Our Story

More than a DMC, Living Roots is a family of like-minded people, passionate about Georgia and sharing its living culture through fascinating journeys. Founded by Ia Tabagari & John Wurdeman, Living Roots has been designing inspiring cultural, outdoor and culinary adventures for a decade. We offer immersion in local life along routes shrouded in splendid nature, through highlands & forests, ancient cave towns, remote villages & magnificent mountains. We celebrate the bounty of Georgia’s stunning natural diversity, traditions & people. We see the roots of inherited collective wisdom to be a springboard for inspiring creativity of how to enjoy the now.  Whether foraging in forests or dining on river banks, roaming the highlands by horseback, cooking in farming families or tasting vintages with the winemakers, we offer an experiential understanding of living traditions and their beauty. Our roots embrace culture, trekking, rural raw beauty and the most refined jewels of urban life, but all through the prism of how the mingling of cultures on this isthmus of land forged a culinary and wine tradition unlike any other on earth.

Georgia is our home and we are passionate about every corner of our country. We strive to introduce our guests to Georgia’s powerful living culture that embodies an extraordinary variety of people, traditions & places. We reveal the heart and soul of the world’s most ancient wine region that is rich in culture, cuisine, music & history.

We believe in making meaningful business and that tourism does have an extraordinary social impact. In order to make agriculture and regional tourism sustainable, the host has got to be able to make a profit. At the heart of what we do, we strive to reinforce what we think is so great about Georgian culture and people. By bringing travelers to the regions, we try to inspire locals to stay real & to share what they’ve inherited through their ancestors. We believe that improved social welfare and a strong village lies at the foundation of a free and independent country, we’d like to think that with our approach, we are contributing to building a brighter future for Georgia.