Reinventing Travel

What do we bring, and what do we leave behind?

When you think Italy, what images comes to mind? An espresso in Venice’s Piazza San Marco? A glass of wine in an impossible Cinque Terre restaurant, hanging over the sea? Or the Sicilian Cosa Nostra from the The Godfather?

To me, it is this scene in Panni, Puglia. A song near kid’s football field.

Now, let me explain.

When traveling, there comes a moment when you start seeing the nonsense. Do you really need to see a gothic cathedral number forty-seven? Or meet more backpackers in yet another hostel, while you’ve already befriended - and practically forgotten - a thousand others? Or burn gallons of jet fuel chasing spirituality across time zones? The absurdity and hypocrisy of you, a consumer of fake experience, all while masquerading as an alternative backpacker.

This is when you begin searching for a new format of travel, more satisfactory and meaningful. And I lived this moment, and have been on the quest ever since. For many roads, years, encounters, stories listened by the fire, notes on scraps of paper... How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? The definite answers are, obviously, blowin’ in the wind. But if you put a gun to my head and force me to hastily organize those scraps of paper, this is how I see it:

Mainstream travel has been defined along three axes: services (quality of which is the function of traveler’s budget), attractions, and activities.

My proposition is to reinvent and redefine travel, along these three dimensions: stories, values and connection.

1. Stories

We walk along the forest road: myself and two village boys. We notice an object - a small stone, colored and decorated by human hands. My friends stop: ‘We cannot go further. This road is blocked by magic, dangerous.’ Then they look at me: ‘But you can.’

I am confused: ‘How come you cannot go, but I can?’

They answer: ‘You are safe from magic. Because you don’t believe in it.’

Stories - that’s the nice-and-easy part. It is about curiosity, listening and understanding. I want to share some stories here on Nomadic Mind. I will take you to:

• People and their impossible stories

• Places you’ll likely never visit.

• Communities - the mind-blowing experience of connecting with those who think, talk and act differently

• Solo travel - Fear and courage, solitude and loneliness, the touch of the miraculous, and the beauty of silence

  

2. Values

The village had no school. Then the European volunteers came and built everything: the walls and the roof, the wooden desks and chairs. Meanwhile, the parents of the children, mostly unemployed, sat on their porches, drank ataya, and watched. The price of a single volunteer’s plane ticket was equivalent to five months’ wages for a local worker.

This section is the difficult part. Here we should talk about:

• How to truly help those encountered on the way (and should you)

• The human, moral and personal values we share. What are they? When confronted with a foreign culture, should we share those values, or remain silent? This is about the courage to speak, and the humility to listen. What do we bring, and what do we leave behind?

• The Catch-22 of travel tourism: everyone wants to go where no one else goes. So, what’s the solution? And once you’ve found that virgin location, how to publish responsibly, without risking the destruction of the place?

  

3. Connection

This is the practical part. Making the connection with the people and the nature may need some preparation, organization and know-how.

• How can we bind to people we meet, and is it possible at all during a short visit. And why staying with expats is often a bad idea

• How to break out of the box. Tips on organizing yourself with a backpack or a camper, learning a language, starting the conversation and blending in.

• Cultural focus: mini-series of articles on cultural differences and nuances of particular countries

Making sense of travel

To summarize, reinventing travel is about investing time and effort in understanding (stories), making deep connection, and sharing values and emotions with friends across cultures and continents.

It is also about breaking stereotypes. Italy is not Venice, and Africa is not starving children. Africa is Davide the grogo maker hugging his cousin, and Risilene’s birthday celebration. France is Charlotte singing in the festival kitchen. Poland is the forest blossom and the fog in the swamp. And Italy? It is Ahmed from Pisa, and his vigorous song near children’s football field.

It is also about laughter, gaining perspective and letting go our naïve ideas about how the world should be. Ahmed’s song in the video says:

Quant'è bello lu primm'ammore, lu secondo è cchiù bello ancor

That means: How beautiful is the first love… and the second one, even better!

That’s what I mean by making sense of travel. Subscribe, join the nascent community of conscious travelers, and let’s see where this journey takes us. Welcome on board!

P.S.

I am not alone with those ideas. Many people think that travel needs reinventing, and actively search. Without any judgement or ranking, some related concepts are:

• Conscious travel

• Slow travel

• Responsible Travel

• Sustainable Travel

• Ethical Travel

• Intentional Travel

• Regenerative Travel

• Minimalist Travel

• Immersive Travel

• Cultural Travel

• Volunteer Travel (Voluntourism)

• Low-Impact Travel

• Eco-Travel / Green Travel