Building community through inspiration
Our networking retreats revolve around the belief that exceptional experiences build an exceptional sense of community.
We’ve built canopy-level rope setups for mid-air conversations in Panamanian jungles, seen guests get hands on with rhino translocations in Kenya, and held firelit opening ceremonies with specially crafted iron firepits in the grounds of Scottish castles.
We base our activities around the interests and tastes of the community you’re looking to build, matching these with a particular destination. This could mean anything from buyouts of designer mountain lodges in Bhutan for private audiences with its spiritual leaders to a stay in a mobile luxury camp to monitor a pride of lions with top trackers.
Every detail is considered, with world experts brought in to add authority and insight to discussions. Itineraries are perfectly paced, with action-packed moments for bonding and inspiration carefully balanced with space for contemplation and discussion.
All media taken on Cookson Adventures trips
Clients working with Cookson Adventures aren’t passive observers. They become participants, often catalysts, in projects that change the world.
Historic expertise
From cocktail parties on pontoons floating among towering sea stacks off the Icelandic coast to elaborate lunch meetings deep within colourful Central American mangroves, we have the track record in truly innovative event planning. Our wealth of experience allows us to take grand, logistically complex concepts and bring them to life smoothly, with the utmost attention to detail.
Shared experiences
We know that collective involvement helps build tighter connections. That may be kayaking a barely charted river in Panama, as monkeys swing from the branches overhead. Learning to ice climb with colleagues alongside polar mountaineers. Or, joining a topic Nordic chef on a foraging mission in Norway, before transforming your discovered ingredients into a gourmet feast.
Remote environments
Flying over megaherds of migrating wildebeest in Tanzania, cutting holes in the ice to fish beneath the aurora borealis in Norway, discovering Roman shipwrecks in the Tyrrhenian Sea – nothing stimulates the imagination like the natural world. Our thought leadership retreats are designed to take you away from the comfort of familiarity and out into new worlds, challenging your senses and kickstarting inspiration.
Global contacts
With our world-spanning network of specialists and leaders in their fields, we can provide access that only comes with special expertise. Take telescopes to watch the night sky from atop a Nambian sand dune with a NASA observational astronomer explaining the constellations. Learn the finer points of teamwork at the highest level from Formula 1 performance directors. Discuss the subtle dynamics of familial gorilla troops with award-winning wildlife documentary makers. We’ll elevate your trip with world-leading experts.
Discussions outside the boardroom
So much of the time, connections are best made outside our usual four walls. Think sharing big ideas over lunch on an uninhabited island, networking in a rainforest canopy amongst chirping birdlife or swapping notes after riding quad bikes into the Namibian dunes to search for desert-adapted lions.
Access to private properties
From historic Patagonian cattle ranches to exclusive-use lodges on private islands, we have access to off-market properties, only open to an inner circle. Thanks to their constant research trips, our team can help you find the ideal setting for your retreat and provide expert insights in all regards: travel times to surrounding activities, local customs, and the best spot for sundowners. Beyond properties, we can also charter explorer yachts and build bespoke luxury camps to our clients’ exacting standards.
Experts in complex logistics
Orchestrating large-scale events with many moving parts requires creativity and granular attention to detail. Working to your precise specifications, we’ll arrange everything from heli logistics, unique activities and photographers down to the decorations and invites.
Immersive experiences
We’ve designed special theatrical events to immerse our clients’ in their destinations. That might be private, after-hours visits to Egyptian temples filled with actors in period dress, with guests following clues to lift an ancient curse. And, we’ve flown world-famous music groups into tropical islands for surprise parties, as well as hosted Traitors-style murder mysteries in historic castles.
A few of our different approaches
Building new communities
Connection through shared exploration
We create inspiring environments in which like-minded people with bold visions can come together, exchange ideas and establish new, lasting relationships. That might be assisting behind the scenes of an elephant translocation together before retiring to a private desert lodge. Taking quad bikes through Namibia to meet with the Himba tribe. Or, spending time together with gorillas in central Africa, before speaking in a remote jungle setup.
Teambuilding for groups
Deepening bonds
From family offices to wider business retreats, there’s an incredible camaraderie that comes from sharing adventures together. Once you’ve ridden motorbikes across the Sahara, spent the night in Icelandic aurora domes on a frozen lake, or witnessed ghostly white ‘spirit bears’ in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, you’ll create truly meaningful bonds. From top performance mindset coaches to polar explorers, we’ve worked with our clients to match them with speakers or experts that can help in the way that matters most to them.
Inspiration
To take back home
Summiting a Norwegian peak alongside ex-special forces. Keeping a rhino cool during a move on a private conservancy in Kenya. Or, taking part in candlelit ceremonies in a Bhutanese mountaintop temple. People are inspired by different circumstances – our trips find what works for your group, and deliver just that. That’s alongside time spent with the inspirational figures that make them happen.
Tailored to your organisation
Adapting to suit your needs
From a YPO chapter interested in polar yacht exploration and family offices looking to deepen their oratory skills with keynotes from world-class guest speakers, to succession planning where insider’s access to conservation programmes contributes to plans for family’s foundation funding. We’ll accommodate the needs of your organisation and create an experience that suits your requirements precisely.
Meaningful themes
Exploring with purpose
Our retreats have a strong sense of direction. That could be exploration – taking in the remote landscapes of Angola by 4×4 before bedding down in a riverside camp. Across the Pacific, that might be exploring the rich, seafaring Polynesian culture with nights on a private island. Or in Kenya, we’ve taken guests on a journey of sustainability, learning about the natural world through engaging with conservation programmes by day, then by night enjoying a themed party in the bush. If you have a something you’d like to explore for your retreat, we’ll accommodate this and plan both destination and activities around it.
