Sharing a short essay that arrived in my inbox today, courtesy of Dense Discovery — a newsletter about design, tech, sustainability and urbanism curated by Kai Brach, based in Melbourne, Australia.
Do we travel for transformation or validation?
It's always interesting to hear what thought leaders "outside" the travel industry have to say about the state of tourism, so I'm sharing Kai's article with his permission.
There's a few good points in this piece, including how touristic travel (e.g. mass tourism) can import more culture to a destination than it exports. I also agree that seeking validation on social media is drowning out good quality travel content.
There's some truth to Kai's point about escapism. Consider this: the biggest competitor to a travel agent is the electronics shop, where consumers can instead buy a new 50" flatscreen TV. In this scenario, which "escapism" is worse? Buying a new TV or booking a trip on a cruise ship? 😅
However, I don't believe that all trave...
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My name is Jeff and I've been a member of Travel Massive for several years.
I recently published my first article for Brainz Magazine about heritage travel at www.brainzmagazine.com/post/the-benefits-of-heritage-travel
There are different travel niches; including gastro tourism (foodies), regional travel (particular countries, states, counties, etc.), solo female travel, adventure travel, cruising, etc.
I like to focus on heritage travel because it fits my interests as someone who loves history and who tries to understand people that I meet during my travels, and the places that those same people come from. The best way to understand a destination is to give yourself a history lesson, as understanding the past will help you to understand the present and even predict the future.
It’s our lack of understanding of people and places that causes people to be afraid of others, for people don’t like what they don’t understand because it creates a fear of the unknown. Every travel niche, in my opinion, should include elements of heritage travel.
Patty, what a wonderful story!! And I visited Ellis Island back in 2021, it was truly inspiring!!
That's a very heartwarming story. Thank you.😊
I read your article there on Brainz with some personal sense of interest since I have a somewhat similar family trajectory on one side, and some interesting in writing about it. Depending on your individual set of circumstances, the journey of discovery there is both fascinating and perplexing - sometimes frustrating. Human choices and actions over five generations can pose a lot of questions once you get into the time period of each.
Hal, thank you for reading my article and thank you for your insight.
a broad focus, interesting.
Thank you, Jessica.
Heritage travel mean to me, traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past.
Sinoxolo, yes I agree, that is what heritage travel is 100%.
Nice article, Jeff. As a builder of a platform that will aggregate ancestry and heritage travel experiences, I view heritage travel as the deliberate search for the history of place, family, culture, traditions and oneself.
Thank you, that sounds amazing what you do.
I love this Jeff! To me, heritage travel means you are going to experience the history and culture of your destination as much as the sights and attractions. It's about experiencing what's happened there and soaking that in versus what's just in front of you. I think it's much more intentional that just taking a single tour, though. For example, I recently walked the 800 km Camino de Santiago, a thousands-year-old pilgrimage through France and Spain. While I loved seeing the different landscapes and views of Spain, it was a whole other experience walking through the small villages and learning the cultural history of Catholicism and the transformation of the Camino through the centuries. It was like getting a history lesson on vacation.
Ashley, WOW!! That's very insightful and it sounds like you've had some amazing adventures!! Thank you for sharing this!!
Heritage travel helps to bring the world full circle and make it smaller. It gives one a sense of place in the world knowing where they come from. It also reminds us of how lucky we are to have the luxuries and necessities.