Jamie Ling is a co-founder (along with his wife Justine Curtis) and director of InspiredAdventures.com.au, a company that is transforming normal people into extraordinary adventurers and amazing givers through a series of incredible travel trips across the globe.

Starting in 2004 adventure, ‘Trek for Tibet’, Inspired Adventures has raised over $1.4 million dollars for Australian charities, had 26 successful overseas challenges (treks, cycles and marathons) and supported 400+ people on their fundraising journey

What is an Inspired Adventure and where did the idea come from?

Inspired Adventures is a way to get you fit for a great cause, give you an incredible overseas adventure you’ve always dreamed of and raise funds for Australia’s leading charities. The concept is simple; take the challenge of fundraising a minimum amount (it’s different for each adventure), train for your challenge whether it be a trek, cycle or marathon, then be rewarded with the sense of achievement that comes from helping others and the adventure of a lifetime.

After a chance meeting with a Tibetan Monk while on a trip to India, Justine decided to leave the corporate world and get involved in the charity sector. In 2004 she set up a charity adventure business. Remembering the monk, she approached the Australia Tibet Council and created ‘Trek for Tibet’. The trek was a great success, 20 wonderful trekkers and $50,000 for the ATC. ‘Inspired Adventures’ was born!

What has been your biggest challenge so far in running the company?

Our biggest challenge has been marketing the adventures, getting the message out there in a tough, saturated travel market

These adventures aren’t something you just do overnight. What do people get out of them? Do they come back a different person?

The word that encapsulates the Inspired Adventures experience is “empowerment”, both for the individual who takes the journey from registration to return and the charity that has vital funds raised for them.

It requires something special to take a stand for a charity and be prepared to fundraise for them, it requires commitment and drive to train for months on end to climb Kilimanjaro or run the New York Marathon or trek the Kokoda Track and it takes determination and inner-strength to complete the challenge.

People come away from an Inspired Adventure empowered by a sense of achievement, they know themselves as people of action, motivated and altruistic.

“One of the most amazing experiences I have had in my life. Travelling with a fabulous group of people, all of us working towards a common goal, raising money for a wonderful charity (Save the Children Australia). Encouragement and support amongst the group got us to the finish line”
Rachael Dove, Save the Children Australia Vietnam Cycle Challenge 2008

If you could go back a few years and tell yourself something when you were just starting the business, what would it be?

You know more than you think you do, you are an expert in your field and there is no reason why the business you run cannot be as successful as the companies that have inspired you.

What will Inspired Adventures look like in 2010?

It will be the organisation that people turn to if they decide to do something more than “just go on holiday this year”.

We will expand to have 30 Charity Partners, 50+ adventures including ultra-marathons, marathons, corporate challenges and school challenges. Offices in Sydney & Auckland.

..and everyone in Australia and New Zealand knowing someone who has done an Inspired Adventure.

Jamie Ling is a Co-Founder and Director of Inspired Adventures.

Interviewed by Ross Hill, an Australian entrepreneur with a strong interest in the social web - his current projects include Yabble, Rentoid, CoverHunt and The Hive.

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Posted on October 15th, 2008 by Nicholas