Like any good love story, the beginnings of EverGreen Escapes involves a young man living in his jeep, chasing his dreams. That young man was Jake Haupert, his love was travel, and his dreams were to establish a successful travel company with a firm commitment to social and environmental responsibility.
After several years in the industry working for a variety of very successful companies, Jake took his cumulative knowledge and went rogue, starting Explorers 3 in 2006. At first, his focus was selling the destinations he knew well: primarily Oceania with some Latin America thrown in to spice it up. Quickly, however, he realized that many of the products he sold so much of (fully-inclusive small-group luxury tours hosted by talented naturalist guides) simply didn't exist in the US, but that they should - particularly in his backyard, the breathtakingly scenic and impressively diverse Pacific Northwest.
Thus, in 2007, EverGreen Escapes was born and became the inbound side of the business. Like any startup (particularly one trying to gain traction during a recession), EverGreen Escapes had its bumps and hurdles, but quickly impressed the travel community by rising to become the region's most reputable boutique tour operator. In no time, EGE was wowing people with a blend of luxury, sustainability, and adventure amidst the mountains and waterways of Cascadia. The occasional sasquatch sighting didn't hurt.
In the meantime, Explorers 3 merged under the EverGreen Escapes brand to become EverGreen Escapes International, and began expanding as more specialists joined the EGE family. We are still a small company, with just 10 full-time employees and only 6 dedicated to EGE International, but what we lack in size we make up for with passion and knowledge, with specialists covering Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, Central and South America, Iceland, and the Polar Regions.
As we continue to grow, so will the breadth of our specialization, but we will always remain dedicated to creating personalized and immersive adventures while practicing our ethos of low-impact, responsible travel. What we do is a craft, and through this craft we endeavor to inspire positive change through transformational experiences, connecting people, places, and the environment.
United States
