We were lucky to catch up with Angeline Taylor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Angeline, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

ACT3 Explorations all started from boredom during the 2020 season of COVID-9. My boyfriend and I were trying to come up with creative ways to get out of the house and get back to nature. We both love outdoor activities, such as hiking, kayaking, and camping, so it wasn’t much of a challenge to find local parks as a resident in the Northern VA area. During my search for a new park, I came across an activity called Hike and Wine, so I signed my partner and I up for it. We hiked a trail in the Appalachian mountains in Virginia and then had wine and lunch at a nearby winery. It was such a cute date idea and we had never done a mix of hiking and wine tasting before, it instantly had my wheels turning. I’m a firm believer that when I really enjoy something, but I feel that I could do it better, I love to take on that challenge. So I did. I started researching hiking trails in the Northern Virginia area that are near wineries, and realized that there were quite a few.
2021 was when I took my idea and transformed it to gather people who are interested in getting out of the city area, meeting and interacting with new people, while enjoying delicious wine and food. I created my LLC, ACT3 Angie’s Adventures. “ACT” is the initials of my name, and 3 was my jersey number for all the sports I played in high school. I have always used “Angie’s Adventures” for my travel blog and vlog on Youtube. Since then my travel blog website name went through many interactions, but I was consistent with putting out monthly newsletters that informed locals on travel and activities that are budget-friendly and unique. I’m all about finding the hidden gems in travel.
For my first event in June 2021, I teamed up with another travel-loving lady, Natasha, and we planned a Juneteenth Hike and Wine. I led the hike through Snicker’s Gap trail of over 20 people and then we had lunch and wine at the beautiful Veramar Vineyard. The event was such a success. The participants were already asking us when the next event will happen. While hiking, my brain started going again. I was thinking about how I would be able to manage a group of people on my own and what that would look like. How many people could I bring along on an “excursion”.
The beginning of 2022, I converted everything to Wix. Wix gave me the flexibility to have it all on my website: my travel blog, travel podcast, The Salad Toss, online store of all things travel, sell excursion tickets, and offer travel services.
I expanded my list of all the hiking trails that are near wineries or restaurants that specialize in wine in the Northern VA area. Next, I had visited the parks on my list and hiked them under the terrarian and possible skill level of the trails. Of course I had to do my “research” at the wineries as well, so that involved tasting the wines, of course, and scouting out the venue and connecting the event/sales manager.
I took it a step further and also researched locations to kayak. During our road trip to Kentucky, we went kayaking and that sparked my interest to bring that adventure to people who had never kayaked before. Last year, my family team were trained in kayaking and rescue techniques in order to lead a small group of people on the water. I also became CPR/AID certified.
For each excursion, I created a “passport” or a pamphlet the participants would hold on to throughout the event. The “passport” contains a map of the trail or kayak route, some kind of activity they can do while hiking, and their wine tasting guide.
At first I would outsource and go to Fedex to have the pamphlets printed. Then, I bought a Ecotank printer that in the long run would save me money by printing my own pamphlets and other paper-based materials.
Another element to my excursions is providing every participant with a little something for them to take home. It’s tradition for everyone to take home a souvenir wine glass that gives them a memento in remembrance of the unique experience they had. I enjoy creating customized stemless wine glasses using my Cricut machine and putting the name of the excursion on the wine glass.
The element of providing a take home item, also known as a “Freebie bag” was extended to local-based small business owners. In each Freebie bag I gave business owners the opportunity to have a sample of their products featured, such as a sample of shea butter, bar of soap, or tea light candle. I was able to help small businesses promote their business to potential customers within the DMV.
After the hike or kayaking trip, the interactive aspect of the excursion continues at the winery where we play some kind of trivia or do a “make and take” activity. Last October, for our Harvest Wine Party, all the participants did a Paint N’ Sip. They enjoyed wine while painting mini pumpkins to celebrate the Autumn season.
Setting Up
During my free time and in between working my full-time job, I do all the excursion prep work. From shopping for all the excursion supplies, ordering the lunch and picking them up the day before the excursion, designing and printing the “passports”, and packing the Freebie bags.
My dad and partner have been my helping hands during my excursions. My boyfriend helped bring up the rear on the hiking trail and made sure the backend of the group was okay while kayaking.
My dad stays back at the winery and sets up the tables with the table clothes, the lunches, and Freebie bags. My boyfriend helps bring life and energy to the excursions. He filled in the gaps when I needed help, but now I’m working to build a non-family team that can assist me with the prep and setup of my excursions.
2023
This year I have had 3 excursions and I’ve expanded outside of Virginia, over to Maryland. Again that starts with scouting out new trails, kayaking different rivers or lakes, and finding nearby wineries.
I’ve also just hired a volunteer who will help assist with the excursion preparation and setup. I’m still looking for volunteers to help lead excursions, hikes and kayaking trips.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Angeline Camille Taylor, hence the “ACT” in my business name, and I’m the sole owner of my small, black-owned business. Currently conducting my business during my free time as a full-time employee as a Pension Analyst. I started ACT3 Explorations to bring the joy I experience from traveling and doing outdoor activities, like hiking and kayaking, to my community. I’m originally from Willingboro, a small town in South Jersey. I grew-up in a household where we were always on the go with dance class, girl scout trips and activities, and sports practice and games. My parents showed me the importance of learning from experiences and independence.

My travel bug grew after my first international trip to Japan during the summer of my Junior year. I stayed for four different host families throughout Japan, while practicing my Japanese skills and experiencing the culture firsthand. Four years later, I moved to Japan to better my Japanese skills and travel through the country all while teaching English at the local elementary and middle schools. I was also able to travel to nearby Asian countries, such as Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines. My love for traveling grew more and more.

ACT3 Explorations aims at providing unique and adventurous outdoor excursions to people who are seeking budget-friendly activities within their local community in the DMV. I curate and host Hike and Wine excursions and Kayak and Wine excursions. Our excursions are all about fellowshipping with people in the community and building connections along the way, whether on the hiking trail or on the water kayaking. We provide a full experience much different than simply visiting a park or just sipping wine at a winery. It’s the bonds being formed, the connection back to nature, and the escape from a rough week of work. As a full-time worker, I understand the importance of having a release from the everyday hustle and bustle. Our excursions bring that. We do all the heavy lifting, we just want participants to just show up and have a great time.

We also curate private excursions for family and friend groups, as well as corporate teams for team building.

In addition, I have a travel blog and travel podcast called “The Salad Toss”, originally named by my host sister from Tokyo, where we discussed, in Japanese and English, various topics comparing America to Japan. It has morphed to more travel-related topics with guests, discussing topics such as balancing working full-time with travel.

On my website and at local vendor events, I sell handmade goods such as custom wine glasses, travel keepsake journals (made by my mom) and travel planning stickers.

I also provide Basic Casual Japanese learning sessions for those interested in learning the basic skills of speaking and listening Japanese. If you plan to travel to Japan or live in Japan, I provide custom planning materials, resources and ideas to make your trip to Japan seamless.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Facebook has been a very fruitful marketing tool for promoting my excursions. There are two avenues I usually take when it comes to acquiring new participants. First, I utilize the various groups I have become a part of that are travel-related or local groups within the DMV for young singles or small businesses. Pushing out digital flyers and previous excursion photos helps promote upcoming events. I have noticed when people can’t attend one event, but they are interested in learning more about upcoming events, they are more inclined to subscribe to my newsletter to stay connected.

The second avenue I take on Facebook is creating paid ads. Paid ads have been very helpful because I have learned who my target audience is through previous excursions I have conducted. By understanding not just my target audience, I can narrow down three individual types of participants who are more likely to purchase tickets. Based on this knowledge, I am able to curate my Facebook ads to be very specific to the type of people I need my ads to pop up on screens of the right people.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

My newsletter has been a great tool to stay connected with my subscribers, previous and upcoming participants, and clients. A monthly newsletter goes out that informs everyone of upcoming events, new blog articles, exclusive subscriber only events, new products, and more. Through the Spaces by Wix phone application, ACT3 Explorations has an app where we can send out push notifications directly to subscribers’ phones. It’s a quicker and easier way to send out real-time notifications and updates.

I am currently working on creating a loyalty program for excursion participants to accumulate points and earn rewards based on their attendance to our excursions. Our goal is to increase our return customers. We want for our participants to come back to more excursions and bring their friends and/or family members with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.act3explorations.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/act3explorations
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/act3explorations
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@act3angiesadventures