ABOUT US
We are a community of entrepreneurs and digital nomads who are passionate about connecting people, travel, freedom, growth, equality and business for good.
OUR WHY
We connect ambitious and kind nomads & entrepreneurs who want to make the world a better place. Our community leverages the power of travel, learning and connection to help each other get closer to our goals & dream life styles.
Our story
Over 12 years ago, our founders quit the rat race to live the dream of combining work and travel. As this was before being a digital nomad was really a thing, they thought they would start an adventure tour company for backpackers.
So, in their mid 20’s they started this company – TruTravels – which had one goal: to provide life changing group travel experiences that benefit all involved.
At this stage they were still backpackers at heart so with the experience gained from their own travel adventures, they started showing customers the world and connecting them with other people, places and experiences that most people just dream about. Now TruTravels offers tours over 4 continents and has shown thousands of happy travellers a glimpse of living the dream in one of many countries around the world.
Growing this business, they discovered the transformative power of group travel—turning backpackers into storytellers and strangers into lifelong friends. And also created pretty nice life’s for themselves (some on a tropical island).
Things were going pretty swimmingly, then COVID happened, turning the travel industry on it’s head and pushing us all into the era of remote work.
Suddenly, being a ‘Digital Nomad’ wasn’t just what some coders and writers could do, it was commonplace, or it soon would be.
This shift sparked a new chapter for Joe, who sold and exited TruTravels to create DNA, a community dedicated to empowering nomads and entrepreneurs through the adventures that once changed his life and the lessons him and his co-founders learned on these adventures.
At DNA, we swap conventional lives for extraordinary experiences. And we have some very exciting things coming up!
Now we have been living the dream for over 12 years, and digital nomadism is (very much) a thing… We want to connect with others who are carving their own path and help even more people create THEIR dream reality.
We know its possible and that you don’t have to do what society tells you because we have done it.
We believe, it’s everyone’s right to love their jobs and their lives. Life should not revolve around work, but work should allow everyone to live where and how they want to. And now days that is more feasible than ever
We also think that if everyone was following their passion and free to work on their own terms, they would be much happier and the world would be abetter place. And who doesnt want that?
So with our trips, events, passes & community in Koh Phangan as well as our online academy, we want to connect nomads and entrepreneurs and help people expand their minds, networks, experiences.
All of our travel products and online courses are designed to get people closer to their dream lifestyles whilst having an amazing time and making new friends.
Hear the story of how DNA was started and how Joe our co-founder came to be living on the island of Koh Phangan below.
Find out how DNA first started
OUR COMMUNITY LEADERS
JOE FALLON
CO FOUNDER & MD
Co-Founder of TruTravels, Joe has been travelling and running businesses since he was 21. He counts himself very lucky to have been based on the beautiful island of Koh Phangan for over 10 years (when not travelling).
Mark and Joe sold a chunk of TruTravels to G Adventures in 2018 and Joe made a full exit in 2023 to work on his next big passion project, DNA. With it, Joe wants to share his experience and help others find the freedom to live and work when and where they want. He will be joining as a guest speaker on some of our trips and events and you’ll often see him working from our office at Tiki Beach in Koh Phangan.
Mark Pope
CO FOUNDER
The other Co-Founder of TruTravels. Mark and Joe met as backpackers in Sydney a looong time ago and have been business partners since.
They grew TruTravels together between 2012 and 2023 until Joe left and Mark took over running the sizeable operation that tru has become.
Whilst he has extensive travel and business experience, Mark is the only non nomadic member of the team.
He currently lives in London with his wife and two young boys and runs TruTravels full time from the UK HQ in Kingston whilst being on the board for DNA and occasionally visiting us in Koh Phangan.
RYAN BARLOW
OPERATIONS GURU
Joe and Ryan backpacked together back in the day, and when Joe started Tru, Ryan was one of the first people he called in for help. Neither of them knew that Ryan would one day be running the entire operations.
Ryan has travelled the world extensively for over 10 years and has owned and managed several businesses from an Electrical Engineering company in the UK to hostels and resorts in Thailand.
Ryan is a parnter in DNA and Tiki Beach and you can often see him running the TruTravels ops (and other things) from our base on the island of Koh Phangan.
GEORGE PANAYIDES
SEO WIZARD
George is a baby faced digital marketing expert and digital nomad. He has been promoting and selling stuff since before he could walk and learning about online marketing since he could use a computer.
He loves to travel and network, and is one of the most enthusiastic and positive people you will meet! If you ask him really nicely then he might share with you some of his marketing secrets 😉
Micayla (MICA) Dennis
WEB DESIGN & DEV
Meet Mica, a passionate traveler, who has been traveling full time for almost 10 years!
Mica is DNA’s lead Website Designer and Developer. Inspired by the nomadic spirit, she not only keeps DNA’s website and booking portal up to date with the latest offerings; but aims to create digital experiences that aim to reflect the essence of DNAs vision while connecting with audiences all around the world.
Rich Jay
SALES & FACILITATION
A free-spirited traveller from Australia with heaps of business and travel experience, Rich is part of our sales team and also facilitates many of our tours as a Level-Up coach.
Having spent many years exploring the world and working as a digital nomad, Rich is the perfect person to deliver our Success Blueprint, sharing his experiences in travel and business, and bringing to life the personal and professional development sessions that enhance your tour.
Seth Ward
Marketing Strategist
Seth really got the travel bug back in 1999 when he first visited Thailand – including Koh Phangan for the New Year’s Eve millennium party – followed by an extended trip around Australia in an Old Ford Falcon.
Since then he’s been a nomad on and off for nearly 25 years and it’s fair to say he’s seen his fair share of Digital Nomad Adventures.
Now he’s joined DNA to help us spread the bug to others.
Joshi Callaert
Google Ads Manager
Joshi isn’t just a Google Ads Expert; she’s a seasoned marketing consultant with a proven track record at Google.
Leveraging her in-depth knowledge, Joshi will unveil the secrets to crafting the perfect campaign strategy for your business.
DNA VALUES
At Digital Nomad Adventures, there are four foundational beliefs that drive every endeavour:
Connection: One world, one people. We think borders are stupid, but as they still “exist” and we are blessed with passports that allow us to cross some of them borders, we should make the most of this and where possible use this advantage to better the lives of others who are less fortunate.
Compassion is the key to connection and when the whole world feels a connection wars, inequality and injustice will be unthinkable.
Equality: We believe that all people deserve a chance to live the life of their dreams and that all are born equal. We believe in justice, compassion, unity, and using the power of travel and business to reduce the staggering equality gap which is one of (if not) the primary issues facing mankind today.
Freedom: We believe in challenging the status quo. Like borders, the self enforced rules of society are just ways of keeping people in their place and justifying the equality gap that keeps those in power in power. We don’t think they are doing a good job so we want to help create a new way which benefits all of humankind and not just the 0.1%. The first step is to help people be free so they can escape the matrix and understand what is really important.
Growth: We believe that all people have the potential and the ability to become great. With a growth mindset anyone can learn to excel at anything that is physically possible. Through study, practice, perseverance, learning from mistakes and adapting our approach we can all achieve great things, reach our goals and create organisations, art, movements, and technologies that will change the world.
Be Kind: To quote HH. Dalai Lama, “Be kind whenever possible, it is always possible.” And we couldn’t agree more.
And as the great Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” It’s this love and passion for digital nomadism and personal growth that fuels us.
BUSINESS FOR GOOD
Putting people and planet before profits.
We believe that it is not just important, but absolutely vital for businesses to start putting people and planet above profits. The outdated business mantra of shareholder wealth above all else has done too much harm to our planet and our fellow people already.
If we don’t all adopt a multi stake holder approach pretty damn soon, we might not have a planet left to do business on. Let alone one the next generation can continue to explore and enjoy.
Global inequality and climate change are the two biggest issues facing mankind right now and all people and businesses should be doing whatever they can to address them. For all of our sakes.
Besides that, it’s just nice to do good things and try and improve peoples lives. So, at DNA we have put doing good at the heart of our business.
Some examples include:
- Pledging 1% of our revenue to people & planet
- Being Carbon negative: We measure how much CO2 each of our trips produce and we offset by planting trees and donating to regeneration and renewable energy projects.
- Maximising the amount of money that stays with the communities we travel in (minimising tourism leakage).
- Employing local guides and ops staff.
- Supporting good causes wherever we can – including the Myanmar School in Koh Phangan
- We look after our staff, suppliers and customers as well as we possibly can.
- Donating 10% of our annual profits to fight inequality
What We Offer
ISLAND PASSES
CO-WORK & CO-LIVE
Come and Co-work / Co-live in Koh Phangan, Thailand alongside our Digital Nomad Community – our passes include activities & more!
Available ALL YEAR
Beach meets
NETWORKING EVENTS
The ultimate networking event in Koh Phangan, Thailand – this is a non-conference for growing your network in paradise.
17th – 21st December 2024
NOMAD ADVENTUREs
TRAVEL THAILAND
Transformational group adventure tours for Aspiring and Established nomads & entrepreneurs. Travel South Thailand & Level Up.
3rd – 22nd December
Ask us a Question
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