THE BEGINNING

I was asked the question … “Donna, If money were no object and you could do anything at all, what would it be?”

I replied jokingly ….. “Well, I’d have a cuppa and conversation with women all around the world, right! … I love hearing people’s stories and immersing myself in culture.  I love authentic connection, it’s lacking in society. Maybe I could take people with me”, I laughed.

“So why can’t you?” she said ...

I chuckled away and left that thought aside, for nearly 2 years.

I started thinking about alternative ways to earn an income, because being stuck in an office 9-5 was certainly no longer for me.

Even with my qualifications and having completed a 6 week writing contract with my university, I realised quickly that although doing something that came so easily, I no longer enjoyed an indoor office environment.

So, jump back to 2015 for a moment ... I had prepared a presentation for my children’s primary school, to go in and speak to the Year 6/7’s about “What it means to be a Global Citizen”.  

I absolutely LOVED presenting on that topic.  I got to use my international relations knowledge, my journo skills presenting and I got to share my real life experiences overseas.

So here I was, 2018, sitting at my laptop. I decided to revive that idea, to create a business around speaking in schools about global citizenship—especially as it’s currently an element of the curriculum.  

I began preparing the content.

Something was missing.  It just wasn’t feeling right.  The excitement I had when I first prepared the slides, just wasn’t there.  I love the topic, I love educating, I love preparing the information and doing further research, but ….

AH ….. TRAVEL!

This business idea kept me local, it didn’t include overseas travel—a bug that I am happy to say I found on my first trip to Europe in my early twenties, one that has thrived within me every journey since.  

All of a sudden, inspiration just came over me. I truly felt guided, ideas just came flowing, as is from another source. I typed everything out as quickly as my fingertips would move across the keyboard.

I felt TRULY ALIVE at the thought of what was developing on the page.

Right throughout my university journey, friends often said “How cool would it be to do what you’re doing … I wish I could come on those trips, visit those places!  You do such interesting things, you’re always learning”

So maybe I COULD actually have that cuppa and conversation with women all around the world, …. AND take more women with me!

And so the idea developed …. Enhancing global citizenship via intercultural communication! Bringing women together to speak about each other’s lives, cultures, faiths, education opportunities, hopes and dreams.  Discussing social, political, environmental and food sustainability issues. Exploring and understanding a country and its people on a much deeper level. Creating organic international connections, allowing women all over the world to be heard, rising the sisterhood!

Intercultural Insights was chosen as my business name, but that has been crafted into what is now The Ethical Road.

Immersive Travel - The Path to Global Citizenship

Intercultural Insights – The Key to Change

Everything just feels right.  The need for this right now. My level of interest and passion. The flexibility.  The opportunity that it creates for both those joining me on the road and for the women in each host country to be heard, in their own voice, not via a skew media representation.

Whilst there is much inequality in the world, The Ethical Road is not acting from a capacity of voluntourism, we are not working in orphanages, or collecting rubbish from beaches, we are hearing people’s stories, engaging as equals and yes, offering a hand up by means of donation to several educational foundations, but also by means of sharing their messages back here in Australia.  

Indonesia is our closest neighbor and yet what do we know about the archipelago? How many people know the names of the 5 largest islands? …Papua Island (western New Guinea), Sumatra, Kalimantan (Borneo), Java & Sulawesi. In fact The Republic of Indonesia is comprised of more than 17,000 islands! Much of the media portrayal we receive about Indonesia is simply that it is a Muslim majority country, however Bali, the island that we will be venturing to first, is in fact nearly 90% Hindu!

Should we not know a little more about our neighbours, should we not talk to them and build friendships with them?

Just in Bali alone there are so many issues that are of concern to the islanders, water pollution being at the top of the list.  

The island is running on an economy fueled by over 85% tourism, what happens when ‘we’ all leave and go somewhere else? What’s more, what is the impact of such a high level of tourism?

My intention is to explore these issues and create awareness, create networks to assist each other. The Balinese have much knowledge that they can teach us, and we in return have knowledge in relation to infrastructure and systems that could aid them.

The Ethical Road hopes to dive deeply into many elements of culture, land, and communication with the dual intention of assisting women in becoming true global citizens, by immersing themselves in other countries and cultures … as well as creating genuine, strong international friendships.  

My overarching intention is to create more peace and security in this world, one ethical journey at a time.  

MY VISION

My vision is for intercultural communication and global citizenship to become household conversations in the western world, particularly initially in Australia, and hopefully in part, due to The Ethical Road’s impact.  My vision is for The Ethical Road to expand to include many countries worldwide.
The Ethical Road will be facilitating international friendship opportunities, deeper intercultural understanding; which includes knowledge of human rights issues, local societal issues, food and environmental sustainability knowledge as well as faith and culture discussions and a taste of language.  I see women creating strong international bonds, sharing each other’s stories and breaking down intercultural misunderstandings and stereotypes, ultimately creating more peace, stability and understanding in the world.

MY MISSION

My mission is to create more peace and understanding, globally, by bringing women’s voices into service as the key to change. The Ethical Road will achieve this by allowing women to connect organically,
inter-culturally. The Ethical Road will be facilitating intercultural communication and global citizenship, by immersion, by taking people to ‘the source’. Instead of receiving filtered realities by the media, The Ethical Road will be allowing women to experience for themselves, the voices of other women, to have a taste of their culture by being on the ground in the host country and to hear directly from local advocates on important local issues. The Ethical Road’s mission is also to provide a space for critical thinkers’ personal growth and for the development of deeper wisdom. The Ethical Road journey’s will immerse lifelong learners in unique, life changing ethical travel experiences, which provide the opportunity for new or expanded ideas to be integrated into their lives and belief systems.

Proudly a MEMBER &/OR AFFILIATe of:

SA Woman Australia – Member

Women in Media Association (WIMA) - Member

International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) - Member

Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) - Member

Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) - Member

International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) - Member - *currently donating to/supporting IWDA

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA)

YWCA
UN Women
BPW Australia
Business SA
Smart Chicks (Entrepreneurial Business Women)

The message behind the name and the logo

‘The Ethical Road’ is written in my handwriting to represent my connectedness to my concept, and the green leaves depict hope, renewal, revival & growth.

The leaves I designed are from the Banyan tree, represented on Indonesia’s national emblem. As Indonesia is The Ethical Road’s first destination, I thought it fitting to make that link.

Leaves in general are a symbol of growth. The upturned leaf at the top of the stem represents ‘turning over a new leaf’ - acting or behaving in a more responsible way. The heart shaped leaf represents my heart-centered enterprise.

The way the leaves are laid out, with the stem leading off from the word ‘Road’, to me suggests that The Ethical Road is an organic, sustainable path to follow or explore.

Ethical: ‘Relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these’ … ‘someone who is honest and follows good moral standards’. Derived from the Greek word 'ethos’ ‘moral character’ and describes a person or behaviour as right in the moral sense - truthful, fair and honest.

Road: There is the noun ‘a wide way leading from one place to another’, but I focused more on the latter: ‘A series of events or a course of action that will lead to a particular outcome’ and ‘a particular course or direction taken or followed’.