At Holbrook, our annual calendar is a celebration of our work. In conjunction with our travel partners and talented photographers, we have once again assembled a tribute to the past year. Our "Return to Global Travel" theme is carried through the opening letter to the monthly stories from our travelers in the field. Their accounts of their photos and travel experience during the pandemic are a lasting testimony to passion and perseverance. 

Please find the annual calendar opening letter from Andrea Holbrook that presents our year in review. And order your own free copy. Enjoy!

Dear Friends,

As 2021 winds down to a close, I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude to you and all of our clients, staff, and providers. It has been a time like no other in our history, full of difficulties and challenges and yet also full of support and community. Therefore, the stories that we are sharing with you about travel this year are that much more meaningful to us.

While we know that the pandemic will have lasting changes on our global society, here at Holbrook we are happy to see that our human desire to directly experience the world – to capture a leopard yawning (November, Kenya), to sail serenely near an enormous whale (January, Mexico), to watch a sea turtle munch on algae (October, Galápagos), or even to hug someone tightly that we’ve missed – has not changed much in essence. We still need to experience and connect in real life, or “IRL” as my daughter would text.

Our first trip, following the total cessation of travel in March of 2020, was to Costa Rica for Chenango Forks High School from New York State. Educator Mandy Black, her students, and their families were the first group to go through the testing requirements and protocols and to experience what would become a routine part of travel. That trip remains in my mind with great clarity; for us here at Holbrook it felt like the first all over again. (It also reinforced for me the great leadership and practical wisdom that teachers embody and have exemplified, especially during this time.) That first trip set the right tone and since that time, we’ve sent travelers to Mexico, Iceland, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Kenya, Tanzania, and within the United States.

And while there continue to be protocols, requirements, and some testing, the travel experience has not essentially changed based on our experiences in the field and those of our travelers. To quote Jim Moses, President of Road Scholar for whom Holbrook has been a very proud travel provider for many years, “Life is to be lived – take precautions but do the things that give you joy.” For many of us, traveling and directly experiencing the world is very high on that list.

Perhaps one thing that needs to continue to evolve and change about travel, and every aspect about the way we live, revolves around sustainability. The travel industry, particularly the air travel aspect, is very connected to the fossil fuel industry and we know how urgent the problem is today. We know we have to be part of this movement and are grateful to organizations that are helping to pave the way, like the Center for Responsible Travel. Though we have been offering carbon offsetting since 2001, we know there is more we can do and we look forward to tackling this change together with you one step at a time.

With every good wish,
Andrea Holbrook

About our cover

"In the open plains of the Serengeti, cheetahs hunt and raise their families. The hunting strategies they rely on are sight and speed. To see over tall grasses, adult cheetahs will often climb termite hills for an unobstructed view. When we saw this mother and cub in long grass, we looked for the highest, most likely mound and waited for them to climb up. The photo chance revealed itself when they both looked out and curled their tails!"

Todd Gustafson | Gustafson Photo Safari
Tanzania