Our Story
My Dad and I stood on top of a hill overlooking Machu Picchu, one of the most impressive views in the world… and shared a look of frustration. Why? Well our “five star” guide was reciting robotically from a barebones script. His monotone monologue robbed this ancient wonder of all of its magic! That’s just not what we had imagined when we planned a once-in-a-lifetime (and expensive!) visit to far-away Peru from our living room couch in Barrington, Rhode Island.
Right then and there, we decided that no one else should face that kind of frustration. This world is full of interesting stories, from the heroic tale of Sallie the Pitbull who protected her Civil War regiment in battle to the fishermen who insta-fried their catch in Yellowstone’s hot springs. My Dad and I are on a journey to discover all the stories our planet has to offer. Let’s explore together!
Our Mission
These are the adventures of a dad-daughter team…
Our continuing mission to explore the people, places, and things of our world. To seek out memorable stories and interesting tales. To share all that we discover.
Where are we now?
The day I saw a complete stranger listening to one of my tours, I felt a mix of pride and panic. Seeing my creation out in the world was thrilling… but would they like what I’d made?
The answer wasn’t always “yes”. Sometimes the tour wouldn’t work offline like it was supposed to. Or there wasn’t enough detail in a story. Or there was too much detail and it was boring!
But we persisted. With a lot of failed experiments, repeated testing, and hard work, our stories now average 4.73 / 5 stars. Over a million people have explored the world with us. And we still begin each morning by discussing every single review from the previous day, identifying what’s working and what isn’t.
Bit by bit, edit by edit, we get better and better.
Where are we now?
The day I saw a complete stranger listening to one of my tours, I felt a mix of pride and panic. Seeing my creation out in the world was thrilling… but would they like what I’d made?
The answer wasn’t always “yes”. Sometimes the tour wouldn’t work offline like it was supposed to. Or there wasn’t enough detail in a story. Or there was too much detail!
But we persisted. With a lot of failed experiments, repeated testing, and hard work, our stories now average 4.73 / 5 stars. Over a million people have explored the world with us. And we still begin each morning by discussing every single review from the previous day, identifying what’s working and what isn’t.
Bit by bit, edit by edit, we get better and better.
Ushma Shah – Founder
How did we get here?
Since we’re in Rhode Island, we didn’t have to look far for an interesting story — there was one practically in our backyard! The Newport Mansions were our first partners and we helped to tell their stories of the Gilded Age to over a million visitors per year.
From there, we kept searching for more stories — from the revolutionary tales along Boston’s Freedom Trail to the alien landscapes of Utah’s national parks.
We’ve explored 100 places since then, and our journey is just beginning.
How did we get here?
Since we’re in Rhode Island, we didn’t have to look far for an interesting story — there was one practically in our backyard! The Newport Mansions were our first partners and we helped to tell their stories of the Gilded Age to over a million visitors per year.
From there, we expanded to other historic homes, art institutes, and museums with stories to tell. But what about the stories we wanted to tell ourselves?
Our first experiment was with Boston’s Freedom Trail — a popular walking path through Revolutionary War sites — that we had taken many, many, many visiting friends and family to explore. With this one success under our belt, we set our sights on the rest of the world.
We’ve explored 100 places since then, and our journey is just beginning.
Our Mission
These are the adventures of a dad-daughter team…
Our continuing mission to explore the people, places, and things of our world. To seek out memorable stories and interesting tales. To share all that we discover.
Our Mission
Our Mission
These are the adventures of a dad-daughter team…
Our continuing mission to explore the people, places, and things of our world. To seek out memorable stories and interesting tales. To share all that we discover.
How it works
Made for travelers
We learned so much that we simply had never been taught at school (UK). The GPS helped guide us around (the red brick trail helped too) & the information provided was easy to digest in bite sized chunks. Being able to stop off midway for shopping & lunch meant the tour could fit in with the rest of our plans.
Jo-Anne Smithson, October 23, 2022
We used the Action Tour Guide app to tour Kauai. The app provide one of the best tours we have taken. We had a rental car so we could drive at our pace and take the suggested side trips and stop and hike or wade on the beach or shop, or eat and the app “waited” for us. We liked the interesting stories and facts that were shared.
Laura, September 06, 2022
Why our tours are highly rated!
