Gift of Go

Home
Gift of Go

True Stories. Real Adventure.

03/10/2024

Getting from Point A to Point B in the Serra do Espinhaço has always been an adventure, a reality evidenced by the range’s spectacular—and virtually empty—network of historic trails.

Urban footpaths, hidden flower picker trails, former railways, lonely dirt roads, and Park-administered nature trails each have a part to play in connecting the region’s vista-blessed high savannah landscapes with interspersed pockets of lush Atlantic Rainforest, but ultimately it is the Espinhaço’s trove of colonial-era pathways that steal the scene.

Three types of historic trails predominate the backcountry here: remarkable stone “highways” built by slaves to expedite the diamond trade; long-distance bush trails pioneered by mule drivers to facilitate regional commerce; and “descaminhos” blazed by diamond smugglers (and later revisited by hearty 18th-century European naturalists).

Our team has dedicated the past 3 years to exploring & charting the Espinhaço’s mesmerizing, little-traveled trail network, and to documenting its singularly compelling history, geography, and inhabitants. As much as we’ve loved having the trail to ourselves during this time, we know it will be an even greater pleasure to experience & appreciate them alongside other adventurous minds beginning in 2025. ✨

17/09/2024

Visuals from Day 4 of our recent 14-day expedition with renowned author & journalist Paul Richardson of Financial Times. ⛰️🇧🇷 30 km of historic trails & forgotten backroads. 2,018 m of cumulative gain/loss. Two little-visited conservation units. A million high savannah flowers. One weary, determined traveler. ✨

Each Day 4 we do is unique, just as each & every traveler and Journey are, but all are deeply immersive, visually glorious, motion-filled, and unforgettable. 🙌🏽

To see our full account of the FT Expedition, including photos, reflections, and a link to Paul’s article in the FT, click the link in our bio 🔗 or visit thegiftofgo.com/financialtimes.

📷:

——

14/09/2024

We think our private, bespoke Journeys are some of the most compelling & enriching experiences on earth, but they certainly aren’t for everyone… which is great because we only craft & guide a handful each year.

If you’re curious, here’s a good litmus test: If you’re the type of traveler who suffers at the thought of waking up in a strange (& slightly stiff) bed in a profoundly bucolic, yet otherwise unremarkable community (pop. 8) in some far-flung corner of the earth to a simple homemade breakfast and an arduous 25-km trek or ride through raw & uncharted scenery, followed by heaps of lovingly-made (yet undeniably rustic) grub and a round or three of (watery, but) ice-cold beer in the local (& colorful) dimly-lit hole-in-the-wall, with the very real possibility of no hot water (again), for 14 to 28 days in a row… well, you’re normal, and our trips are not for you.

If, on the other hand, that sounds perfect, well you’re perfect, and we encourage you to apply now (really—our trips are limited).

And if you’re on the fence about some—but not all—of it, we hope you’ll always feel free to contact us.

📷:

—-

11/09/2024

It was revelatory, grueling, and wildly unplanned. It was… a GOGO field trip. 😅

Light-hearted captures, musings, and (yes, even a few) findings from our recent 10-day field trip across one of the wettest & wildest stretches of Brazilian high savannah are finally in the books.

Click the link in our bio or visit thegiftofgo.com/fieldtrip10 to see our newest Journal entry. 📓✨

📷:

08/07/2024

One of the best parts about owning a business is that you get to make the rules yourself. ✨ Here, in no particular order, is a quick look at a few of our philosophies & policies regarding the communities & natural environments of the Places where we work, as well some of the ways we believe help make the Serra do Espinhaço a better Place. ⛰️🌿🏡🇧🇷

- We heavily prioritize (and almost exclusively contract) local small- & microbusinesses, including those in the rural communities we visit;

- We pay above-market wages to all personnel involved with our trips, including both full- & part-time Crew Members;

- We heavily prioritize family-owned accommodations, especially in rural communities;

- We regularly fund & operate R&D expeditions to under-explored areas with potential natural & cultural value, creating potential touristic resources for community stakeholders, and uniting unlikely teams of scientists, environmentalists, land owners, students, small business owners, and government officials in the process;

- We actively advocate for the creation of a regional identity built around the Espinhaço’s uncommon historical, cultural, and natural resources;

- We raise awareness within individual communities about the innate natural & cultural resources they possess as they relate to tourism;

- We maintain trails in local conservation units;

- We sponsor personal projects by Crew Members that celebrate the places where we work;

- We allocate 5% of all proceeds from our trips towards a variety of local projects, causes, and organizations that we, as current residents of the region, are personally familiar with & vouch for.

To learn more about how GOGO trips unlock the transformative power of travel, please visit thegiftofgo.com/givebygoing.

📸:

05/07/2024

It sounds so naive today, but looking back, Elisa & I never imagined that community would play such an enormous part of our lives. We were determined to share the Stories of Places that we felt deeply drawn to, but the truth is we had no idea what that would require from us professionally, let alone on a personal level. We simply set out & made our way, step by step, learning as we went.

Today, we know that many of those steps have in fact been relationships, and that our journey all along has been community.

Looking back, it all makes sense. After all, there are no better ways to tell Stories than to have been a part of them. ✨

📸:

17/06/2024

Journal excerpt no. 3 from our recent 14-day crossing of the Espinhaço with author & journalist Paul Richardson of Financial Times.

V. ALL HAIL APRIL

Prior to this expedition, Elisa & I had never attempted a multi-week crossing in April before—the thought of late spring storms had kept us home (at the tiny 2-1 we rent at a local motorcycle driving school) for 3 years straight. While we did catch a few brief showers on the trail, the rewards were absolutely spectacular: glowing green vegetation, flowers in full bloom, gushing waterfalls, starry skies, and deliciously cool high savanna evenings.

In fact, we came away so inspired that we decided to run trips next April, as well…

To see our full account of the FT Expedition, including a link to Paul’s article for Financial Times, click the link in our bio or visit thegiftofgo.com/financialtimes.

📷:

16/06/2024

Journal excerpt no. 2 from our recent 14-day crossing of the Serra do Espinhaço with author & journalist Paul Richardson of the Financial Times.

III. 1

FELLOWSHIP: THE OWLS

Paul was the protagonist of our Story; our guest in the Espinhaço and our brother on the trail. The Journey was his, but dozens of individuals, from cooks & hosts, to guides, horsemen, boatmen, drivers, porters, and support personnel participated in our quest to bring him into the Story of Brazil.

Four of us (the “Owls”) accompanied him full-time. There isn’t a crew on earth I’d rather bushwhack, off-road, or party on the trail with.

To see the rest of our account of the expedition, including a link to Paul’s article in the Financial Times, see the link in our bio or visit thegiftofgo.com/financialtimes.

Address

Website

http://www.thegiftofgo.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gift of Go posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Gift of Go:

Videos

Elisa & I didn’t set out to redefine authenticity in the travel industry. In fact, we didn’t set out thinking about the travel industry, at all… We wanted to share the true, untold Stories of Places that we cared deeply about, and which we believed were both uniquely compelling & tragically under-appreciated. We concluded that the most powerful way to do that was to bring travelers into those Stories to experience them first-hand. ⛰️ Three years later, Elisa & I remain more confident than ever that crafting & guiding immersive trips is, if not the most powerful form of storytelling, the purest, and that experiencing a Place the way they it really is—the way it is even when we’re not around to witness it—is the most enriching way to travel. 💎 In an age of picture-perfect accommodations, carefully-crafted authenticity, and readily-collectible “once-in-a-lifetime journeys”, GOGO trips are decidedly raw, complex, and challenging, because they are true Stories. 🌿 The result is a different kind of understanding of a Place; a different kind of experience; and a different kind of reward. 🔥 The way we see it, real life gives us everything we need for adventure. Our job is to frame it. Yours is to experience it. ✨ - Eddie, co-founder & guide | @eddie_lott —- Follow along @giftofgo for more deep thoughts about travel, news about future trips, and films/photos + words from the trail. 📸 #truestories #realadventure #authentictravel #transformationaltravel #serradoespinhaço #giftofgo

“Diamonds / Wild Tales + Lost Trails” (DWTLT) is an epic, multi-dimensional portrait of Brazil, and the flagship expedition of our inaugural Collection of experiences at Gift of Go. Set in the impossibly enchanting—but largely unheralded—Espinhaço mountains of Minas Gerais, amidst the rocky high savannah (Cerrado) & Atlantic Rainforest (Mata Atlântica) biomes that guard so much of the planet’s biodiversity, DWTLT is an exhilarating & immersive 28-day, 437-km (24,802 meters of cumulative elevation gain/loss) journey through the region’s front- & backcountries in search of the essence of both the Espinhaço & Brazil, itself. Little known even amongst Brazilians, the Serra do Espinhaço was once the epicenter of the diamond trade in the western hemisphere, and today counts 19 conservation units, dozens of colonial towns & villages, picturesque quilombos (backcountry settlements founded by former slaves), spectacular waterfalls, 3 UNESCO designations (including World Heritage City Diamantina), and one of the highest rates of species endemism on the planet. Our expedition (August 5 - September 1, 2024; max. 8 travelers) is headlined by 8 conservation units, including 3 State Parks & 1 National Park; 19 communities (including Diamantina); dozens of pristine waterfalls, river crossings & white sand beaches; and some of Brazil’s best preserved colonial architecture, but it is the remarkable trove of historic trails, gracious homestays, sweeping high savannah views, and Dr. Seussian flora that enrich & inspire long after the trip has ended. Our team spent over 3 years researching, developing, and documenting this fabled—but forgotten—part of the planet, and we hope the resultant itineraries speak for themselves. We are incredibly excited to bring ambitious, culturally-curious travelers into this part of the world in 2024, and to share the Story of Brazil as only the Espinhaço can tell it. To learn more about Diamonds/Wild Tales + Lost Trails (28 day

Shortcuts

Address
Alerts
Contact The Business
Videos
Claim ownership or report listing
Want your business to be the top-listed Travel Agency?

Country:

City: