Our story…
Why Forest Bathing Finder?
My Mom became a Certified Forest Bathing Guide in January, 2018. When she received her certification she wanted a website so that people could learn more about Forest Bathing, read about her walks and register and pay for them online. SO…she enlisted my help and we set out to develop a fully operational website for her that included everything she wanted…her bio, her picture, a history and explanation of forest bathing…walk descriptions, payment processing, blogs, videos, photos of her walks, social media links, and a place for people to see lots of the books and videos that have been published in the field. She also had tons of folks asking her if they could do walks for different celebrations – like birthdays, retirement and even divorce parties – so she wanted to offer gift cards and coupon codes.
WHEW…that seemed like a ton to get done….but I saw her “passion for the practice” so we set off to make it happen! As it turns out her fully functional website, with all the bells and whistles, would cost around $3,500 (and this was a bargain because I had worked with the web team on a project in the past!). There were development costs, SEO charges, photo licensing expenses, etc…and on top of that she was paying $29.95 a month just for hosting and maintenance! When we launched her website so many of her fellow guides asked her to help them develop an online presence and they were all super excited to learn more about the process. It was obvious that all of the guides desperately wanted to get the word out about their own Forest Bathing services but they didn’t know….who to ask, what to ask for, and they definitely didn’t know what it was going to cost! My Mom was also getting tons of questions (via her contact page) from walkers all around the world asking if she knew anyone who provided walks in their areas or in the various locations where they were headed on vacation.
When my Mom started telling me about all of the inquiries she had received we began to share with as many guides as possible the best way to go about creating a platform for their services and get the word out about the magic of Forest Bathing. It was at this point that we started to hear from so many guides that the buildout felt like it would be too big of an undertaking for them and the expense to create a website was way out of their budget.
As a HUGE advocate of Forest Bathing, and the myriad of health benefits that accompany this practice, I felt very badly that so many guides were unable to properly showcase their services and spread the word, worldwide, about Forest Bathing. It was at that moment that I had, as Oprah would say, an AHA moment! I thought….what if we could develop a website so that guides and venues could easily, and inexpensively, create their own personal profile page, publicize their walks and allow visitors to easily sign up and pay for walks online. It was at this juncture that Forest Bathing Finder was born! I’m passionate about the benefits of Forest Bathing and I look forward to watching as this website spreads the word about its magic!
