By Michael Martin

Beverly Hills, Calif. August 6, 2011-- In an age of longer work hours and social media that has made a once fabulous trip to Paris or Rio look rather ordinary, more and more U.S. clients are forsaking their Expedia and Priceline for boutique travel specialists that offer bespoke travel planning beyond the reach of your home-based operation.

In Switzerland, Babel Travel's website claims of "speaking the language of the adventure traveler." The company specializes in small-group adventures of no more than a dozen people per trip to destinations in Africa, Middle East and Asia. A staunch supporter of sustainable travel, Babel organizes most trips around local guides and traditional if not altogether five-star lodgings for fully inclusive travel arrangements divided into safety and comfort categories -- going around geo-political dangers and ranging from cutting-edge and bare-bones to more comfortable if not quite luxurious. Most trips average between a week to two weeks in length.

The man behind Babel Travel is Kevin Pollard, a lifelong backpacker, adventure guide and one-time DJ who started the company in 2008. Trips are offered in four languages, including English, French, German and Italian -- ideal for those looking for a life-changing, out-of-the-ordinary adventure that can vary between quiver-in-your-boots dangerous to spiritually inspiring. Recently, the company even teamed up with author Robert Young Pelton, of The World's Most Dangerous Places, who operates a website aptly called Comebackalive.com.

Babel itineraries include the Eternal North Korea, which takes between four and a dozen guests into the Communist capital of Pyongyang to see Kim Il Sung Square, Martyr's Cemetery and the Arch of Triumph before traveling to the south to visit the Tomb of King Kongmin. Communism too tame? More adventurous types can explore Iraq and the ruins of Babylon as well as the holy cities and Kurdish north with an intensive exploration before and after Baghdad. Still too tame? The independent republic of Somalia is at your service, with a firsthand account of Hargeysa from the Somaliland president as well as a visit to the fighter jet crash site that inspired the 2001 film Black Hawk Down. Danger, however is not as cheap as you'd expect; trips range from $7,000 to $25,000.

Source: (MainStreet)

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