, paying 3x the normal price, having a strict plan, traveling with a suitcase.

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