Brown Gal Trekker & Equity Global Treks

Brown Gal Trekker & Equity Global Treks BGT promotes equity and inclusion, solo trekking/traveling, off the beaten paths globally and the decolonization of the tourism industry.

Filipina American, Former Human Rights Lawyer, Global Nomad | Award-Winning Founder of Brown Gal Trekker, Equity Global Treks & The Porter Voice Collective | Championing Workforce & Gender Equity in Travel - JOIN OUR TRIPS Brown Gal Trekker is travel site with a focus on creating innovative treks and adventure tours for solo travelers, promoting community led tourism in mountain regions, leadership of women and members of indigenous communities in a male-dominated western-centric trekking tourism industry. BGT, in partnership with non profit organization, The Porter Voice Collective, aims to create workforce equity tourism to elevate the workers and indigenous rights of porters in Peru, Nepal and Tanzania. BGT as a person is a former human rights lawyer from Washington DC who fell in love with the mountains, prompting her decision to leave her 15 year long legal career to live as a full-time global mountain nomad in 2017 while designing treks in partnership with local communities worldwide.

09/19/2026

Working on making the 30 day Mustang English and Himalayan Culture Program happen.

I hope you'll join us in 2027!

🌏 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN! 🇲🇳✨ Khusvegi–Altai English & Nomadic Culture Camp 2027 ✨📍 Altai, Mongolia | June 2027We’re ...
09/17/2026

🌏 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN! 🇲🇳

✨ Khusvegi–Altai English & Nomadic Culture Camp 2027 ✨

📍 Altai, Mongolia | June 2027

We’re excited to officially announce the return of the Khusvegi–Altai English & Nomadic Culture Camp — a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience Mongolia not simply as a traveler, but through meaningful connection with a nomadic community. 🐎🏔️

Spend time in Altai, surrounded by Mongolia’s spectacular mountains and steppe, while learning, sharing, and connecting with local families and young people.

At the heart of the camp is English language learning through cultural exchange — alongside an immersive introduction to everyday nomadic life.

🌿 What you’ll experience:
• Teach and practice English with local children and youth
• Stay and connect with a Mongolian nomadic community
• Experience traditional nomadic culture and daily life
• Learn about local traditions, food, stories, and customs
• Explore the spectacular landscapes of the Altai region
• Participate in cultural activities and community experiences
• Build friendships and connections across cultures
• Step away from conventional tourism and experience Mongolia from the inside

This is not a conventional volunteer trip or tourist program. It is an opportunity for genuine cultural exchange — where learning goes both ways. ❤️

Whether you’re an educator, traveler, student, professional, retiree, or simply someone who wants to experience Mongolia differently, you’re invited.

🐎 June 2027 | Altai, Mongolia
📣 Applications are now Open! Go here: https://www.browngaltrekker.com/mongolia/khusvegicamp

Spaces will be limited to keep the experience intimate and community-centered.

👉 Apply now and join us in Mongolia in June 2027!

Come for the mountains.
Stay for the community.
Leave with a deeper connection to Mongolia. 🇲🇳❤️

09/16/2026

Good morning from Mustang. Check out my office view. Windowless and wall less. This is why I don't miss being a lawyer.

09/15/2026

A meaningful day back in Jomsom, Mustang in Nepal.

Today I had the opportunity to join three English classes at a local public school, working with students ranging from about 10 to 17 years old. With around 500 students from different communities and regions, this school is an important part of life here in Mustang.

I’m here not only to teach, but to listen and learn — to understand the students’ abilities, their learning styles, the teachers’ needs, and what could make an English program truly meaningful for this community.

And I’m seeing so much potential.

When I shared the idea of bringing fluent English-speaking volunteer teachers from around the world to spend 30 days teaching alongside the local teachers, the students’ eyes lit up. They were excited about the opportunity to learn English, meet people from different cultures, and build confidence.

But this program is about more than teaching students. It’s about uplifting an entire community — supporting local teachers through collaboration and new teaching techniques, creating meaningful cultural exchange, and giving volunteers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the incredible communities, culture, and landscapes of Mustang.

Just like our work in Mongolia, we’re building a program where 30 days of volunteering can create an impact that continues long after the volunteers leave.

So, we're getting to work now — listening, learning, building relationships, and designing a program that truly responds to what this community needs.
And in 2027, we want YOU to be part of it.

Come spend 30 days in the Himalayas. Teach. Learn. Explore. Connect. Experience Mustang from within. And together, let’s create something that uplifts an entire community.

Mustang 2027 — stay tuned.

09/13/2026

Finally, I’m back in Old Jomsom — a place that holds so many wonderful memories for me.

This time, I’m here for something especially meaningful: organizing an English program for children at a local public school and spending time with the young people in this beautiful community.
It has been such a joy to return and reconnect with familiar faces. I was especially touched to meet my host family. They had thoughtfully prepared my room for my arrival and, as always, welcomed me with such incredible kindness and hospitality. Their warmth makes being back feel a little like coming home.

There is something truly special about returning to a place that has been part of your journey and seeing it again with new eyes. The mountains, the people, the memories — and now the opportunity to give something back.

I’m so joyful to be here again and grateful for the chance to spend these days learning, sharing, and connecting with the children and community of Jomsom.

Some places stay in your heart long after you leave. Jomsom is one of those places for me. I hope you join us when we launch our English program next year.

Wearing this Himalayan Women Trail Leaders cap means so much more than wearing a logo.For me, it represents a journey, a...
09/13/2026

Wearing this Himalayan Women Trail Leaders cap means so much more than wearing a logo.

For me, it represents a journey, a purpose, and the legacy I am working to leave behind — a mountain tourism industry where women are seen, heard, respected, and given the same opportunities to lead, grow, and thrive.

HWTL is about creating pathways for women to step into leadership and helping shift the culture of an industry that has traditionally been dominated by men.

As I wear this cap, I’m reminded that the work is bigger than any one training, program, or individual. It is about creating lasting change — opening doors, challenging old norms, building confidence, and making sure the women who come after us have more opportunities than we did.

This is the legacy I want to leave: a more inclusive and equitable mountain tourism industry, where gender is never a barrier to leadership.

Proud to wear HWTL. Proud to be part of the change. And committed to leaving the mountains a little more equitable than I found them.

I'm off to the Himalayas...of course. Until the next HWTL Women Leadership and Guide Training, I'll be doing my thing as Brown Gal Trekker... Being that change I want to see.

Learn more at www.theportervoicecollective.org

09/12/2026

I'm on my 2nd month in Nepal. The Himalayan Women Trail Leaders Women Leadership and Guide Training in Kathmandu was a success. I'm off to Lower Mustang for the Himalayas and researching our first English program in the Himalayas! The road is closed towards Pokhara due to landslides so I'm flying.

No matter how busy it gets, I still love my global nomsdic life, creating changes in the tourism industry.

And someone at the airport just spotted me as Brown Gal Trekker. Hi again to you! Thank you for being here.

09/11/2026

Nine days of learning. Nine days of leadership. Nine days of women building the skills and confidence to lead on the trails. The 2nd edition of the Himalayan Women Trail Leaders (HWTL) Women Leadership & Guide Training was a success.

And before I move onto the next program I'm running in Mustang region of Nepal, I want to say -

Thank you. In 2024, they said I was crazy to think I can find female trekking guides to walk over 100 days on the Great Himalaya Trail. Now HWTL has 35 female trekking guide members! I always say that the women are the future of Nepal's mountain tourism- they are here!

My heart is full of love and appreciation as the founder of The Porter Voice Collective. This is the gift of grassroots work.

As we close our second HWTL training, we are filled with gratitude for everyone who helped make these nine days possible.

This year’s training was an important step forward — expanding from our three-day pilot into a comprehensive nine-day program that combined leadership development with practical skills in Maps & Navigation, First Aid, communication, and trail leadership.
But the impact of this training goes beyond the curriculum. It is about creating opportunities, building networks, sharing knowledge, and supporting more women to take their place as leaders in Nepal’s trekking and tourism industry.

We are deeply grateful to our sponsors and supporters whose commitment made this program possible:
Crooked Trails Community Grant
Royal Mountain Travel- Nepal
Community Homestay Network
Traditional Comfort - A Boutique Hotel
Pema Treks
Map House
Brown Gal Trekker & Equity Global Treks

And to our wonderful speakers, thank you for sharing your knowledge, experiences, and perspectives with our participants:
Aayusha Prasain
Ujjwala Bajracharya
Ganga Devi Hayanju

And to Nepal ILO (UN) for their presentation on SSF - an important part of investing for the safety of guides.

A very special thank you to our keynote speaker, Lakpa Phuti Sherpa, for sharing her journey, leadership, and hard-earned wisdom with the next generation of women trail leaders. Her story is a powerful reminder of what is possible when women are given the opportunity to lead.

And of course, to our partner instructors - KEEP(Kathmandu Environmental Education Project), Prem Gurung and Birkram Karki.

A big thanks to our Monitoring and Evaluation team, volunteers & board members at PVC.

Finally, thank you to our HWTL Leadership team: Mingmar Dolma Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa & Binisha Shakya. It was an honor to learn & work with you!

To our supporters, partners, speakers, trainers, and everyone who believes in the potential of these women: thank you for walking this trail with us.

We are proud of what this community is building — and even more excited about where the trail leads next. It takes a global community to create the HWTL community.

The journey continues. The women are ready to lead.

- Marinel, PVC Founder

It’s been a BUSY 9 days!I’ve been running our Himalayan Women Trail Leaders training almost nonstop — early mornings, lo...
09/07/2026

It’s been a BUSY 9 days!

I’ve been running our Himalayan Women Trail Leaders training almost nonstop — early mornings, long days, logistics, teaching, troubleshooting, and everything in between. And today is our LAST DAY!
But these aren’t just women completing a training program. These are the women who lead our treks in Nepal.

Over the past 9 days, they’ve been strengthening the skills they need to lead confidently and safely on the trails — from leadership and communication to maps & navigation and first aid, along with storytelling, client management, community leadership and more.

As a trekker myself, I know how much trust we place in the people who lead us into the mountains. These women are the ones who will be out there — navigating the trails, managing challenges, caring for their clients, sharing their stories and helping trekkers experience Nepal.
So yes, I’m exhausted after these
9 days. But I’m also incredibly proud.

One last day. Then these women get to take what they’ve learned back onto the trails.
And I can’t wait to see where they lead.

Learn more about our women led treks in Nepal: https://www.browngaltrekker.com/nepal

Congratulations to our new Himalayan Women Trail Leaders
09/04/2026

Congratulations to our new Himalayan Women Trail Leaders

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