Explorer X
WORLDWIDE
Explorer X
Travel Designers
member since AUG 2026
Michael Bennett co-founded Explorer X with Jake Haupert in 2017, after a doctorate spent studying why travel changes people and how to make that change last.
Bennett has his own way of describing what the company stands for: "We're sort of the love-child of Anthony Bourdain, the irreverent yet savvy traveler, and Joseph Campbell, the wise and sage-like teacher."
Every Explorer X trip is designed around the people who already belong to a place: the guides, chefs, winemakers and local experts who know it better than any itinerary could. The company works exclusively through a small, trusted network of destination specialists, choosing slower routes over packed ones and depth over ground covered. It's a model built on the belief that travellers change most not by seeing more, but by seeing less, more closely, alongside someone who calls that place home.
In essence, they embrace the thoughts of Baba Dioum: “In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will only understand only what we (experience).”
Explorer X 4C Commitments
CONSERVATION
Explorer X partner with lodges, guides, and DMCs who actively protect the landscapes and wildlife their travellers experience, not just showcase them.
Slower itineraries mean smaller footprints: fewer stops, less rushing, and deeper respect for the natural places we visit.
COMMUNITY
Every year, Explorer X gives away a fully funded trip through its Hero Travel Fund, created for people who spend their lives looking after others and rarely get looked after themselves: teachers, caregivers, community organisers.
Their trusted, on-the-ground contacts connect travellers directly to the local neighbourhoods, families, and communities.
CULTURE
Every itinerary is anchored to local experts (e.g. a chef, a winemaker, a storyteller) rather than a list of sights, so travellers leave with a relationship and not just ‘Instagrammable’ photos.
Guides are chosen for how they live in a place, not just how well they can talk about it. This ensures that the local history and customs are preserved.
COMMERCE
Explorer X works only with independent local guides, small operators, and family-run partners, so a trip's economic impact stays inside the destination rather than passing through a head office.
Fewer, deeper trips instead of more, shallower ones: the company would rather send fewer travellers further into a place than spread the same budget thin across a checklist of stops.