About Us

What is Yugen Earthside?

Yugen Earthside is a sustainable travel booking platform and agency that connects mindful travelers to adventurous trips.

  • Our platform features a curated selection of sustainable, package trips designed and run by our local partners around the world.
  • Our agency arm can help you find and book a responsible trip anywhere in the world, or assist as your sustainable trip planner.

Our Mission: Make sustainable travel easy.

What does "Yugen" mean?

Yugen (pronounced “you-gehn”), is a Japanese word that means:

An awareness of the universe that triggers an emotional response too deep and powerful for words.

Krka National Park in Croatia - clear, blue-green water in the forefront with a cascading waterfall in the background, surrounded by lush green trees and a blue sky with a white cloud in it. A rainbow crosses the image.

Values-aligned travel

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Get to know us

What's in our DNA?

Creating a positive environmental and social impact is important to us. That's why we are:

  • Registered as a Social Purpose Corporation (SPC).

  • Donating at least 1% of gross profits to sustainable tourism impact projects.

  • Certified net-zero through Ecolytics.

  • Including carbon removal through Tomorrow's Air with each booking.

  • Integrating carbon offsets through Sustainable Travel International into our checkout process.

  • Applying for B-Corp Certification in 2024.

Caucasian woman sits on a grey couch, looking up smiling, while facing an open laptop computer and a monitor screen set up on a brown wooden table.
The early days

Our Origin Story

Yugen Earthside was founded by Hilary Matson. After working at Amazon for nearly a decade, she left to pursue a career more closely aligned with her interests and values: travel and sustainability.

Hilary earned her MBA and a certificate in Inclusive & Social Business from HEC-Paris in 2020. During her MBA, Hilary specialized in entrepreneurship and developed a social enterprise business plan. Yugen Earthside was incorporated in January 2021.

What is sustainable travel all about?

Our trips adhere to the three basic pillars of sustainable tourism:

Respecting natural environments, including wildlife.

Promoting local economies to keep tourism money in the destination.

Supporting societies & cultures through authentic experiences.

Our Vision:

Inspire and educate travelers seeking to discover and book responsible tourism trips, in order to transform the travel industry into a force used to better connect humanity and preserve the earth.

Our Team: Who are we, and where are we?

Our company is registered in Washington State, USA, and a small team works remotely around the world to run the show.

  • Hilary Matson. Founder & CEO. Based in Paris, France.
  • Levi Gable. Website Wizard. Based in Paris, France.
  • Mora Klappenbach. Website Content Associate. Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • Alice Peace. Blog Contributor. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
  • Elisa Spampinato. Blog Contributor. Based in London, England.
  • Anurag Danda. MBA Marketing Intern. Based in India.
  • Giles Hawke. Mentor. Based in London, England.
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Adventure awaits

Now let's go explore! (Responsibly.)

The top of the Taj Mahal is in a close up view with a lush green tree to the left of it in the foreground.

India

The beige city of Toledo, Spain is in view with several blocky buildings with square and octagonal columns; a stone bridge is in the foreground.

Spain

Misty clouds shroud a dark forest; there are green trees in the foreground and rolling blue hills in the background.

Ecuador

A person walks away down a path lined with red tree leaves, it's sunny out, the sky is bright blue and it feels like autumn with trees and brush in warm yellows and oranges surrounding the path. A Camino trail marker sign post is in the bottom right of the frame. The trail marker emlem, shown, is a blue rectangle with a yellow sea shell in it.

Portugal

A tree house on stilts with a thatched matuki roof sits amidst a clearing within a lush green forest.

Kenya

All destinations

40+ experiences around the world

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