Once upon a time, travel was a thing you did to recharge and recuperate. Back in the day, I need a holiday translated to: I need to go to a place where I can do a large amount of nothing for an optimal amount of time.

As such, typical holiday activities once included (but were not limited to): drinking and eating only from dinnerware stamped with Hotel logos, leisurely pointing at famous attractions from below excessively wide-brimmed hats, (posing in front of aforementioned famous attractions), and going home with T-shirts reading I love [insert destination here].

It was all about the best holiday packages, the hottest destinations, and the cosiest white fluffy robes. To travel was to escape, and the more luxurious the escape, the better.

More often than not, travellers went and saw, but they did not conquer—mostly because there was no need. Enthusiastic travel agents arranged for hotel transfers, tour guides planned each day from morning through to night, and hotel staff made the beds.

But times, they are a changing, and in turn so is travel.

Over the past few years a new trend is emerging in the tourism biz. Travellers today are hungry in a way that cannot be satisfied by France’s most delicious pastries, or New York’s finest bagels. Modern day explorers are seeking a different kind of trip, the kind that encourages cultural immersion, a broadening of the horizons, and a deeper engagement with ones surroundings—whether it’s the beach, the jungle, the city or other. It’s called experiential travel, and it appears to be a trend that’s here to stay.

A form of tourism in which people focus on experiencing a place by connecting to its history, its people and its culture, experiential travel is less about posing for photo ops, and more about an individual’s own personal transformation. The experiential traveller has no interest in checking into a hotel, chalet or B&B, only to check out the same person. Instead, they are seeking an inner revolution, a soulful shift that allows them to become better connected to themselves, to their loved ones, and to the world at large.

But how does one become an “experiential traveller”? Does it take a certain kind of person? Do you need a qualification? Are special “experiential traveller” outfits and mantras at all involved? Allow us to break it down.

Where seeing once meant only believing, it now means hearing, touching, smelling and tasting too. One-dimensional observation, to the modern day explorer, is only the first step. To travel experientially requires taking “must-sees” and making them “must-dos”. Where the old-school tourist stood back to “take in” their surroundings, the globe trotting experientialist lunges much more further forward, engrossing themselves in their novel surroundings; becoming a part of the landscape proper.

So why the shift in attitude? I mean, who says photo shoots in front of large historical structures are ever a waste of time? And what’s so wrong with miniature pre-wrapped hotel soaps and breakfast buffets, anyway? The answer is nothing. And for every traveller riding a camel across the Black Desert in Egypt, there is one reclining on a deck chair in the Bahamas, drinking an iced beverage through an abnormally elaborate straw.

The pull towards experiential travel, and the rise in its popularity, has been attributed to a backlash against the sameness of so many mainstream travel experiences. In their report ‘The Rise of Experiential Travel’ (2014), Skift + Peak reported that today’s most savvy travellers of all ages want to experience a transformative journey in a way that is wholly their own. “In the end we are all searching for something. We’re all seeking our monk, and experiential travel is becoming a preferred road to the monastery.”

And in a time when the tour operator industry has very much cottoned onto the experiential travel trend, the road to that monastery—or convent, or luxury bunker, or safari tent—can be paved on your own terms, in tune with your own expectations. No longer restricted to item numbers from contents lists in shiny travel brochures—the kinds extracted from plastic slots mounted on a wall—the modern day explorer is free to follow their own footsteps; experiencing what it feels like to travel outside the box.

Need an introduction to experiential travel? Try one of these gung-go getaway experts…

Explora

If you’ve ever longed to sit and watch a sunset cast pink shadows over the Andes Mountains in Patagonia, or horseback ride through the arid plains of the Atacama Desert in Chile then Explora are your go-to team. Specialising in all small group tours across South America, Explora even have their own range of all-inclusive luxury resorts in each destination; meaning that while they appreciate getting a little roughed up during the day, they know the value of a cleaning up in comfort. To up the feel-good factor even further, Explora also invests in hiring local experts, encouraging community development in every destination they visit.

Ker & Downey

If breaking bread with nomadic tribes in Namibia, or venturing through the old kasbahs of Medina in Morocco sounds like your things then Ker & Downey know what’s up. Be it romance, wilderness or indulging your gourmantic side, if you want to personalise your tour or are curious about an offbeat destination you can challenge them to tailor a journey to suit you (depending on how wild you’re willing to get).

Vayable

What Vayable might lack in luxe-perience glam it more than makes up for in pure cultural and community experiences. We’re talking independent local people, just like you, offering their time and insider knowledge. From night photography tours through Paris to a personal shopping tour through London, you’ll not only get to see a unique side to a city but maybe make a new friend in the process.

The Tailor

Ideal if ultra exclusivity is on your agenda and money is no option. The Tailor even caters to travellers who might require personal security (that is, celebrities).

Lindblad Expeditions

Definitely for the more ardent adventurers, Expeditions worked with National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions to ensure passage to the side of the globe only scientists normally dare to venture.

KATHRYN CARTER IS A WRITER BASED IN MELBOURNE WHO LOVES BLACK COFFEE AND POST IT NOTES. SHE HAS WRITTEN FOR THE VIRGIN AUSTRALIA MELBOURNE FASHION FESTIVAL, THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA’S GALLERY MAGAZINE, AND THE UK PUBLICATION OH COMELY, JUST TO NAME A FEW. FOLLOW HER ON INSTAGRAM @BYKATHRYNCARTER

FOLLOW CITIZENS OF THE WORLD ON INSTAGRAM @CITIZENSOFTHEWORLD

Feel like getting lost without having to leave the security of your sofa? Read: 7 Films That’ll Lift Your Vibe & Are Guaranteed To Get You In The Mood For Travel.

Meg & Dom

Tags: Experiential Travel, Opinion

Previous postNext post