Intrepid Travel has called up four of the AFLW’s best-known names for a campaign that takes women’s sport off the oval and into the Himalayas while putting the spotlight firmly on the women who make adventure travel happen.
North Melbourne stars Ash Riddell and Jasmine Garner, Collingwood captain Ruby Schleicher and Carlton stalwart Darcy Vescio travelled through Nepal on a special Intrepid Travel Women’s Expedition, joined by local leaders, assistant guides and an all-female porter team known as the “Sisters”.
The four-player line-up and their Nepal journey have been independently confirmed, with the campaign arriving as the 2026 AFLW season prepares to get underway.
Created with the AFL Players’ Association, North Melbourne Football Club and Purpose Impact Agency, the collaboration is a neat piece of marketing footwork: elite athletes swap boots for trekking shoes while Intrepid makes a broader play for a rapidly expanding part of the adventure market.
And the numbers suggest this is rather more than a clever marketing kick.
Women’s travel growth adds muscle to campaign
Intrepid says its Women’s Expeditions range grew 32 per cent in 2025, while 77 per cent of travellers joined solo.
Those figures are significant. They suggest that women-only adventure travel is increasingly driven not just by where travellers want to go, but also by how they want to travel with confidence, companionship and a sense of community.
In March 2026, Intrepid expanded its Women’s Expeditions collection with new itineraries in Peru, Cambodia and Bhutan. The trips range from eight to 11 days and include women-led activities and support for women-owned businesses.
For the Nepal campaign, however, the headline footballers are only half the story.
The central message is that confidence and leadership are not confined to stadiums, corporate boardrooms or highlight reels. They can be found just as readily on mountain trails and in local communities, particularly among the women whose experience and practical knowledge keep journeys moving.
That dovetails neatly with Intrepid’s “The Difference is Who” brand platform, which puts local leaders and human connection at the centre of the travel experience.
In Nepal, that means the sporting stars share the spotlight with the women guiding, supporting and shaping the expedition.
Yvette Thompson, General Manager, Intrepid Travel ANZ, said:
“Women’s sport and women’s travel are both about creating opportunities, building confidence and challenging what’s possible. This campaign celebrates the remarkable women at the heart of every Intrepid journey from the AFLW athletes experiencing Nepal for the first time to our local leaders, guides and porters whose stories, knowledge and warmth made the trip unforgettable.”
The comparison is hardly a Himalayan leap.
Both elite sport and serious adventure travel require people to venture beyond the familiar, trust those around them and keep moving when the easier option might be to stop.
One generally comes with a scoreboard. The other may involve a steep track and a teahouse that remains stubbornly somewhere over the next ridge.
AFLW influence stretches beyond the boundary
Michael Jamison, General Manager Communications & Commercial at the AFL Players’ Association, said the collaboration reflected the broader influence AFLW players can have beyond football. His name and position are confirmed by the Association.
“Our players are passionate about using their platform to inspire others and challenge societal norms, and this campaign is a wonderful example of that. Bringing together athletes from across the W competition to experience Nepal alongside the incredible women who guide and support Intrepid’s Women’s Expeditions reflects the values of leadership, resilience and connection that are at the heart of our game.”
For North Melbourne, the project also extends an established commercial relationship with Intrepid.
The travel company will remain a Platinum Partner of North Melbourne’s AFL side and co-major partner of its AFLW team for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. It is also the club’s official travel and experiences partner.
Orry Lack, Chief Commercial Officer at North Melbourne Football Club, said:
“We’re proud to partner with Intrepid on initiatives that go beyond traditional sponsorship. This campaign showcases the positive influence our players can have off the field while highlighting the power of travel to build confidence, broaden perspectives and create lasting connections. It was clear that a genuine bond formed between the players and their Intrepid leaders.”
Left-to-right: Jasmine Garner, Ritu Tamang, Ash Riddell, Ruby Schleicher, Keshu Sherpa, Darcy Vescio.
A bigger opportunity for the travel industry
There is a broader commercial message here for travel advisors and tour operators.
Women-only travel has moved well beyond novelty territory. Intrepid’s 2025 growth figures and high proportion of solo customers indicate a market built around much more than destination choice.
Confidence matters. So does companionship. Local leadership matters enormously.
That gives travel advisors another dimension to sell.
The destination remains important, naturally. Nepal hardly needs assistance in the scenery department. Yet who leads the trip, who travellers meet and what sort of community develops along the way can be every bit as influential in the buying decision.
It also strengthens Intrepid’s positioning around locally led travel. The company says it operates more than 900 trips and maintains its own network of country offices in 32 countries, giving the brand considerable local infrastructure to back its marketing message.
The Nepal campaign understands the distinction rather well.
Yes, four AFLW stars bring profile, personality and sporting clout.
But the point of difference is deliberately local: the leaders, guides and porters whose expertise turns a spectacular landscape into something more meaningful than a collection of Instagram-worthy mountain views.
For a campaign involving footballers, that may be the smartest handball of all.
By: Soo James – © 2026.
Read Time: 4 minutes.
Author Bio:
There’s nothing rehearsed about Soo James, and that’s precisely the point. Malaysian by heritage, Sydney-schooled, she arrived at UNSW to study Arts, then took a left turn into IT, not out of ambition but out of curiosity. Somewhere among systems and schedules, she worked out what really held her attention: people, language, and the quiet spaces between them.
Writing followed naturally. Travel and lifestyle gave her room to observe, to listen, to notice the details others rush past. Soo writes the way good travellers move, watching the room before admiring the view, catching the gesture before chasing the headline.
At Global Travel Media, her stories don’t shout or sell. They linger. They slow you down, open a door, and gently suggest there’s more to see if you’re willing to look.
