Returning to Cambodia With Purpose
Long before a departure date is marked on a calendar, a journey begins with a relationship.This February, She Dares to Wander will return to Cambodia in partnership with LOTUS Humanitarian for an eight-day women’s small-group journey, taking place February 20–27, 2027. The itinerary will carry us through Siem Reap and the surrounding landscape, but the heart of the experience lies elsewhere: in returning to people and projects that have already become part of the LOTUS story.
Travel can expand our view of the world. It can also ask more of us. At LOTUS, we believe the most meaningful journeys begin with humility: a willingness to encounter a place not as a backdrop for our own transformation, but as a living community with its own wisdom, history, and needs. Cambodia has taught us that the deepest impact is not created by one visit. It is built through continuity, trust, and the decision to come back.
A Return, Not a First Encounter
Our relationship with Cambodia did not begin with a brochure or an itinerary. On LOTUS’s first journey to the country, twelve women traveled with She Dares to Wander to spend time with two local projects: the Seyla Poy Orphanage in Siem Reap and the Kulen Mountain English School, led by Vanara Mao. The visit placed people face-to-face with the children, caregivers, teacher, and community members whose lives are too often reduced to distant statistics.
That earlier journey also revealed what sustained partnership can look like in practice. LOTUS has supported the Kulen Mountain English School through teacher compensation, books, school supplies, food kits, and ongoing classroom support. The trip created room for laughter and companionship alongside service, including a day at a local water park with the children. Those moments mattered not because they solved everything, but because they honored a relationship that was already taking root.
The 2027 journey is an opportunity to continue that relationship with care. We will return to the village school with supplies and food kits, spend time with children at the orphanage, and share another joyful water-park day together. Each traveler will also be invited to bring a suitcase of requested donations, such as new clothing, shoes, school supplies, and toys.
The Work That Continues After We Leave
The most important part of a giving-back journey is rarely the photograph or the itinerary. It is what remains after the travelers return home.
As part of this upcoming trip, She Dares to Wander has committed to sponsoring a full year of English classes for the village in 2027. That commitment matters because education is not an experience that can be compressed into a single afternoon. It depends on teachers, materials, consistency, and the long patience of a community that continues to invest in its children.
This is also why we are careful about the language we use around service. We are not arriving in Cambodia with answers. The people who live, teach, care for children, and build daily life there already hold the knowledge of their community. Our role is to listen, contribute respectfully to the work our local partners have identified, and remain accountable to the relationships we are privileged to enter.
A Journey That Holds Both Wonder and Responsibility
There will be room for awe on this trip. Travelers will explore the Angkor temple complex, visit the Kulen Elephant Forest Sanctuary, travel by private boat through a floating village and mangrove landscape, and learn at the Lotus Silk Farm. These experiences are part of what makes Cambodia unforgettable, but they are not separate from the giving-back work. They invite us to understand that a place is never one thing: it is history and artistry, daily labor and celebration, loss and resilience, family and future.
The group will be intentionally small, with no more than fifteen women. That size makes room for reflection, real conversation, and a more attentive way of moving through the places and relationships that welcome us.
For those who feel called to travel with more intention, we hope you will consider joining us. This is not a trip built around checking Cambodia off a list. It is an invitation to see with greater care, to participate in work that is rooted in return, and to carry home a more honest understanding of what connection requires.
Learn more about the February 20–27, 2027, Cambodia journey and current booking details here: Wander With Purpose: Cambodia.
She Dares to Wander and LOTUS Humanitarian believe that love becomes most credible when it is practiced over time. Cambodia is calling us back, and we are grateful to return!
