Nomadic Expeditions

Twenty years ago Jalsa Urubshurow, the Mongolian-American founder of Nomadic Expeditions, was asked by the Mongolian government to return home to develop tourism in the heart of the great empire of Genghis Khan—where, in 1923, the American Museum of Natural History sponsored the first motor-vehicle expedition to find the origins of man. What evolved is an unmatched collection of socially conscious experiences through which guests can not only explore one of the largest biospheres in the world with and alongside the nomadic herding population but also donate their own skills and funds. Whether teaching children of reindeer herders at a local boarding school to read classical sheet music or donating wheelchairs to the Gandan Monastery, Mongolia’s largest functioning Buddhist monastery, to distribute throughout the capital city, the sky is the limit for guests to give back.

New in 2013: In Search of the Snow Leopard (spring; average trip price, $6,000; 609-860-9008; nomadicexpeditions.com).