About Yugen Earthside


Your one-stop shop for sustainable travel.

About Us

Yugen Earthside is a sustainable travel booking platform and advisory service launched in December 2020 and incorporated in January 2021.

Sustainable travel is centered on three pillars:

  1. Respecting natural environments, including wildlife
  2. Promoting local economies to keep tourism money in the host-country
  3. Supporting societies and cultures through authentic interactions and experiences

Yugen Earthside was founded by Hilary Matson. After working at Amazon for nearly a decade – in retail e-commerce roles that had nothing to do with sustainability – she left to pursue a career more closely aligned with her interests and values (travel and sustainability, respectively). Hilary earned her MBA as well as a certificate in Inclusive & Social Business from HEC-Paris in 2020. Within her MBA, Hilary specialized in entrepreneurship and developed her business plan. This allowed her to – despite Covid! – launch the company after graduation.

Today, Yugen Earthside proudly partners with sustainable tour operator partners around the world to provide responsible adventures to mindful travelers.

As a registered Social Purpose Corporation (SPC) in Washington State, Yugen Earthside focuses on environmental and social objectives in addition to financial profitability. We are certified net-zero as of June 2022, and donate at least 1% of gross profit to sustainable tourism development projects.

Yugen Earthside founder & CEO Hilary Matson

Ecolytics Net Zero Carbon Neutral Badge

MISSION

To shape the future of sustainable travel.

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.”

VISION

Mobilize 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.

Yūgen Characters

1

Platform

30

Partners

35

Countries

600

Itineraries

WHAT WE DO


Yugen Earthside supports mindful travelers along every step of their journeys.

Clockwise from the top, we help travelers:

  • Access sustainable travel information and resources
  • Discover and booking responsible trips
  • Pack eco-friendly products
  • Purchase sustainable travel insurance
  • Take climate action for your trip’s carbon impact
  • Join a free, private community of sustainable travelers

 

INFORMATION

Access FREE responsible travel resources at your fingertips. Get started by downloading our sustainable packing list.

See Resources

TRIPS

Discover and book trips from our vetted sustainable tour operators partners.

Browse Adventures

ECO-SHOP

Pack zero-waste with our curated selection of ethical, plastic-free, sustainable travel products.

Shop the Store

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL INSURANCE

Purchase trip protection coverage through our B-Corp certified, 1% for the Planet insurance partner.

Get a Free Quote

CLIMATE IMPACT

Take climate action and “REP your Planet” (Reduce emissions, Estimate impact, Purchase carbon offsets or removals).

REP your Planet

COMMUNITY

Join our free, private Earthsiders community for extra support from like-minded travelers.

Join Now

OUR WHY


Here’s our ‘north star’:

We want to make sustainable travel easy – both to understand it and do it.

Yugen Earthside believes that travel can and should be used as a force for good and that the tourism industry collectively needs to do more to eliminate (or minimize) negative impacts from travelers. 

Sustainable travel doesn’t need to be time-consuming or confusing – but many travelers, even the most well-intentioned, aren’t always sure what sustainable travel means or how to implement it. Travelers save time knowing that any trip they discover and book through us will be sustainable, and get clarity about what makes each trip sustainable across the three pillars: environmental, economic, and sociocultural. 

We are strong advocates for spreading awareness about the importance of traveling responsibly and educating people about what sustainable travel entails holistically. Regardless of the effort we pour into our blog posts and information campaigns, we never think we have it all figured out, and are committed to continuous learning and improvement.

‘Progress over perfection’ is our motto. It’s what we strive for as a company, as well as how we hope to inspire all travelers to become increasingly sustainable on their adventures.

Want to know more?