There has been a lot of talk in the world of travel about how the pandemic has created a great opportunity to build back a more sustainable way of travelling. From our own research, we’ve seen a real uptick in interest from people who’d like to have more bespoke travel experiences moving forward. We’ve also seen a lot of people remark on the way they used to travel pre pandemic – often booking a trip on a whim and travelling because they thought they should. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these kinds of experiences. We also certainly don’t believe that travel and tourism was particularly ‘wrong’ before, but there were certain things about the industry that didn’t function in the best possible way when we look at it from a conservation, sustainability and ethical stand point.
Of course, with the many messages out there right now about improving our lives post pandemic, it is fair to say that these messages can leave you feeling a little like you’re not doing something right. We’ve talked about this multiple times in recent articles and we truly believe that how you choose to be can and should be an ongoing experience and certainly not one that needs to be completely reinvigorated right now. However, as more and more of you start to become curious about travel again, there is a great opportunity to reassess what travel means to you and how you can enjoy your experiences in a much more connected way. So, if you’ve felt like the way you used to travel isn’t quite how you want to experience the world anymore but are unsure of exactly what travelling in a more sustainable and connected way means, this one’s for you.
Image description: A landscape image. Fay sits at the top of the hill to the left of the frame and is facing away from the camera. Hair is over the right shoulder and Fay looks out to the left with black sunglasses on. Fay wears a yellow bag with a blue jacket and black trousers. There is a silver bottle in the side pouch of Fay’s bag. Fay takes in the view of the hills in the background which have green fields along them. The sky is blue with some clouds.
So, what exactly is a connected travel experience and how can it help me?
Connected travel is a term we’ve been using to describe the way we’ve travelled for…well, pretty much the entire time we’ve been travelling. Simply put, a connected travel experience is one where you’re mindful of the experience. This can flow through to what you get out of the experience post trip, what you learn and the impact that you leave. Travelling in this way can be phenomenally rewarding as it can allow us to remove the sense that we are merely experiencing our lives passing by and instead feel like we are creating a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.
We’ve outlined below a range of thinking points and actions you can take to help make your travel experiences feel more connected.
Image description: A landscape image. A highland cow sits looking straight to the camera in the centre of the frame. Around the central how are other cows sleeping in the hills. The cow is orange/ginger and the grasses and hills that are bathed in golden light seem to compliment the creature. In the background are hazy hills and mountains and the sky is a dark grey/hazy – it looks toward sunset.
What does this experience mean to me?
Getting to grips with the intention behind why we want to go somewhere can help us make much smarter decisions about how, why and when we travel. You don’t have to have a huge, overwhelming reason to want to travel to a certain place – simply a ‘because the idea of going there excites me’ is more than enough. What we’re trying to get to here is becoming aware of what it is you enjoy and why you want to do those things. This can be an incredible way of defining your future travel plans too. A great way to do this is to sit down and make a list of the reasons why that particular trip or adventure feels exciting to you – get as specific as you want. This is a lovely thing to do whilst you’re travelling as well and can really allow you to experience the world around you with your eyes wide open. Some of our favourite experiences have come from being aware of how certain things make us feel and going with the ones that feel exciting.
Image description: A landscape image. Matt is in the centre of the frame and is walking forward with the gaze slightly to the left side. Grasses in the bottom third of the frame are obfuscating his legs, and these are brown and yellow in colour. Matt wears a mostly black outfit and is carrying a camera with a long lens. In the background there are hills and a dramatic blue sky takes over more than half of the frame.
What do I want to get out of it?
Following on from our last point, knowing what you want to do and what you want to get out of something are interconnected. Sitting down before you book a trip and thinking about why you’re craving that experience can have a very significant impact on what you decide to do and the effectiveness it will have on you. Go with your intuition and listen to it. It might be that you’ve been feeling stressed and stretched so want to head off to somewhere with solitude and space to think. It could be that you’re feeling like things have been a bit monotonous recently, so a big adventure is on the cards. If you’re able to connect with what it is you want out of an experience and get that out of it, you’ll feel much better. Of course, it is important to remember that our expectations can and do change and the beauty of travel is that you sometimes get out of it something completely different from what you originally wanted. Generally, we’ve found that when this happens, what did happen is exactly what we needed and gives us an opportunity to allow ourselves to be more flexible.
Research and learn about your destination
For us, one of the most fun parts of a trip is the planning beforehand. Learning about a place gives us a real sense of excitement and allows us to feel much more connected to where we’ll be going. We go into much more detail about this in our recent article‘Bringing the Joy back into Planning: How to make travel planning feel fun, exciting and enriching’. Learning about and researching a place can also allow you to learn more about the culture you’ll be experiencing and if there is anything that you need to note whilst you’re there. It might be that there is a particular way to dress or present yourself. It could be that you aren’t allowed to wild camp. Learning the intricacies of the place you’re going to is not only helpful for your experience to run more smoothly, but it also means you’ll go in respectful of laws, traditions and any other details that are important. Do some Google searching so you can feel like you’ll be going into your trip in the most respectful way possible. There will likely be many things that differ from your experience and how you live your life at home – remember you are a visitor and that your respect is incredibly important to any traditions observed in your destination.
Image description: A landscape image. Fay stands to the right of the frame and observes a sign mid hike which reads ‘Ground Nesting Birds – disturbance reduces nesting success. Please keep your dog on a lead and only use marked footpaths. Thankyou.’ Fay wears black trousers, a blue jacket, yellow backpack and has a camera over the shoulder. Around Fay is a mossy and grassy hillside and in the background is a lower land scene with a blue sky with a few clouds.
Ditch the bucket list
When we’re looking at travelling in a connected way, ditching the bucket lists and pressure that things like social media can create are going to help you have a much more individual experience. This isn’t the easiest thing to do in the slightest, but removing that need to compare your experience to someone else’s can feel really refreshing. It can help us feel like we areactuallytravelling for us and can really allow us to feel like travelling is a worthwhile, in some cases, lifechanging experience.
Spending mindfully and ethically
It’s worth doing some reading when you’re booking things, especially destination bound, to see if there is any information available about how staff are treated by the company you’re going to purchase from. Do they have a fair wages program? Are staff compensated fairly? In some cases, it can be better for a hotel to book directly through their own website – the same with tour operators and things like this can make the world of difference when it comes to the economic benefit of tourism on a certain area.
Image description: A landscape image. A close up of Fay’s hand holding a burnt strand of twig from a forest fire. The hand is on the right side of the image and in the background is out of focus foliage.
Being mindful
Being mindful, in our opinion, is one of the most important aspects of a connected travel experience. This literally, in its simplest explanation means that you should experience the place you’re visiting with a sense of purpose. This can mean getting to a hike and reading the introduction board at the start of the trail. It can mean observing certain signage along a trail so as not to go off trail and disturb a specific animal’s habitat. This can mean doing some research to see if there is a better/less busy time to go somewhere. This can, in some circumstances mean not going somewhere you had planned or not getting that shot that you want for your Instagram. In a more complex sense, being mindful can also refer to how you experience the place you’re in and the mental and physical benefits that come from this. Focus on what is around you – take it all in. How can I really soak in the experience I’m having and get the most out of it?Are there any elements of the land that interest you? Can you learn a little more about yourself and what you care about from the experiences you’re having in this place?
What have I learnt from the experience and how can I bring this into my life?
Something that we always do at the end of a trip is talk about what we’ve learnt from it and what elements of it we will be carrying through to our life experience from there out. This can be as simple as remarking on a particular food we really enjoyed that we plan on rotating into our menu at home all the way through to something a little more profound or conceptual in terms of personal development. Did a certain part of that trip work as a real eye opener for you around your privilege? Did you find you became really interested in something that you’d like to pursue? Having a debrief with yourself at the end of a trip can help you become so much more intentional with the idea of learning from adventure.
Image description: A landscape image. Fay is small in frame and walks toward the camera. Fay wears a yellow bag, blue jacket and black trousers with sunglasses. Fay walks up a hill and around is mossy greens and browns. In the background are pine trees on the left and hills that frame the back of the picture. There is a moody blue sky.