Travel Fantasies and Personal Observations

In 1999 I designed and presented a training course for new Outside Agents. The first exercise that I assigned was for each agent to write down their travel fantasy. They were each given a small form with basic questions, as if they were submitting a travel request to a travel agent. They had to provide the number of people in the party, a departure city, length of trip, etc. Then the ideas were to be randomly exchanged, and each agent would research and "book" somebody's fantasy trip. The purpose was to drive home the idea that the world is full of magnificence and splendor; and that anything that could be dreamt could be booked.


When I thought this assignment up, I was thinking people would write things like, "Visit the gardens that inspired Monet", or "Research my ancestry in _______", or "Tour the royal castles of Europe", or "Work on a cattle ranch in Brazil". I could think of a lot of travel fantasies-for myself or others.


When I opened the "dream slips", I was very surprised to see that the entire group, (15 people) all wrote the same thing! They all wanted a trip around the world. What's more, most of them wanted to do this in 30 days less.


Now, indulge me for a moment, if you will. Certainly I want to see the entire world. I'd like to visit and make friends in every country. When traveling though, I long to feel connected to the place; to really feel the rhythm and to be submerged in the culture. When I leave, I don't want to feel like I've visited a place, I want to feel like I was a part of that place.


One of the best ways I know to really experience local culture is to go shopping where the locals do. I'm not talking about shopping for local specialty items or handicrafts, but to really shop; as one shops for their family; be it a grocery store or open market. If I don't know where to find such a place, I ask where to buy diapers or toilet paper or some other mundane household good. I've learned a lot at grocery stores; and it feels like an authentic experience.


It is precisely this desire for connection, I believe, that drives the popularity of cooking, walking, and bicycling tours. These trips require that we be deeply engaged. We're actually participating in local life. Most of all, it is meeting and interacting with people that creates for us the fondest memories.

Building relationships-whether with people or places-takes time. Relationships do not grow in a day or even a week. So, when I saw that 15 people, each with a self-proclaimed "passion for travel", wanted to travel around the entire world in 30 days, I felt deflated, but challenged, too. I had a clearer understanding of the task in front of me. So, I redesigned the exercise by writing new and different travel fantasies.


This way, I opened their eyes and really taught them things that they didn't know. They researched the destinations, spoke to the tour operators, and did all the legwork. They each presented an itinerary and travel proposal. I think of this still and wonder if that group learned what I tried to teach them. I know that I learned something from this excercise. I hope that if they were asked today about their travel fantasy, their answer would reflect this experience.

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