With the Hero Travel Fund (HTF) Explorer X is giving away $10,000 to one deserving winner for use on a custom travel experience with Explorer X for a trip of a lifetime. Applications open January 1, 2025, and the application deadline is February 28, 2025. This is an amazing opportunity for one lucky winner!

ATCF member Explorer X's co-founder Michael Bennett in Peru — Michael Bennett in Peru

Michael Bennett, Ed.D, is the co-founder of Explorer X, a Seattle-based travel design company launched in 2017 by him and fellow travel industry veteran Jake Haupert. It crafts unforgettable and impactful travel experiences for its clients. The company’s mission is to support clients in both traveling better and living better. Bennet puts it this way, “We're sort of the love-child of Anthony Bourdain, the irreverent yet savvy traveler, and Joseph Campbell, the wise and sage-like teacher.”

Who is Explorer X?

Explorer X is a Seattle-based travel design company dedicated to crafting mindful travel experiences that have a profound and lasting impact on our travelers' lives. Explorer X offers Custom Travel Experiences and Destination: Unknown Adventures that feature:

Culturally immersive experiences with local guides, experts, and friends
Boutique local accommodations full of charm, character, and warmth
A pace and flow grounded in the concepts of slow and Mindful Travel
Endless opportunities for reconnection, learning, and growth
Sustainable design to minimize environmental impact

Explorer X’s philosophy is simple:

When we Travel Better, we Live Better. We refer to this as Mindful Travel. We believe that when we travel more mindfully, our experiences can inspire us to change our own lives and empower us to create positive change in the world around us. To support travelers on this Mindful Travel Journey, we not only design an epic travel experience for them but also provide them with the Mindful Travel Toolkit & Guide, a carefully curated collection of articles, questions, resources, and tools designed to help guide you on the Inner Journey of travel and catalyze learning, growth, and change.

*Founder Michael Bennett in the Faroe Islands.*

ATCF Member Explorer X launched a new initiative called the Hero Travel Fund (HTF). The HTF was created to offer those who are passionate about making a positive impact in their community and in the world the opportunity to experience a journey that reflects the magnitude of the work they do every day.

This year, Explorer X is giving away $10,000 to one deserving winner for use on a custom travel experience with Explorer X so that they can go on the trip of a lifetime.

ATCF sat down with founder Michael Bennett to learn more about Explorer X and the Hero Travel Fund. Here is what we found out.

What is the Hero Travel Fund (HTF)?

The Hero Travel Fund (HTF) is an annual award designed to honor individuals who are heroes in their communities—those who dedicate their lives to making a positive impact in the world. This is a unique opportunity for a remarkable individual to embark on a meaningful journey that reflects their passion for doing good. We believe in the strength of travel to foster personal growth, cultural exchange, and global connections. Through the Hero Travel Fund, we aim to provide financial support to those who wouldn’t otherwise have the means to take such a journey. This award is about more than just travel; it’s about recognizing and empowering those whose actions have touched lives, while encouraging slow, mindful exploration.

Why was it created?

Many people who dedicate their lives to making the world a better place rarely get the chance to step away and experience the kind of travel that opens their hearts to new perspectives. These are the individuals doing incredible work — teachers, social workers, nonprofit leaders — whose impact is felt deeply in their communities. We believe that heroes aren't defined by capes or superpowers — they are the everyday individuals who show up with strength, compassion, and resilience for their communities.

As the ancient Greeks believed, a hero is someone who has the strength of two — not just for themselves, but for the people they uplift. Through the Hero Fund, we aim to honor these protectors by offering them a journey that reflects the magnitude of the work they do every day. But their efforts often go unrecognized, and they don’t always get the opportunity to recharge and immerse themselves in the wider world they help shape.

That’s where the Hero Travel Fund (HTF) comes in. We created this fund to offer those who are passionate about making a positive impact in their community and in the world the opportunity to experience a journey that reflects the magnitude of the work they do every day. It’s for the ones who have poured so much into others and now have a chance to reconnect with themselves and the world in a meaningful way. The HTF is an invitation for these changemakers to immerse themselves in new cultures, ideas, and places — an experience that opens their minds and hearts, sparking new ideas and energy for their work back home.

Through the HTF, we’re offering a fully supported journey — one that emphasizes slow, intentional travel. It’s about deep connections, human-to-human interactions, and the kind of experiences that stay with you long after the trip is over. We believe in creating space for real learning, real reflection, and real change, because when you open yourself to the world, you find new ways to make an impact back home. As we say, your journey will always, always extend outward to impact others. We need more heroes willing to take that step and return with the power to create ripples of change in their communities and beyond.

Who should apply?

Our 'Heroes' are:

People doing impactful work in their communities (ex: Social workers, teachers, etc.)
People who really want to travel – they need it to fill their energetic bucket
People who don't have the funds to travel with us – more nebulous; we are essentially asking people to self-certify that they have limited financial resources. Not ideal but the best we could do.

To learn more, please check out our blog post here. You can also visit our website to learn more about the Hero Travel Fund here.

When is the application deadline and when will the winner be announced?

Applications open Jan 1, 2025. The application deadline is Feb 28, 2025.

Why are you a member of the ATCF?

Simple: We believe in the mission of ATCF and, just as importantly, we believe in people creating change through the ATCF. There is immense power in coming together as a community to support worthy projects around the world that are doing critical work to combat climate change and protect and preserve the environmental, cultural, and economic resources we have been entrusted with, and we can't think of anyone better than the folks at ATCF to lead this charge on our behalf.We have been proud to donate over $10,000 since 2022 to ATCF, and look forward to contributing more in the future.

Curren from Explorer X on a trip in Switzerland

This is an amazing opportunity for one lucky winner! The application deadline is February 28, 2025. Please help us spread the word and share with any heroes you know.

You can learn more about Explorer X on Instagram and Facebook. You can also read this post published on ATCF.

ATCF Member Explorer Announces The Hero Travel Fund