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You don't have to be a tourist

The LINK
December 1, 2006

Beyond Boundaries, Colorado Springs, CO, offers a huge range of travel options from bike tours in Holland to white water rafting in Costa Rica. Their forte, however, are their all-inclusive theme tours which take in such topics as Harry Potter, Leonardo Da Vinci, Pirates and science fiction, among many others.

"There is a lot of research that goes into our tours, we are very passionate about this," said Jeannie Barresi, tour coordinator. "They are based in the history and culture of the people, and because we are all life-long learners here, we love to immerse travelers in these themes."

For example, with the Pirate Tour, the tourists travel to California to sail on a real ship with some of the experts in their field. They won't get a romanticized view of the pirates, but they will learn about the context that created them, such as the horrible conditions on the Merchant ships the men had previously sailed on. Or they will learn how the pirates were one of the first groups to give their members a disability plan: All of those who suffered a serious injury in battle would receive more food or a bigger share of the loot! Not only will the tourists learn about pirate history, they will also eat from the same type of plates and experience the same kind of food that the pirates ate.

Beyond Boundaries also takes great pride in their location-based guides, who are credible speakers and experts in their respective fields. For example, with the English Literature Tour, a native Welsh speaker weaves spellbinding tales of ancient legends that simply cannot be found in books. The agency's Harry Potter tour has won several awards from several sources for being the best in its class.