If you are like me and love seeing the world, experiencing new culture and rather than actually doing that, you end up wanting to spend copious amounts of time underground then an international expedition is the trip for you.
It all sounds fun and all but as I learned on my expedition with Speleo club ‘Z’ in 2026, it’s a lot of trust your placing on an unknown entity and this can lead to disaster. My own experience saw a group leader with no concern for our safety and well being, only focused on his own wants and made it a truly miserable experience resulting in the majority of the group leaving the expedition early. Luckily for me, I had a wonderful travel partner and made a further amazing friend and together with two other wonderful expedition members, we made a dramatic escape back across the Laos boarder into Thailand where we had a fantastic time caving thanks to the wonderful John Spies and Fred Vishnevsky at the Cave Lodge in Ban Tham Lod.
So what were my learnings from this experience? Well let me share where I went wrong and what I would do next time. As this was my first international experience this is by no means advice from a seasoned professional but for those who are in the position I was, hopefully this will help you avoid the same experience I had.
location
Location of an expedition is important. Some places are hostile to LGBTQ+, Medical access can be limited, laws around medication allowed into the country can be restrictive , most expeditions take place in the middle of nowhere with limited facilities and some countries have very different political landscapes to ours with very different laws as I found in Laos. Now these differences are what make travel exciting but it can be a bit scary especially when dealing with local law enforcement. Research where your going and if it is safe for you and are you prepared for the environments you may be encountering.
who are you going with?
This is where I ran into trouble. I placed a lot of trust in a leader who’s credentials I had not fully verified. As part of my due diligence, I did what any seasoned investigator would do and went to google. There were a couple of published articles in reputable caving publications, there was a website although it was very out of date and advertisements for the expeditions were published on reputable caving groups on social media. So what could go wrong, right?
Well let me tell you, the expedition I experienced were very different to what was sold to me and it transpired that the expedition leader had quite the reputation for his atrocious behaviours within the international community, especially in Europe. So how did I not find this out?
talk to past expedition members
I never thought that it could be a good idea to speak to previous expedition members. This is a wealth of information as to what the expedition was truly like so ask. That isn’t to say that you will definitely get an impartial and honest review but if the expedition leader is cagey about letting you chat with previous members then that there is a massive red flag.
pushing sales
Expeditions are expensive so it’s understandable that there will be a certain level of chasing up money. The red flags for me were the extra sales pitches which came with having signed up but I am too polite to decline things such as magazines, equipment and so on. Talk with the expedition leader to ensure there are not hidden costs and don’t be afraid to challenge where your money is going, ask for a breakdown of where your money is being spent. One would hope that costings will have been done well in advance and so it should be easy enough to have a breakdown of where your funds are going.
insurance
Even with all the research in the world and all the preparation in the world, things can still go wrong. Make sure you have a good insurance policy which covers travel, gear and the sport itself. Thankfully I had insurance and so had the option to try and reclaim my losses caused by leaving the expedition. It just adds peace of mind.
conclusion
Now this all may sound very doom and gloom which it felt like my first expedition was at the time. It makes for an entertaining story now but one bad leader should not taint the world of international expeditions. Many are run around the world in exciting locations with wonderful teams and leaders where exciting new discoveries are made. Don’t be afraid to get involved but learn from my mistakes and hopefully you will have a much better experience than I did. Do your research, trust your gut and have fun!
Happy exploring folks!