Our Mission:
Awaken.
We give in-person cultural exchange experiences to humans for the betterment of societies around the world.
Our Mission
Gutsy Nomad is a new take on the foreign exchange experience. We bring qualified* United States citizens overseas for the first time in their lives, most expenses paid. Why would we do this?
“Our thinking is simple; Empower the base, change society.”
We believe, if given the opportunity to expand their minds, our fellow citizens will take the experience to heart. Americans want to explore, to learn; We want, and need, to experience the world. Unfortunately most Americans have yet to explore much beyond their own back yard. In opposition to what much of the World thinks, most Americans cannot financially afford a true cultural experience, and, as of 2019, only 49% of United States citizens have a valid passport. The United States hails itself as a world leader, now is the time to make an effort to educate and empower all of its citizens through a cultural experience program within reach.
A qualified* person is defined as follows:
United States Citizen
25+ years of age
Has never traveled outside of the United States of America
Employed
Working full-time hours (minimum of 35 hours worked per week at a single or multiple jobs)
Total earnings of $35,000 or less per year
From a recipient…
"The easiest thing to point out is the…way you look at everybody. You don’t see people as…different because they look different; you’ve spent a month being that person. You’ve been in the shoes of the “new kid”, the kid that looks different from everybody else who might be from a different country. A lot of the natural biases go away."
— Rory Edmonds, Nepalese adventure recipient
Our Programs
PROJECT RORY: NEPAL
Our Nepal experience starts in Kathmandu. See the following four week adventure:
Our Partners
NEPAL LEATHER CRAFT
Based in Kathmandu, Nepal, Alisha and her team worked with us to produce our former Gutsy Nomad packs. Now she and her team assist in providing a real-world educational work experience for our recipients. Their fortunate guests will learn about leather, a Nepal-specific form of naturally tanning hide, how to sew leather and how to produce simple products.
Website
Our Story
When our founder first traveled overseas in 2011, the experience changed his life. Being an American he was raised with a “traditional” idea of work, of what “living” looks like and of what being successful must mean. Then came his second trek abroad in 2012, this planted the idea of working and living to experience the varying cultures of Earth; his plan to live life in a new way was cemented.
Thailand was home to his first step in a truly new lifestyle. Thailand is also home to many great designers, of which he met one who would hand-craft the first round of Gutsy Nomad packs. This initial meeting, along with his newly-adopted lifestyle, grew into a concept of connecting Americans with the world.
We work to offer an international experience for people who are willing to make a change; This is the foundation of Gutsy Nomad. We collaborate with humans worldwide to bring unique, much-needed international experiences to working-class U.S. citizens.
We aim to bring you one step closer to your fellow human.
Gutsy Nomad aims to facilitate cultural exchange, opening the minds of United States citizens by sending them to meet the humans abroad we work with, to experience life in another country and learn by living. The difference in culture, community and lifestyle in the homelands of humans outside of the United States of America can be great; Our goal is to help U.S. citizens experience that difference by way of an overseas, mind opening, cultural exchange. Your donation helps us host a contest among those in the United States of America who are not fortunate enough to be able to afford a passport or an overseas adventure. The winner will be gifted a unique, month-long journey through a foreign land where they will be immersed in another culture, learning new customs and traditions. Deeper still the fortunate traveler will learn more about themselves; They will indeed become Gutsy Nomads.