This summer Trek America, one of the first small group adventure tour companies in the United States, held a reunion of tour leaders. Trek America opened in 1972 and called its trips “Tours for Non-Tourists.” The concept was simple–get free-wheeling, independent types together, pack up a van with tents, camping gear, and a trek leader, and hit the road in search of adventure.
The Women’s Liberation Movement was in the early stages at the time, and adventure tour guiding was only just beginning for men, let alone women. It wasn’t until 1979 that the first female Trek leaders were hired. Back then and for many years to follow, the experience of female guides often differed from their male counterparts.
Reunion attendees included the first American guide, a few of the first female guides, guides who have led as recently as last year, and everyone in between. I gathered a few of the women to find out about their experiences.
How did you find out about Trek America?
Karen – Guide from 1980-86: There was an ad in the Oregonian newspaper that said, “Camping tour leaders wanted. We’re looking for young men between the ages of 25 – 35.” And I wrote saying, “Please don’t overlook my qualifications just because I’m not a guy” and I was 24 at the time.
Shelley – Guide from 1999-03: I was working illegally in Costa Rica leading rainforest tours for rice and beans and I ran into a tour leader and he said, “You should be a Trek leader.”
Shirley – 1980-84: A friend of mine told me about this guy and what a great job he did. I invited him out for drinks and we sat and talked for about three hours and there was a little voice in my head saying, “Don’t listen to this. This is going to change your life.” I didn’t listen to the voice and I put in an application. The next thing I knew, I was on the road.
How many female guides worked during your first year?
Shirley and Karen – 1980: Five women out of about 100 guides.
Carol – 1982-85: About 10 women out of about 150 guides.
Andrea – 1991-94, 1998-00, 2003: When I started there were fewer than 10 women
Adrienne – 2008-11: Our ratio was about 60 percent men and 40 percent women.
Some official Trek America numbers list percentages of female guides as 17 percent in 1992, 39 percent in 1998, and 52 percent in 2018. The first two female guides were hired in 1979.
Did you feel your managers treated you differently from the male guides?
Leah – 2008, 2010-16: I’d heard that the guy who hired me supposedly said that women make better guides than men as female tour leaders got better scored than male tour leaders, so he hired more women.
Karen – 1980: I remember our trainer commenting “It’s just kind of a fact of life that you’re going to have to work twice as hard to prove that you’re half as good,” and I thought, fortunately, that’s not a big deal. But I never really felt I was treated differently.
Shirley – 1980: I didn’t get the comment from the trainer but, like Karen, it was just the most fun thing ever. And there were all these guys and it was fun to be one of the guys.
When you first met your passengers what were their reactions?
Shelley – 1999: The first time I would meet them there were definitely some long faces from the dudes that were like, “I got a girl?” and from girls because they realized they couldn’t sleep with me. So you had to really prove yourself. Some positive comments at the end of trips were that I had more compassion and my food was better.
Jenni – 2005: In 13 years, I hooked up with three passengers and I definitely felt a change in the group afterward. You could feel the downward spiral in the group after I hooked up with someone. They lost respect for me. Dudes never had to deal with that even though girls were fighting over them.
Amy – 1997-99, 2002: I had a passenger who was upset because I was younger than him and because I was a female, and he challenged me every chance he got. About half-way through the trip, he decided he wanted to hit on me. He was so angry when I rejected him. It was a very extreme spectrum of emotions all in a seven-day tour. Maybe it was a way for him to assert his dominance in one way or another.
Shirley – 1980: Some women were disappointed I was female as they realized they wouldn’t get laid, and a few men weren’t happy either but, in general, it felt like they thought, ‘Oh wow, this is really cool. This is part of the ‘American experience.’
Kim – 1982-89: I also worked in Africa and there were only two or three women. It was a much bigger challenge with both passengers and locals. They were shocked. I also had to wear a dress in some countries.
Poppy – 1995-98: I didn’t drink a lot in the campground at night because I found that if a male leader was hung-over in the morning passengers found it fun, but if I was, they lost respect for me because I wasn’t a dude.
Antonia – 2002-03, 2005: At the end of a trip they would always say, “We were so disappointed you weren’t the cute guy, but we’re so glad you were our tour leader. You worked so much harder than the guys ever did.
Lisa – 1991-95: I was the first female Trek guide in Mexico. The Zapatistas were always rising up and I knew the area where they’d come through. They’d come out with bandanas over their faces and put logs in front and back of the van and they’d hand out their little card explaining who they were and what their complaint was. I’d be sure to fill the coolers on top of the van before this and they would climb up and take everything out of the coolers, so they would let me through. I was doing this over and over again and, since I knew exactly where they would come out of the woods, I’d put the most cocky guy in the front seat—the one who felt he didn’t need a tour guide—and all of the sudden, we’d come around this corner and everyone comes out of the woods and he’d shout in a panic, “Lisa! Lisa!” So that was how I got my revenge.
What advice would you give to both men and women who are thinking about becoming adventure tour guides?
All: Do it! It will ruin your life. . . In a good way.
