Mission
To get more women out there - safely, supportively, and properly.
About
The AW Story
It started with a simple but powerful concept: to bring women together to explore the world actively, share unforgettable experiences and form new friendships. This is the story of Adventurous Women.
Our origins
An idea is born
Adventurous Women was born from a situation many of our travellers know well. In 2008, Sue H. had an insatiable appetite for adventure and the outdoors, but not all of her friends shared her enthusiasm, and family commitments could only stretch so far around the busy years of late teens and young adults.
What was missing was a way for likeminded women to come together, embrace the outdoors and build the confidence to chase their goals, whether that meant exploring their region, their country or the world.
The beginnings
If you can't find it, build it. And so it went. Adventurous Women was founded as a professionally operated adventure travel company, built around a simple idea: when women travel together, remarkable friendships and communities often follow.
It started with likeminded women around greater Perth and soon spread to other parts of Australia. Regular social hikes and walks gave women a place to gather and share their adventures, both the ones behind them and the ones they aspired to.
Australia and beyond
Before long, multi-day tours of up to two weeks were running, and AW travellers explored places as far afield as Vietnam, the UK, Morocco and Portugal. Others hiked the islands and sailed the waters of the Whitsundays, or trekked WA's Cape to Cape trail.
Word spread far and wide, helped along by passionate advocate members, and by the time the company was ready for a changing of the guard there were as many travellers on the east coast as on the west coast where it all started.
The next chapter was about to begin...
The next chapter
Introducing Marie
Marie P. was born in occupied Cambodia, in the years following the civil conflict. The daughter of a primary school principal and an extraordinarily resilient mother who had started a family in the nation's darkest days, Marie had an adventurous spirit from the time she could walk.
After finishing high school in her home province, she set off for Phnom Penh in search of adventure, where she met people from all over the world who had come to help rebuild the country, create economic opportunities and explore a place that had long been off limits.
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A passion for travel
Working in a guesthouse to sharpen her English and surrounded by travellers from across the globe, Marie discovered a passion for guiding people through meaningful travel experiences. Around the time the guesthouse was sold, she met an Australian fella named Adam, who would later become her husband.
A partner in an adventure travel company, Adam opened her eyes to the joys of exploring by bicycle, and before long Marie was a Tour Leader herself, guiding international cycling groups through the temples of northern Cambodia and helping visitors connect with the story of rural Cambodia and its people.
New horizons
Marie and Adam travelled extensively, together and later as a family. When the time came to settle the family in Australia for their secondary school years, Marie, who had since trained as a chef, worked in Brisbane kitchens and discovered a love of culinary creativity.
As much as she enjoyed cooking, she missed adventure and the camaraderie the travel world had given her. So the timing felt right when Adventurous Women needed a new custodian as Sue stepped back from the business.
Changing of the guard
Marie took on ownership of AW in January 2024 and has loved every minute since. It has been a joy to connect with women from all over Australia, from every walk of life, who share her love of an adventurous lifestyle.
She brings a natural gift for getting people talking, a deep love of the outdoors and a delight in weaving great food into every journey. Backed by years of experience running tours, she is guiding Adventurous Women into its next chapter, supported by a team who care deeply about creating a top-notch experience and keeping it accessible and achievable for women of all backgrounds and fitness levels.
Present day...
Based in Brisbane, Marie still pops up at our social day events and leads several of our Australia-based multi-day adventures. Each year she also leads a tour of Cambodia, sharing her home country with travellers through her own eyes.
Today, Adventurous Women welcomes thousands of women from across Australia. Some simply join us for a local day trip, others for a multi-day Australian adventure and many for life-changing journeys overseas. Every traveller arrives with her own story, but they share a curiosity about the world and the spirit to step outside their comfort zone in pursuit of it.
Mission, vision, values
Vision
A world where adventure belongs to every woman, at every life stage.
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Values
Down-to-earth, supportive, judgement-free. The AW Way, on every trip.