Why us
Inspiration
Extraordinary Journeys was born in a New York City apartment, conceived by mother–daughter duo Marcia and Elizabeth Gordon.
Though the company was founded in 2009, their travel experience spanned decades. Marcia first landed in Africa with the Peace Corps, in Uganda. Later, she spent 11 formative years living in Kenya where she raised three children, earned her pilot’s license, and deepened an encyclopedic knowledge of African travel while helping grow the family safari business. Travel wasn’t simply part of Marcia’s world—it was the scaffolding around which life unfolded.
Naturally, Elizabeth inherited the travel gene. Born in Kenya and raised in France, she grew up with a well-stamped passport and an unconventional sense of home. Her summers were spent on immersion homestays around the world, and later, her career took her to Namibia and Argentina.
As a young adult, Elizabeth found herself playing a recurring role: the go-to friend for travel advice. When questions stretched beyond her own experience, Marcia was there to fill in the gaps. Eventually, mother and daughter began to wonder why this advice—so thoughtfully given—wasn’t something they offered professionally.
A call to action
Just as soon as they waded into travel, Elizabeth realized her vision felt out of step with what she saw in the industry. Group departures and circuits squeezed travelers through countries on canned, whistle-stop tours. To her, the experiences were uninteresting, predictable, and flat. The world she knew was wondrous, warm, spontaneous, and alive with discovery. The travel she loved most carried depth, and had the power to be life-changing.
Sitting cross-legged in that apartment, Elizabeth lamented to Marcia, “Surely, we can do better than this."
That simple conviction became the idea that seeded Extraordinary Journeys.
Elizabeth and Marcia built the thing they longed for: a new type of travel that would combine the spirit of adventure with the comforts of thoughtful luxury. Days would be defined by discovery; evenings by sumptuous meals and a deeply comfortable place to rest. Throughout the trip, a dedicated Trip Concierge would provide 24/7, in-destination support, ensuring travelers felt confidently cared for.
Elizabeth and Marcia also understood that the privilege of travel carries a responsibility to the destinations people visit and the people who call them home. They knew that Extraordinary Journeys, alongside like-minded partners, was uniquely positioned to help chart a better path forward.
Travel, when approached with care and intention, could still be a force for good. Through more considered ways of traveling—creative routing, off-peak-hour touring, secret season, private concessions, bespoke experiences, and locally rooted, high-caliber guides—we found that we better served the destination while preserving the magic of the experience.
We worked diligently to build relationships with partners who share our values, prioritizing independently owned or boutique properties, principled guides and local experts, and ground teams deeply entwined in their communities wherever possible. The result is travel we are deeply proud of: journeys that feel personal, alive, and purposeful.
What next?
We’ve come a long way since Marcia bumped around in dusty 4x4s performing site inspections in Kenya with little Elizabeth in tow. Today, Extraordinary Journeys now winds through 39 countries across five continents (and counting).
As we’ve grown, our team has expanded to more than 35 members who span the globe: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Kenya, Chile, South Africa, and Indonesia. Each person on our team shares a passion for travel, conservation, and community, aligned with Marcia and Elizabeth’s values.
In 2022, we partnered with the prestigious French travel brand Voyageurs du Monde (VDM) to help us expand and offer bespoke, authentic experiences around the world. VDM is also a vanguard of carbon offsetting in travel, and through them, we are able to offset each and every Extraordinary Journey, from client trips to staff retreats. Learn more about our sustainability efforts here.
More recently, in 2025, we proudly launched the Extraordinary Journeys Foundation to champion meaningful causes in the places we explore. One of our primary focuses is Great Being a Girl which supports the fight to end period poverty in Kenya through the distribution of menstrual cups. We also proudly contribute to organizations including African Parks, the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, the Cheetah Conservation Fund, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Great Plains Foundation, and Tompkins Conservation.