TRAVEL STYLE


PLEASE NOTE: We have a 12 women limit for most of our Africa Safaris (16 women limit for Uganda/Rwanda and Tanzania) and a 18-24 women limit for our India and Vietnam/Cambodia Tours, and space is available on a first come, first serve basis. Since our trips fill quickly, it is recommended to reserve your space as early as possible. Also, unlimited single rooms are available on India and Vietnam/Cambodia trips. However, there are a limited number of single rooms available on Africa Safaris and they are available on a first come, first serve basis.

Room-shares are guaranteed on all trips to avoid paying a single supplement.


We just launched our ROAM Facebook page - Click here to check out our NEW Facebook page for interesting information about our trips and destinations, plus fun facts and much more!


What is included in ROAM Adventure trips and safaris?

Our women's trips and safaris are priced "Land All-Inclusive", meaning everything is included in our trip prices BUT your roundtrip international airfare to meet the group for your selected adventure. Yes, even fees for ALL daily optional activities, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and ALL gratuities to guides, porters, etc. are included in our trip prices! Travelers purchase their airfare OR our partner travel agency can book your airfare for you at very competitive prices-- Contact Us at info@roamadventures.com for details.


How do We Travel at ROAM?

We travel in style on every ROAM trip! We pamper ourselves! We treat ourselves to the best experiences that exclusive, small group travel offers! Every Adventure is designed by women for women of all ages, backgrounds and fitness levels! All women are welcome on ROAM Women's Adventures!


When do travelers typically book their ROAM Women's Adventure trip or safari?

FIRST THING TO NOTE: We strongly recommend booking your space on our Africa safaris at least 1 year in advance; 18 months is preferable, and we even have guests who book a full 2 years in advance. We are required to relinquish held rooms, pre-booked excursions and internal flight seats as early as 6-9 months prior to safari departures. If you don't book your safari before the 6-9 month mark of a trip departure, we cannot guarantee that we can confirm your space on your chosen safari. We recommend travelers book their space on our India and Southeast Asia trips no later than 6 months before the trip departure date. We know that committing this far into the future can be challenging, but it is the only way to avoid disappointment, as our group sizes are limited due to the intimate size of the exclusive camps and lodges we choose for our safaris. For our India and Vietnam/Cambodia destinations, travelers typically book 1 year in advance, sometimes earlier. Once you book your trip, your price will NOT increase. Travel to Africa, India and Southeast Asia is much more expensive than travel to more traditional parts of the world, and therefore, travelers typically book far in advance in order to allocate ample time to budget the cost of their trip.


What are the deposit requirements for each ROAM Women's Adventure Tour and Safari?

Deposit requirements are as follows: India - 500 USD per person, Vietnam & Cambodia - 500 USD per person, Safaris to the following countries: Uganda & Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Africa Top 3(Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana) - 2,000 USD per person and the Tanzania Kili Climb and Safari - 2,500 USD per person. Receipt of your deposit payment confirms your place on your chosen tour or safari.


How do I reserve my place on a ROAM Adventure?

To book your place on any ROAM Adventure either click the "BOOK NOW" button on the menu bar at the top of any page of our website. Our BOOK NOW page provides complete information on booking your ROAM Adventure. Or, the quickest and easiest option is to use our Paypal booking option below.

To book your ROAM Adventure using PayPal, please select your chosen trip from the deposit pull-down menu below, then click the "Pay Now" button, and follow the step by step instructions. Your ROAM deposit payment will be processed by our parent company, Off the Beaten Path, LLC (Paypal account: France Off the Beaten Path). Once we receive your deposit payment, we will contact you to collect the additional information we need to create your guest portfolio.

ROAM Adventures Deposit Options
Room-Share or Single Room?
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What should I expect once I book my ROAM Adventure?

Once you reserve your ROAM Adventure, we will email you a complete registration package that includes everything you need to know to prepare for your ROAM trip or safari. It will include the trip itinerary you booked (as detailed on our website) plus complete and comprehensive details of the trip, visa information, information about local customs and traditions, a detailed packing list and much more.


Do you offer any kind of monthly payment plan to help budget paying for a trip?

Yes. We offer a 9 month installment payment plan to make paying your ROAM Women's Adventure Trip easy and stress-free. Once your deposit is paid, we offer a value added "optional" service to pay your ROAM trip balance. Want to spread the payment of your trip balance out over time? We offer an installment payment plan for travelers to pay their trip balance over a period of 9 months. In order to pay a trip balance via our installment payment plan, travelers need to complete and submit a completed booking form accompanied by the required per person trip deposit payment. Once your trip reservation is received, we email you an installment invoice to begin making your monthly payments. The remaining trip balance due after your trip deposit has been deducted is divided into 9 equal monthly payments. Each monthly payment is charged (one payment per month) during the following 9 months. Travelers need to book their ROAM trip at least 12 months in advance in order to participate in the installment payment plan. There is a 2% administrative fee to cover processing fees.


What is ROAM's Payment and Cancellation Policy?

ROAM requires a non-refundable per person deposit to confirm a traveler's participation in any of its' trips or safaris.

All trip deposits are non-refundable. Trip deposits include the non-refundable hotel/lodge/camp and activity/park fees plus administrative and cancellation fees. (On Uganda-Rwanda trips the deposit also includes the non-refundable trekking permit fees imposed by the parks).

Final payment for all trips is due 120 days prior to the trip departure date. Our office emails each trip guest a final payment invoice approximately 2 weeks before the final payment due date.

Cancellations - Notification of cancellations must be received in writing and the following per person cancellation/refund fees are applicable on this specific ROAM adventure, due to non-refundable camp/lodge and administration fees:

  • 120-91 days prior to departure, 25% of the total trip cost paid to ROAM is non-refundable.
  • 90-76 days prior to departure, 50% of the total trip cost paid to ROAM is non-refundable.
  • 75-1 day prior to departure, 100% of the total trip cost paid to ROAM is non-refundable.

Travelers are required to purchase trip cancellation insurance in order to participate in any ROAM Women's Adventure trip or safari.


Can you accommodate special dietary requests (vegetarians, etc.) and food allergies?

Yes. We can accommodate all dietary requests and food allergy requests with advance notice. If you have special requests or food allergies, please communicate this information to us either when you book your trip or in a separate email afterwards.


What are the difficulty levels of the trips?

Our trips are rated "Easy to Moderate" because they involve international travel. Women of all ability levels can join in any ROAM Adventure. All of our adventure trips have interactive and active excursions plus leisure time included daily in each trip itinerary. And, it is each traveler's individual choice to opt-in or -out of any daily activity. All of ROAM adventures offer unparalleled, wonderful, local cultural and wildlife experiences designed for women of all ability and fitness levels.


Is the ROAM Associate who accompanies each ROAM women's trip the lead guide (or principal guide) for the trip and destination?

No. On a ROAM women only trip, whether it be one of our Africa safaris or one of our active trips to India or Vietnam and Cambodia, the ROAM Associate is not the lead guide (or the principal guide) for the trip and should not be mistaken as such. The role of the ROAM associate on our women only trips, as is the associate role on ALL women trips sold by other women only touring companies also, is to accompany the group as the legal representative for the women's group, and to serve as the liaison between the group and the destination partner guides, the specialty guides and lodge, camp and hotel staff. The ROAM Associate who accompanies each group on our Africa safaris and on our active cultural trips to India and Vietnam and Cambodia is responsible to handle all of the behind the scenes details and manage the daily operations of the trip, making sure that our itinerary runs smoothly. The specialty guiding, ie, trekking guides, safari guides, cultural guides are all natives of each respective country, speak fluent English and are highly specialized, educated and trained professionals whose sole job is taking people like us on safari for those memorable once in a lifetime experiences in the bush in Africa and to discover the cultures of these far off lands on Africa, India and Vietnam and Cambodia trips.


Who are the Guides on ROAM Adventure trips and safaris?

ALL Guides on ROAM Adventure Trips and Safaris are Professional, local, English speaking Guides who have completed professional training and other highly specialized training related to their position, and have earned university degrees and/or vocational diplomas in their areas of expertise. The safari Guides we use in Africa are the BEST and most knowledgeable in all of Africa. On each ROAM adventure trip/safari, there is always one ROAM associate (representative from our company) who travels with our group who manages all of the details of our group throughout each trip/safari, and who acts as the liaison between our group and both our local destination specialist guide and the local cultural and safari guides. The local destination specialist guide also travels with our group and works with our ROAM Associate to coordinate all transfers, activities and excursions, meals and more with local cultural and safari guides and lodging staff, as well as with other local service providers. On some of our ROAM safaris, we also have porters to carry our gear. On our Tanzania trip we also have employed Africa's BEST climbing guides for the Kili climb portion of the trip.


What can you tell me about security and safety practices during ROAM trips/safaris?

As with any type of organized travel to a foreign country, All of ROAM trips are also designed to guarantee the upmost level of personal and group security and safety at all times. Safety is of paramount concern on every ROAM trip, and compromising our guests' safety is not worth the risk in business for us or our destination specialist partners in Africa, India or Vietnam and Cambodia. You can rest assured, the destinations we travel to are all very safe – and should conditions change prior to departure, we would notify guests, and in a worse-case scenario, cancel a departure and refund guests' money.


Are the animals and environment in Africa protected from any negative impact that we could have on them while on safari?

Tourism to wild areas, particularly flora and fauna rich areas, one could argue, has inherent negative effects (pollution, infrastructure, animal habituation, etc.). However most argue that the alternative of not travelling to these African countries is much worse. Tourism supports, protects and conserves the wild areas of Africa while bringing in vital income to the local communities. Without tourism, sustenance poaching would be rife and human encroachment of wild areas would be detrimental. For example, both the $1000 per person ($500 per person per trek) we pay in Gorilla permits and the $150 per person we pay for the Chimpanzee trek permit on each Uganda-Rwanda safari is money that goes directly to the local park system to fund projects that aid in protecting and studying the Gorilla and Chimpanzee populations in Uganda and Rwanda. Additionally, the park fees we pay on all ROAM Africa safaris fund many similar projects across Africa to protect what many consider one of Africa's greatest treasures - the largest and most diverse wildlife populations in the world!


Who is ROAM's Africa Safari Outfitter and how long have they been in business?

ROAM Women's Adventures has selected the leading US based safari organizer and outfitter in the industry -- Travel Beyond and Wilderness Safaris. Travel Beyond was the first U.S. based safari company to plan travel to southern Africa and has been planning safari travel to Africa since 1975. Travel Beyond is headquartered and incorporated in the State of Minnesota and works directly with its' African counterpart Wilderness Safaris --rated #4 on Travel & Leisure's 2011 BEST safari outfitter list-- for all of its' safaris. Wilderness Safaris works closely with Travel Beyond to provide the BEST itineraries and lodging choices to its' clients. ROAM has partnered with Travel Beyond for its' Women Only Safaris, because Travel Beyond puts their clients first and foremost above all else. When ROAM owner Christy Destremau approached Travel Beyond to organize the company's women only safaris, Travel Beyond immediately went to work reviewing all of the details Christy had presented them, and custom designed ROAM's safaris based on Christy's criteria interjecting their suggestions and adding some additional premium activities they felt every safari traveler shouldn't miss. Travel Beyond was flexible and always attentive to the fact that Christy wanted her ROAM women only safaris to be the very best and to be tailored specifically to the interests of women travelers. As a safari operator, Travel Beyond has contracted rates with the most reputable safari lodges and luxury camps throughout Africa. They are NOT vertically integrated like many of their competitors so they own NOTHING on the ground in Africa. Along with their salary-only staff (no commission) this is one of the key benefits of ROAM Women's Adventures working with Travel Beyond, as Travel Beyond is completely independent and looks out for our interests only (Travel Beyond has no beds to fill in their own lodges or seats to fill on their own trips). The Travel Beyond staff has incentives to get repeat and referral business only, and not to maximize revenue on individual sales, so their staff is always looking out for ROAM's interests first and foremost. Happy clients refer their friends, and ROAM's goal is to continue building a base of happy women travelers who are thrilled to tell their friends and family about our trips and the fabulous services provided by our safari outfitter, Travel Beyond.

At ROAM, we understand choosing a safari can be a daunting task. There is so much information on the internet that it's hard to know what's true and accurate. For that very reason, we encourage you to read reviews about Travel Beyond on Google, Yahoo, AOL, & Bing. These are real accounts of clients who have traveled with Travel Beyond on safari. There is no filtering and Travel Beyond has no way of removing bad reviews (if there were any). Travel Beyond Google Reviews - Travel Beyond Yahoo Reviews - Travel Beyond AOL Reviews - Travel Beyond Bing Reviews.


Who is ROAM's India Tour Outfitter and how long have they been in business?

ROAM Women's Adventures has selected the leading India tour outfitter in the industry -- Zutshi Travel World Service (P) Ltd. Zutshi Travel World Service (P) Ltd. is family owned and operated and has been planning active cultural travel in India since 1973. Zutshi Travel World Service (P) Ltd. is headquartered in New Delhi, India, and came highly recommended to ROAM by its' Africa Safari Outfitter Travel Beyond. Zutshi Travel World Service (P) Ltd. is an Active Member of ASTA since 1973, a founding Member of IATO, Member of PATA India Chapter and approved by the Department of Tourism, Government of India. Read more about our India Tour Outfitter - Read Some of Zutshi's Guest Testimonials.


Who is ROAM's Vietnam and Cambodia Tour Outfitter and how long have they been in business?

ROAM Women's Adventures has selected the leading Vietnam and Cambodia tour outfitter in the industry -- ICS Travel Group.
Founded in the early 1990's, Indochina Services began as a small destination management company offering tour services for the European market into Vietnam. The company has grown dramatically in the years to follow, adding Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia and most recently Thailand to its list of travel destinations, and now handles clients from over 110 countries worldwide. Early 2006, in response to broadening market requirements, the company rebranded to Indochina Services Travel Group (ICS) and opened new independent service departments. The company's head office is now in Thailand and acts as the coordination center between all of the company's clients and its fifteen in-country operations offices. ROAM Women's Adventures works directly with Rachel at the ICS San Francisco office for the organization of its women only Vietnam and Cambodia Tour Itineraries. ICS strives to remain the market leader in delivering customized travel, to uphold their reputation for consistent quality of service, and to offer its clients a unique local experience that they will never forget. ICS was the first company to open their own offices in Indochina, and have since become a market leader throughout the Mekong region. ICS is a multi-national team of experienced travel professionals from over 17 countries with over 500 ground staff all with a single goal of delivering a unique local experience. With offices throughout Vietnam and Cambodia ICS is able to provide ROAM's women only tour guests superior customer service and the best and most authentic local cultural experiences!


How do you determine your prices?

We determine our prices based on current market pricing, as provided to us by our destination specialists, and using our group size, as leverage to get the BEST prices available while preserving the highest standard of quality. Our trips are designed by women to appeal to women's interests. We work closely with our destination specialists to ensure that every activity we want in our itineraries is included in every trip price. And, because we are booking 12 to 24 spaces exclusively for our groups for each trip, we are able to negogiate the VERY BEST competitive prices. Remember, travel to and within exotic destinations, especially Africa, is not cheap, but we have been successful at creating luxurious itineraries at prices you could not get if traveling on your own. In Africa alone many of the lodges and camps charge $600 to $2000 per person per night, and that doesn't even include the cost of any activities or excursions. So we are thrilled that we have designed some of the BEST itineraries available in Africa, as well as in India, Vietnam and Cambodia, and at prices no one else can touch or even come close to. Our trips include everything from the time you arrive to your destination until the time you depart at the conclusion of the trip (even all beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic and gratuities for all services are included). When you join a ROAM adventure, only 1 thing is asked of each guest, and that is to "Have the time of your life"!


What about tipping on ROAM Adventure Trips?

There is no tipping on our adventures, because ALL of the gratuities for everyone involved in the delivery of your adventure trip or safari are already included in your ROAM trip price. You are welcome to tip extra; however, it is NOT required, as the exact service tips required by each destination specialist have been included. We will never waste your valuable vacation time asking anything additional from you on any adventure.


Why do Women Enjoy Active Adventure Travel?

Our guests repeatedly tell us that they like to discover new places, meet new people, learn about new cultures and most importantly participate in their travel experience. They want a vacation package that is exclusive and luxurious, that offers unique experiences and that takes them beyond the traditional tourist hot spots. They want to be physically active, travel in a secure, yet fun, small group environment, enjoy a well-organized itinerary that includes activities, yet offers time and opportunity for them to venture out on their own. ROAM travelers are truly pampered on every adventure, and experience the very best each of our select destinations has to offer.


Who Travels with ROAM - Truly Active Adventures for Women?

Our typical woman traveler is active and in good health! Most of our guests come on our adventure trips alone. But, some also come to share the experience with friends, mothers, daughters, or sisters. For some guests this is their first trip outside their native country, and for others it is their first time to an exotic destination. The majority of women who travel with us are or have been married, and many have children. Our travelers come from all walks of life and from all over the world; with a majority coming from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and England. Don't let this description of our "typical" traveler keep you from joining one of our adventures. Nomatter where you live in the world, if you enjoy active travel and trips that include interactive excursions then you've come to the right place. During our parent comapny Off the Beaten Path, LLC's 17 years, as a small group tour industry leader, we have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from our women travelers about how they truly enjoyed their exclusive experiences traveling with us. Read more on our testimonials page...


What is a "ROAM - Truly Active Adventure for Women" trip and who should go?

At ROAM, we want all guests to understand that our trips are active adventures and not simply "tours." We define active adventure as travel in which you actively participate in your vacation experience. Each adventure is rated moderate or high energy so that you know the level of activity on your chosen adventure before you sign-up, and if you need, you can get into shape accordingly. Active adventures, by nature, also require that travelers be relatively self-sufficient, flexible, and able to accept travel situations as they arise, accepting that things may not always happen exactly as one would prefer or expect. There are also constraints associated with group travel that necessitate that you, as a fellow traveler, be understanding of and/or sensitive to others who are sharing your trip experience. And most importantly, in the spirit of adventure travel, travelers need to bring a sense of humor, and be prepared to make new friends and share good times and lots of laughs !!


How Does ROAM's room-mate program work?

Every woman on every ROAM adventure is guaranteed a room-mate. Once you sign-up for your ROAM adventure, we will confirm your registration for the trip you've chosen, and at this same time, we'll ask you a few informational questions. On each ROAM Adventure we also switch room-mates each time we change accommodations. Doing so offers everyone in the group an opportunity to get to know everyone else a little better. If however, you join a ROAM Adventure with a friend or family member, and you would like that person to be your romm-mate for the entire trip, just tell us and we'll ensure you have your chosen room-mate for the entire trip. Approximately 30 days before your ROAM trip departs, we'll email all travelers registered for your chosen ROAM adventure a list with everyone's contact information in case you would like to exchange information about your travel style, the upcoming trip and any other useful information you may wish to share before departure.


Can I pay a single supplement to have my own room?

Yes. Unlimited single rooms are available on our India and Vietnam/Cambodia Trips, Uganda/Rwanda safaris and Tanzania trips. Single room space is however limited on the rest of our Africa safaris (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Africa Top 3), so single room bookings are accepted on a first come, first serve basis until no more single rooms are available. In Africa most of the luxury lodges and camps we use are booked exclusively for our groups or have very limited space and accommodations.


What are the accommodations like on ROAM Adventure trips?

All of our accommodations are luxurious selections offering modern amenities, security and creature comforts we women desire, appreciate and deserve. Whether you join one of our Africa safari adventures, our active India adventure or our Southeast Asia adventure, we have personally selected accommodations for each adventure based on our strict criteria of what we personally would want for ourselves without sacrificing the flare and beauty of local culture and picturesque surroundings.

In Africa, we stay in luxury tented camps, lodges and in some areas, luxurious historical hotels. All of our accommodation selections reflect the heart and soul of our destinations. Also on many of our Africa adventures, we have rented entire camps exclusively for our groups. In India, we stay in luxury hotels, mighty historical palaces and one night in a luxury safari camp. On our Vietnam & Cambodia adventure, we stay in beautiful historical hotels in both countries.

Note : All rooms include 2 queen, 2 full-size or 2 twin sized beds and all rooms have private en-suite bathroom facilities.


What is the Transportation Like During ROAM Adventure Trips?

In Africa we travel by commercial airlines between some destinations. Transportation between camps in Africa is by privately chartered 12-seat cessna and by open-top, 4x4 safari vehicles. We charter cessna planes exclusively for our groups. We fly low over the African plains and valleys between camps to get a birds-eye view of the wildlife below. It's a real treat, an absolutely luxurious and exclusive way to experience Africa, and a welcome added value experience to each of our Africa safari adventures. When we're not traveling by privately chartered planes between safari camps in Africa, we're traveling by open-top, 4x4 safari vehicles. We also travel by open-top, 4x4 safari vehicles during both morning and night game drives. Window seats are guaranteed for every guest during our drives. In India and South East Asia, we travel by small size, privately chartered, air-conditioned, first class luxury buses, and again, every guest is guaranteed a window seat. We also travel by domestic commercial flights when changing regions internally (all internal flights are included in all trip prices).


Additionally, during each adventure, there will be modes of local transportation employed, as part of our active, local cultural experiences. For example, in Africa, there will be a flight-seeing excursion over the Skeleton Coast in Namibia and a cruise on the Kazinga Channel to observe the hippo populations in Uganda. There will be options to participate in walking safaris, yes, we'll be able to walk through the bush to observe Africa's wildlife on many of our Africa safari trips.

In India, we'll discover Old Delhi as passengers on cycle rickshaws, we'll ride elephants to one of India's most spectacular palaces and enjoy an evening cruise on Lake Pichola. And, during our Vietnam and Cambodia adventure, we'll have the chance to ride TUK TUKs in Saigon, pedal on a traditional bike (or try a moto - it's your choice) through rice paddy covered countryside, village to village, take walks from villages to temples to discover spectacular history, and we'll ride elephants in Cambodia, plus so much more.


 



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