https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership daily 0.75 2021-06-29 https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership/will-saudi-arabia-disrupt-tourism-for-the-better monthly 0.5 2021-06-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1624984125461-DTP0DPOWA502BEJWZ4YK/unsplash-image-KY511rTEHEY.jpg IDEAS - Will Saudi Arabia disrupt tourism for the better? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1624983651933-RVD835HD3S3AVGOZBR4C/unsplash-image-_ABfNIGGsZk.jpg IDEAS - Will Saudi Arabia disrupt tourism for the better? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1624983701405-J4ZZOQSAO60Q0IJKL6TM/unsplash-image-3NnNHLKMTXQ.jpg IDEAS - Will Saudi Arabia disrupt tourism for the better? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1624983776741-ISRZMGNVUPCHDEPIEJ7S/unsplash-image-XaMuCGQtOpU.jpg IDEAS - Will Saudi Arabia disrupt tourism for the better? - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership/10-scientifically-proven-ideas-1-test-for-better-travel monthly 0.5 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623236142387-IU9AGXUZND283OY2VLIW/unsplash-image-ZT8W5eptT3U.jpg IDEAS - 10 Scientifically Proven Ideas & 1 Test for Better Travel Examined and articulated or otherwise, most of us would intuit that there is something uniquely good for us, going on within the oh-so-human, age-old pursuit of travel. Unpacking the commonly accepted aphorism that travel is good for mind, body and soul, one can reach scientifically verifiable certitudes regarding its myriad benefits for everything from creativity, to mental health and long-term fulfilment. Travel is good for you — that much is irrefutable. Distilling cutting-edge, contemporary academic research and experience of creating countless life-changing journeys has allowed me to hone a science-based travel ideation and planning process that guarantees outcomes. It converts blue sky thinking into reality with huge benefits. This is exactly the kind of thinking that the traditional luxury travel industry doesn’t encourage. Most travel professionals are doers focused on what, where and when. Their goal is to sell you tickets, rooms, car rentals, guides etc. rather than helping you stop to think why you’re travelling in the first place, how you could travel better and get more memorable outcomes. I wager that no travel professional you’ve ever worked with has ever suggested the ideas you’ll discover here. It’s just not in their interest. However, considering these ideas it most definitely is in yours. So review these ten points whenever you next think about travelling. Thinking beyond the where and applying a scientifically ratified approach, along with some all-important artistic flair, to the how and why of your journeying, will catapult your experiences to new heights and maximise their transformative potential. Here are ten pragmatic ideas, tools and tips to kickstart elevated and creative travel thinking. 1. Know Yourself AND your capacity for change Acquainting yourself with the weather patterns of your chosen destination should come second to a deeper ‘know before you go’ examination of your own motivations. For starters, do you prize novelty, adventure and active curiosity or preference relaxation, familiarity and structure? How you respond to external stimulus and value solitude will dictate the most advantageous settings in which to stage your sagas. This corresponds to a spectrum of Allocentric to Psychocentric, which is a popular psychological measure for gauging ‘travel personalities’. Take our test to find out where you sit on this spectrum, and more. Self-knowledge is a powerful starting point for transformation. After all, our personalities are what make us distinct, but that doesn’t make them fixed. Travel — with its cocktail of new perspectives and increased self-awareness — can be a ready catalyst for change. 2. Travel Starts and Ends at Home Research supports the notion that it pays to put as much energy into planning what happens before and after you travel, as into your itinerary whilst away. Eschew run of the mill checklists, sights and must-sees. Instead, think like a futurist or trend researcher and do your research. Dig into the geopolitical, cultural, economic, and social issues that move and shape the locale in question. Not only will this challenge you to discover more on your journey, it also builds anticipation in a profound way (… more on the perks of this later.) Build what I like to call a ‘buffer zone’ for your return. A few days of empty diaries, a fully stocked fridge and peaceful environment affords space for reflection. Capitalise on the first few days of disorientating novelty and two to four weeks of ‘post-vacational bliss’, exploring with a fresh lens on the familiar, relishing small pleasures and daily routines and cementing the curiosity ignited on your travels. This time, if played right, can be a springboard for growth, positive change and increased self-awareness. 3. Narrative Play Wins the Day Evidence-based positive, social and personality psychology points towards the sense in conceptualising individual journeys as part of a continuous narrative arc, overlapping, elaborating and informing both everyday life and each new foray to a new place. My research indicates that the average family has no more than sixteen opportunities to generate enduring travel memories. To ensure you make the most of them, take a piece of paper and write the numbers one to sixteen down one side. Note the significant trips you’ve already taken together, then fill in the remaining gaps with the kinds of memories you wish to create. Whilst away, imagine yourself as an architect, sculptor and storyteller, applying design principles and mapping your journey by pondering and visualising each forward step. For all your careful planning, leave space and scope to employ frequent routine-breaking changes. This has the effect of making time slow down. Chronoception (perception of time) is malleable and if you want to stretch it out, think focused, think challenging, think scary and, most importantly think NEW… 4. Step out of your Comfort Zone …Know our comfort zones are funny things — too comfortable and we become bored and complacent, but tilting too far into uncomfortable territory can leave us terrified. The trick is to strike a balance, so as to feel challenged. Begin thinking about how you can expand your comfort zone by taking measured risks — an arena in which travel provides endless scope for growth. 5. Cultivate Anticipation & Surprise Savour the dopamine-releasing delight of delayed gratification by actively cultivating anticipation. As early as the fifties, experiments with lab-dwelling-rodents showed that more dopamine is generated during waiting, than by the reward itself. We also know that experiential purchases reap more happiness than their material counterparts and that this applies before consumption, making travel — and its anticipation — the ultimate investment in your long-term satisfaction. Science suggests the element of surprise is also critical when it comes to travel. Research conducted by Tripadvisor showed that, when guests experienced a “delightful surprise” orchestrated by their hotel, an incredible 94% of them declared an unconditional willingness to recommend it. 6. … as well as Gratitude & Awe When on the trot, beware the perils of the hedonic treadmill. This hypothesis explains how we revert to a default level of happiness, largely unaltered by positive events or change. You can counter this totally normal, yet somewhat frustrating human trait, by remembering that novelty is the antidote to adaptation. Regularly mix things up and welcome multiplicity. Practice selective deprivation to avoid pleasure losing its impact. If you chance upon the patisserie of your dreams, resist the temptation of grabbing coffee and a croissant every time you leave your hotel and instead visit before your homeward flight to select delicacies that will lighten the last-day-of-the-holiday blues. You also want to be reaching towards anything that produces the sensation of awe. Awe does all sorts of excellent things for our psyches: forming a source of resilience, forcing external focus and self-awareness. Couple this with the cultivation of gratitude and your chances of beating that darn treadmill grow exponentially. 7. Neuroplasticity, all the Way Have you noticed a theme developing? All this talk of unfamiliarity is grounded in more than a whimsical attraction to novelty! Neuroscientists have found that putting yourself in the path of newness and change has the power to spark your synapses and revitalise the mind, building what is known as neuroplasticity. This in turn enhances core cognitive competencies for navigating contemporary life, such as resilience, confidence and creativity. The leading head on how international travel plays into all this is Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky, who says “foreign experiences increase both cognitive flexibility and depth and integrativeness of thought, [cultivating] the ability to make deep connections between disparate forms”. To get the juices flowing, his extensive research has shown that how you travel is important. An all-inclusive beach holiday won’t necessarily cut it “the key, critical process is multicultural engagement, immersion, and adaptation ”. Just as yoga stretches the body, the unfamiliar environment, new people and inevitable obstacles entailed in travel stretch your mind, creating new neural pathways. This helps you to think outside the box and shift from a fixed to a growth mindset, which challenges static thinking patterns and says YES, you CAN do this! 8. Excel at ‘Ordinary’ Pleasures Whilst I would always encourage pursuing the extraordinary (hence recommending deep research and leaning towards awe) it is also worth noting that many of the quotidian activities we gravitate towards whilst travelling have psychological perks too. Understanding these can only enhance the gains. Take something as simple as the act of eating. Multisensory and social in nature, breaking bread in a new place has direct links to happiness. It is a low risk and high reward activity, with recipes and culinary etiquette forming rich depositories of history, value systems and cultural preferences on every plate. Avoid international eateries, delve deep into local cuisines and plan meals with care and imagination. Factoring nature into your journey is a no brainer. Spending time outdoors makes for a heady tonic of cognitive repercussions — it’s good for banishing anxiety, increases problem-solving, creativity, and mental and physical energy — with even the most avowedly urban of us reporting positive feelings from immersion in green spaces and wild places. Let’s also give praise for what many of us would unashamedly name a primary motivator for going away: sacred and hard-earned relaxation. This needn’t mean booking into a lux spa (though it can’t do any harm!) It is the act of upping sticks that allows the mind to let go of everyday pressures and anxieties, bringing a sublime sense of calm, even if your chosen getaway revolves around adrenaline-pumped action or intense problem-solving activities. The stress relief afforded by travel comes in the form of both short and long-term benefits, from resetting your sleeping pattern, to offering a period of reflection in which to reevaluate what you want from life, thus avoiding burnout. 9. Interpersonal Connection and Global Perspectives Anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests good company enhances experience. Reciprocally, the company you keep is improved by travel. It can aid communication, reduce the possibility of divorce, strengthen lifelong family bonds, and increase a sense of well-being in adults and children. We are, after all, pack animals and the need for interpersonal relationships and social connection is vital to travel (as it is to life). The science tells us that even so-called ‘weak ties’ reap high returns. In other words, you do not need to form lifelong friendships to feel the buzz of bonding — striking up a conversation with a stranger can be as psychologically edifying. Travel fosters empathy, but it is important not to be glib about this. An awareness of the legacies of colonialism, slavery, genocide, and displacement, as well as a criticality towards how tourism operates within an unequal world, is as important to pack as the passport which you are lucky to hold. With sensitivity and a willingness to learn (and unlearn), immersion in other cultures trains you to become a better communicator reveals how it feels to be a minority and imparts the important lesson that we have more in common than that which divides us. Let travel lead you to a humble understanding of your place in the world, open your eyes to new ways of thinking and foster informed empathy. 10. Making Memories A crucial component of maximising travel’s benefits is the richness and longevity of your memories. Though memory-making is a natural process, by applying intention you can curate and optimise your recollections. Thankfully science provides manifold practical means to go about this. Keep in mind the tendency to play architect of your future memories: a trait that has been vastly exacerbated by the advent of social media. Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman conceptualises a significant gulf between our experiencing and remembering selves. Whilst on the hoof you want to give your experiencing-self room to breathe and enjoy the present. Pause before snapping the 256th photo of the day. Instead aim to sparingly capture candid moments and unusual experiences which will act as memory aids. To ignite your emotive memory around positive experiences, play with anchoring techniques. When overcome with, say, a sense of great calm, focus on the sensory environment. How does the sand feel against your bare feet? What distinct aromas can you decipher amid the hubbub of the souk? Next, simply make a small and deliberate physical anchor — tap your knee three times or re-plait your hair. Once back in the humdrum of the office try repeating this action to see whether the sensory stimuli and emotive content of the memory come rushing back. Finally, staying connected to the place you visited — keeping in touch with people you met, following the news or attempting to cook your favourite dish at home for friends — is always a fail-safe method of keeping memories alive. https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership/next-time-you-travel-kick-the-bucket-list monthly 0.5 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1614273395090-Z1TQH7R7MU4VPAC31ZR0/image-asset.jpeg IDEAS - Next Time You Travel, Kick the Bucket List Do you have a bucket list? Not me. I’ve always been troubled with the concept of a ‘bucket list’. The idea is that you create a list of things to do before you die or ‘kick the bucket’. Often the things on the list are travel-related. There are myriad reasons why this doesn’t sit well with me but chief among them is, why? When it comes to travel, this box-ticking approach exemplifies a wider ill within travel — an industry that seems to have been on holiday since the days of Cooks Tour in 1841. Open any newspaper or magazine and you are sold the same stuff, the same product time again; go here, do this, or worse… go and do nothing at all. What if? What if things could be different? After all, isn’t now the perfect time to revisit our approach to travel? After months of lockdown and curbed liberties, haven’t we all mused about what we miss most or what we’ll do first once we are free to travel again? Why? For many, this diagnosis and reflection sounds like hard work. “I just want to get away and preferably somewhere hot”. But why? Why do you want to leave the place you’ve chosen to live? Why do you want good weather? What does that enable you to do that you normally can’t? What is it you’re really lacking that you can’t get at home? When founding Brown + Hudson, I did so with the attention of passing on the insights that years of exploration and travel had unlocked for me. Travel can give way to unbridled happiness, lead to personal growth, shift perspectives, help with creativity, strengthen relationships and a great deal more. What’s your intention? The key question is however, what’s your intention? Any travel firm can take your money, run price comparisons and get you on a plane with minimum delay. But wouldn’t it be better if you could create, or work with someone to explore your needs and motivations then design an experience around those? A Lasting Legacy One of the lessons I’ve learned from years of working with, and travelling with some pretty demanding clients, is that more often than not, they’re looking for some kind of lasting legacy of travel memories. That task is made infinitely easier by focusing on their needs. Establishing an inextricable link between the traveller and what we choreograph, dispensing with the traditional one size fits all approach which promotes a focus on the destination instead of the clients needs and the change they seek. Choreographing Memories Before, During & After Choreographing travel can vastly increase the scope of what can be experienced. It can start with something as simple, such as building anticipation before travel. This is an overlooked time which has been scientifically proven[1] to be a period in which significant happiness can be generated. Next, when you think about the experience itself, you could design your journey around a narrative arc (Hero’s Journey, Rescuer-Victim-Persecutor, Problem-Solution…). Ensure that everything you do serves your bigger story replete with trials, rewards, discovery, and any number of other emotions to experience, draw on and savour. I’d wager that when designing a trip nobody has ever considered the sequence of your likely hormonal flow, and it might sound daunting. Daunting, until you realise how often you do this in your everyday life. You might begin with a serotonin buzz from exercise, then surf the adrenaline from your morning coffee, get an endorphin high from eating spicy food and treasure the oxytocin you share from gazing lovingly into your dog’s eyes. Changing your approach to travel to acknowledge these chemical triggers would therefore seem logical. This type of planning can also help mitigate triggers for negative hormones which cause stress or anxiety and may in fact have been the drivers for travel in the first place. Finally, when you return home what are you going to do to make the benefits of your travel last? How are you going to savour the experiences so that they have a lasting impact? How will you make the transformation stick? The answer is simple. As author Stephen Covey wrote “Begin with the end in mind.” Consider treating your home as a destination. Look at it with the same curiosity as you did the place you just got back from. Think about why you travelled in the first place and consider what you got from the trip that you want to be part of a new you. In short, there is so much to be gained once you dispose of the bucket list’s, tick-box approach and take the leap. Take the Leap Once you feel you have committed to that leap, in your excitement it’s possible that you’ll drift back to destination-orientated mindset. But ask yourself why? Why do you want to travel and then think about how and finally where? Rest assured that shifting these priorities will lead you exactly to what you want to feel and where you want to go. Thinking about travel in terms of destinations is of course a natural reaction. It’s what you’ve been sold and what you’ve bought for years. Remember though that this new approach will help you create an experience focused on benefits to you. Perhaps experiment with prioritising why, how and finally where on a local scale over the course of the weekend. For example, you’ve had a trying week at the office, you feel run down and need some time to relax. Doing nothing may seem tempting, perhaps a trip to the pub even? But pause, releasing stress is your ‘why’. Now you can look into ‘how’ this is possible — a friend has told you about a study conducted in Japan that advocates ‘forest bathing’, with findings of reduced blood pressure and lower cortisol levels among many benefits. Intriguing. Now, finally, there is the ‘where’. The difference between investment and gambling, as any fund manager will tell you, is insight. By diagnosing your own needs, rather than giving into the promises of advertisers, you’ll have given yourself the best shot at maximising your happiness. The odds are, that you will remember your weekend in the woods whereas your weekend on the sofa would be forgotten and probably won’t have felt nearly as relaxing as you had hoped. The same is true of how we travel. 16 Memories Our own client research suggests that most people struggle to remember more than 16 significant, memorable or impactful childhood holiday experiences. So knowing this shouldn’t families take a more long-term strategic approach to planning their holidays and their travel legacy? The Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model[2], as explained by E. Bruce Goldstein, states that the chances of short-term memories becoming firmer, long-term memories, is greatly increased with the connections created between present and past experience[3]. In other words, if a travel experience is crafted with deep prior background knowledge of you and what resonates, the chances of a lasting and meaningful memory of the experience is greatly increased. Prioritising your needs over travel company’s imperatives, facilitates this. Transformational Travel Travel can also be a powerful transformational tool in our lives. Whether that be strengthening a relationship, pursuing passions and interests or personal growth and development. Another component of creating memories which last a lifetime and experiences which alter our outlook, is doing things that make an emotional impact. Some of these emotions can be brought about by challenges which are physically, intellectually, or emotionally demanding. Travelling with intention and overcoming these hurdles can have incredibly cathartic effect. Shared experiences can also lead to new and greater understanding of one’s self. Part of the change and abandonment of the traditional, bucket list approach, is the consideration placed on seeing travel as an intrinsic component of your life. The current model views travel as an addition, even, a quick fix. Having reprioritised your motivations and needs, this approach can be applied to other areas of life leading to more informed decisions and better outcomes. This is Not a Bucket List Lists tend to make people think of buckets, but this is not my intention here. I’d like to help you with your introspection, to give you a starting point for your new approach to travel. What if from now on, for reasons of pandemics, climate crisis or regional conflicts you could only travel abroad once every two years, what would you differently? Or if you were to leave the realm of how you currently think about travel and take the first steps on a radical departure from the ordinary, how might you change the way you think about travel. Here are 16 ideas to consider: 1) Travelling to explore your personal interest or passion: Establishing a link between our passions and travel may seem obvious but we are so destination-orientated we usually focus on where and subsequently think about what it is we want to do or feel when we are there. Following a passion could be a joining an archaeological team in the Valley of the Kings indulging our interest and becoming part of the story itself. 2) Rediscover a playful side of your personality: Why not gamify your next trip to include all the excitement, intrigue, growth and community that a computer or VR game offers? Look at what makes computer games so engaging, compelling and addictive and then introduce more of those factors into your travel. Gaming and travel offer similar benefits. However, the difference is that games designers are deliberate in their design intentions whereas the travel industry tends to sell you tickets, rooms and excursions and leaves you to it. 3) Physical challenge: Pitting yourself against a great obstacle whether it be the highest peak in Greenland or an epic bike ride across Colombia can be tough to visualise. However, the reward for overcoming the challenge can be deep personal transformation that gives you the confidence to overcome many of life’s other hurdles. 4) Relinquishing control: In an age where ‘taking back control’ is so pervasive, maybe its antithesis is liberating? Perhaps surrender entirely to someone else’s decision-making. Allow yourself to be surprised. In Neil Pasricha’s The Happiness Equation, he argues that happiness is derived from reducing the unnecessary choices we make in everyday life. Pasricha cites studies that show that the quality of decisions deteriorates with the number we have to make[4]. So just let go. 5) Surrender to abstract possibilities: Could the word ‘orange’ be the start of an incredible journey? With the right kind of ideation process, with imagination, deep research and an open mind everything is possible. 6) The Grand Tour 2.0: A new approach to travel need not just be for you but could be for your children. Look back on your own childhood and the memories you savour today. How can you help spark that same excitement and intrigue that lasts a lifetime? Consider the original 16th century Grand Tour concept. What is its modern-day, forward-looking equivalent for your family? 7) Discovering a new appreciation for nature: Leaving the confines of your world and entering the arena of animals can have a transformative effect and heighten your understanding and appreciation of the natural world and your place in it. 8) Near space travel: Motivations for space travel could a search for the ultimate in new perspectives or perhaps just its moniker as ‘the final frontier’ without the hassles of passport control. What is alluring though is the nature of space’s un-chartered territory. The speleologist Francesco Sauro explores caves all over the world and trains astronauts as the encounters in caves are most akin to those to be experienced in space. He refers to the fact that in a cave your footsteps “are the first sounds heard, perhaps for millions of years” thereby giving you the ultimate unique experience and sense of perspective. 9) Renew your appreciation for original principles: What was democracy before it was what it is today? Could returning to the civilisations of the past Egypt, Greece or Rome give you insights into concepts you take for granted? 10) Another way of living: Lifestyle immersion is a holistic approach to escapism with the intention of helping you prioritise what you value most. Such immersion could take you to the tribes of the Omu Valley in Ethiopia or to pursuing culinary excellence in a South Korean monastery in Jeollabuk-do. 11) Origin story: Over 7 billion Nespresso hermetically sealed espresso pods are created each year but how much do we know about how coffee is grown? Where it comes from and how it was popularised? Taking an ‘origin story’ approach can set you on a cultural and gastronomic journey deep into jungles, up mountains and leave you not just with exciting stories and insight but a wealth of enriching human connections. 12) Thrill-seeking: A holiday can often mark a break in routine. Parachuting, hang gliding, hot air ballooning can leave you with a great buzz as adrenaline flows. Sharing the experience with others or incorporating the experiences as part of a wider narrative arc though, can transform the experience and provide you with a strong emotional memory. 13) Discovery and expedition: The driving emotions of expeditions and discoveries are the thrill of pushing boundaries, of being first and of achievement. Having goals and a story bring a trip to life and feed excitement. There is also the thrill of danger which turns your journey into a sensory safari, a higher purpose and a sure antidote to listlessness. 14) Reconnection: Relationships can become strained or neglected over time. It is not uncommon to think that travel can resolve issues but how active is this usually? Put ‘reconnection’ at the heart of your travel experience and you may be surprised how much this may help. 15) Calm: Achieving a sense of calm is no easy pursuit. However, understanding your needs and concerns allows you to better focus your travel choices that can begin to allay those anxieties. 16) Your very own Hero’s Journey: You’ll have experienced it in Star Wars, the Matrix, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and elsewhere. Joseph Campbell’s story of all stories, epic narrative arc is all about transformation and the situations and characters that contribute to it. Its design is a considered and deliberate process. What’s the transformation you seek? Is it time for you to embark on your very own Hero’s Journey? Where do you start? And who will your mentor be? To thrive as a species we need to see and be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. We need to take a more regenerative view of our potential and to imagine a future beyond everything we know about travel today. Challenging the status quo and thinking differently has been my purpose in life. Disrupting the conventions of luxury travel, helping people make best use of their precious time and elevating the potential of their travels is my particular journey. This is a journey worth taking. In the current climate there’s no denying that the journey is challenging but the stories and transformational experiences that clients regularly share are a constant reminder that reducing the potential of travel to a list in a bucket is habit we need to kick. Sources: [1] Vacationers Happier, but Most not Happier After a Holiday, Jeroen Nawjin (Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Miquelle A. Marchand (CentERdata, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands), Ruut Veenhoven (Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands), and Ad J. Vingerhoets (Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands) [2] Human Memory: A proposed system and its control processes. R. C Atkinson & R. M. Shiffrin, 1968 [3] Sensation and Perception — E. Bruce Goldstein, 2016 [4] The Happiness Equation — Neil Pasricha, 2016 https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership/how-computer-games-can-save-the-travel-industry monthly 0.5 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623163598976-ZX1ULI7V8S12Z2YX79D7/jakob-owens-Kr5KWxLo9QI-unsplash.jpg IDEAS - How Computer Games Can Save the Travel Industry The other day, I heard two guys talking about a horrendous experience they’d just returned from. They’d been traveling behind enemy lines, been taken in by generous locals, crawled through caves, and found themselves in underground tunnels, from which they had to escape under enemy fire. I figured they were shell-shocked mercenaries back from an overseas mission. It turned out, they had been playing The Elder Scrolls V. Skyrim on their computers. And for them, it wasn’t just some game. Their retelling was so vivid that it was clearly real for them. It was just a different kind of reality. It was also the closest thing to a happy, free, and unconflicted conversation about travel I’ve heard all year. It was certainly a nice change from all the lamenting and handwringing about how COVID-19 has blindsided all of us in the travel industry. These days, of course, the luxury travel industry is suffering immensely. Not only is there a global pandemic but also an ever-changing patchwork of global travel restrictions and more than a little real or feared economic distress. The year 2020 will go down as many things, but “the year that we stopped traveling” will be one of them. People decided to hunker down at home, and quite a lot of them picked up a gaming console. This is on top of the multitudes who already were. In his 2019 TED Talk about the transformative power of video games, entrepreneur Herman Narula pointed out that there were 2.6 billion gamers that same year, up from 1.6 billion in 2014 (and less than who-knows-how-many in this weird socially distanced year). Video games, he argued, are suddenly a medium like film or literature, and they’re in the midst of a full-on renaissance. It’s easy to whine, to complain, to give up, to lament that fictional worlds, VR, and AR can never replace real, in-the-flesh travel. But where does that get us? What if we tried to learn something from the massive growing world of gaming instead? What if we saw this as a time to look beyond ourselves, our companies, and our industry? What if we noticed the relentless trends and let them inspire us to do better — to revisit, to reimagine, to deliver more, to reject the conventions and raise the bar? First, let’s consider three big advantages of video games. Immersion Video games and VR allow people to see and experience places in the world that would otherwise be impossible or near-impossible due to various circumstances — COVID-19, certainly, but also the high costs of travel, the time it takes, the difficulty of obtaining visas. They also allow for a sort of time travel, in which players find themselves in real-world historical places and events such as ancient Greece, World War II Germany, or onboard the Titanic. Many travel experiences in the virtual world are enhanced versions of their real-world counterparts. And sometimes they’re just better. Take the VR Mona Lisa experience. It’s a big improvement over the reality of going to Paris, queuing for the Louvre, and peering over the heads of hundreds of other tourists to get a glimpse of something that’s behind bullet-proof glass and so far away you can’t really appreciate it. With VR you can get up close, and you come away with insight and understanding that are way more memorable and durable than the physical thing. The Social Potential Online gaming (of both the VR and the non-VR varieties) is currently connecting people in ways that were never before possible. Games like VR Chat allow for people from all over the world to form human connections in nightclub-like settings as idealized avatars of themselves. (Are we still sure that flesh-and-blood human connection is the only kind that makes people feel good?) Being able to express yourself in ways and in settings that are impossible in the physical world is just one of the many advantages that online gaming has over real-world travel. Another is that pretty much anyone can be there. World of Warcraft, for example, has connected millions of people for more than a decade. So many people, in fact, are now inhabiting these virtual worlds that Rough Guides has begun launching guidebooks for exploring them (well, ebooks) and musicians are performing concerts within them. Cost Effectiveness There thousands of games that offer these great experiences and online connections for PCs and consoles, and many of them completely free. These offer real-time feedback and instant gratification. Luxury travel if obviously expensive and arguably offers less enjoyment — at least less of that immediate dopamine rush of reward. Now let’s look deeper. Can Games Be a Force for Good in the World Just Like Travel? The first thing we think of with games, just as with travel, is escape. That’s valid, but there’s more. Gaming involves learning to follow different rules, to engage in problem-solving, to enjoy play and surprise, sure, but also to end up on a path of growth, personal development, discoveries of a different culture, and a human connection with friends and strangers from all over the world. As Gabe Zichermann explained in a TED Talk, games make kids smarter. They increase what’s known as “fluid intelligence,” the result of a five-step path that involves seeking novelty, challenging yourself, thinking creatively, doing things the hard way, and being part of a network. (Consider World of Warcraft, where kids are expected to chat in text and voice, operate a character, follow long- and short-time objectives, and deal with their parents interrupting them all the time.) This might explain the Flynn Effect, in which, since 1990, crystalline intelligence has been stable or falling while fluid intelligence has been rising faster and faster. Games are the primary source of entertainment for Generation G — a cohort of 126 million millennial gamers and counting. (And before we write this off as some silliness for kids, let’s remember that the average age of gamers is now 33.) And that audience is demanding gamification in other parts of their life — think of the dashboard of a Prius, which constantly shows you how green your journey is. Gamers inhabit their virtual worlds for extended periods of time. Each year, they’re spending far more time in these worlds than they are traveling physically. It’s possible that real-world travel might just be an irritation — a disconnection from their other world, the virtual one. Gaming Can Make a Better World Game designer Jane McGonical argued exactly this in a TED Talk a decade ago. In her view, gamers are “super empowered hopeful individuals” who have four traits: urgent optimism (the desire to act immediately to tackle a challenge), connection to the social fabric (bonds of trust and cooperation), blissful productivity (being happier working than relaxing), and epic meaning (a connection to something bigger than themselves — for example, the second biggest wiki is for World of Warcraft, with some 80,000 articles). Games also help us avoid what the Guardian identified as the top five regrets of the dying. “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard”: parents who spend time gaming with their kids have closer relationships. “I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends”: Farmville, for example, is a game you play with friends. “I wish I’d let myself be happier”: Games can be more effective than drugs for anxiety and depression. “I wish I’d lived a life true to my dreams instead of what others expected of me”: Games are compelling.“I wish I’d had the courage to express my true self”: What do you think an avatar is? If you were to go to a game developers conference, you’d likely hear conversations about the same topics as at a luxury travel show: emotion, purpose, meaning, understanding, and feeling. Virtual worlds can be perfect — more beautiful and rich than the world around us. The best games give us opportunities for empathy — shared adversity and opportunity — and they can teach us to respect each other, to understand the problems we’re all facing in the real world. When gaming, people feel like the best selves. They’re inspired to collaborate, to cooperate, to stick with a problem for as long as it takes, to get up after failure and try again. How many of us really manage to do all that in real life? So What Can the Travel Industry Learn from All This? Well, to start, let’s recognize the competition. Game companies are hiring brilliant designers and spending millions to create products that are maximized for addiction. An entire generation has been brought up with these games as a steady part of their lives. That means that travel is already a disruption from their routines. So it had better be worth it. This is where META Travel — that is, travel that makes you a better traveler — comes in. It’s the kind of travel that does everything a computer game would — it stokes emotion, purpose, meaning, understanding, and feeling. Or maybe META Travel is travel that does everything that travel does and everything a computer game would. Neal Stephenson called this the Metaverse in his 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, and it could help us with the necessary shift in perception. Frankly, the real world has some catching up to do. No, I’m sorry: Travel professionals have some catching up to do. How Do We Make Real-World Travel More Like Virtual Worlds? It’s worth remembering what real-world travel can do. It makes us healthier, with studies showing that people who do not travel have high risks of heart attack and death. It relieves stress and promotes creativity, especially when international travelers are purposeful about engaging. ‘ Travel boosts happiness and satisfaction, lowers the risk of depression, and promotes overall wellbeing. It can help strengthen personal bonds, improve job performance, stave off burnout, allow for a feeling of escape, follow different rules. Just like video games, travel can and should offer play, surprise, growth, personal development, transformation, interaction with different cultures, and human connection. What if travel people deliberately used the same techniques as game designers? What if travel people helped their clients travel better? What if travel people played more of an active role in how people spend their time, relax, grow, or transform as they travel? We should all be thinking about these questions. After all, consumers have lately had a lot of time on their hands to think about how important travel is to them and why. And since many of them have taken a pause from traveling, perhaps this is our opportunity to rethink our products. Whether we like it or not, gaming is starting to become serious competition for travel. And if that’s so, how long will it take for AI to start doing the jobs of travel advisors? (Siri, Alexa, and Cortana already know more about us than most people do.) That doesn’t mean we should give up. Quite the contrary. But we do need to look outside the travel fishbowl for inspiration. As legendary adman Howard Gossage said, “I don’t know who invited water but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a fish.” So let’s think bigger. Let’s look to gaming, VR, AR, AI, and Silicon Valley to deliver more for our clients and ensure our own survival. https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership/isolation monthly 0.5 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1614274251550-H3X597BHLECVXPFDASE0/image-asset.jpeg IDEAS - Isolation Isolation is an interesting concept. Humans are such innately social creatures, it’s hard to imagine living a life in isolation. Prisons use isolation as a punishment. Schools are admonished for using isolation as a discipline method, as it’s thought to be too damaging to students’ mental health. All through history we’ve formed social groups and bonds, and those who live solitary lives are often considered ‘odd’ and ‘other’. However, isolation has its own positives which might initially fly under the radar. Being alone is a valuable learning experience. Being comfortable with your own company is a talent that needs to be nurtured and developed, just like any other good relationship. When was the last time you just hung out by yourself and did something fun? I have a friend who likes to ‘date’ herself. Once a month she’ll take herself to an exhibition, or a theatre performance, or simply out to dinner. Her solo-dates are fiercely protected quality time, and perhaps as a result she has a noticeably positive attitude about her sense of self, and belief in her abilities. Being isolated isn’t a perpetual excuse to treat yourself though. We can use isolation to focus on doing unpleasant things we might not otherwise do - finally facing up to that paperwork perhaps. Or actually committing to the online language class. After writing this post, I think I’ll tackle organising my shoe shelves, a 5-minute task that I’ve been promising myself for a year that I’ll do soon. Isolation can be associated with loneliness, being disconnected. It can lead to apathy and loss of direction, and can take a toll on our mental health. But when properly managed, isolation can breed positives. It can make us more appreciative of our communities. It can make us more considerate and aware of others’ needs, and it fosters a connection with those who have no other option but to be in isolation. I know someone who due to a host of medical issues, lives much of her life in isolation. I had never really thought about the mental toll on her lifestyle - having to be so careful when out in public. Constantly washing hands, keeping a distance from strangers. She has been posting tips and tricks online that she has learnt over the years for those of us just starting our isolation journeys. She has learnt to love her own company and knows exactly what her mind and body need to keep them occupied and happy. Luckily for us in the 21st Century, isolation doesn’t actually mean being constantly alone. We have the luxury of connecting with friends and family around the world whenever we choose. But perhaps by being alone for a while, our society will emerge kinder. More aware of the struggles faced by others, and more comfortable in our own company. By thinking of isolation as an unprecedented opportunity for self-reflection and doing good deeds, we can come through the next few months as far better versions of ourselves. https://www.revisittravel.com/thought-leadership/meditation monthly 0.5 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1614273395090-Z1TQH7R7MU4VPAC31ZR0/image-asset.jpeg IDEAS - Meditation Meditation in isolation is a key element of Buddhist practice, particularly for Tibetan Buddhists. Retreating from society allows you the space and time to actually explore your own mind through meditation. It has been found that through intensive isolated meditation, you begin to attend to your mind in a direct and unmediated way. Your mind begins to work differently, and you can perceive life in an alternative way. I found this concept really interesting, as someone who really struggles with meditation. I've many friends who can't live without it; people who have done silent retreats, people who meditate daily. I've had the pleasure (or the misfortune) of spending a 16-hour train ride across India with a meditation enthusiast. The conversation was somewhat limited for hours at a time, but I was intrigued by his ability to shut out the hustle and bustle, the chai-wallas and crying babies, and sink into a peaceful world, located entirely within his own mind. During my research into the topic, I found an article from 1993, detailing the moment 35 monks emerged from a four-year retreat at Samye Ling, Europe's largest Tibetan centre in Eskdalemuir, near Lockerbie, in the Scottish borders. The novice monks, both men and women spent the duration of their isolation without being allowed beyond their dormitories. They meditated and slept in traditional wooden meditation boxes, and did not have any contact whatsoever with the outside world. Once they emerged, they were informed by their retreat master, an exiled Tibetan monk, that the Berlin Wall had fallen, and the Gulf War had both started and finished. This is an extreme example, but isn't the opportunity to switch off and disconnect what we all crave from our holiday time? Escaping to another world, not reading the news, not picking up emails. Perhaps travel in itself, is a form of meditation. Tanzin Palmo was a nun I also came across in my reading. After discovering Buddhism as a Western teenager, she embarked on several retreats in India as an adult. Finally aged 33 she moved into a remote cave on a hillside. She describes how for the first nine years in her cave she would pop down to the monastery to listen to teachings, speak with her guru and pick up supplies. After nine years, she opted to retreat to live in total solitude. Living completely alone and unsupported on the hillside, she grew her own vegetables and spent days at a time in meditation. During week-long blizzards she had to repeatedly dig her way out with a pan lid to prevent herself from being buried in her cave. After three years she was interrupted by a policeman from Border Control who informed her she'd overstayed her visa and demanded she return to the village. Palmo said to a journalist, 'For me, retreat is like inhaling; it's what I was born to do in this life.' Perhaps now is the opportune moment for all of us to take a moment to deeply consider what we were born to do in this life. https://www.revisittravel.com/home-1 daily 1.0 2025-02-09 https://www.revisittravel.com/consultancy daily 0.75 2021-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1589847914069-83LTMROG2H2YB1JMZ1GS/image-asset.jpeg Consultancy - Clients Visionary destination leaders, tourism organizations, hoteliers, developers, family offices and investors retain our services. We lead clients through a project’s conceptual stages and hone their strategic thinking. Then we guide them in the creative process and finally to execute their plans. Our holistic and collaborative approach yields a tangible competitive advantage. In an industry in need of reinvention, clients come to us in search of innovative and unconventional thinking. Taking a regenerative view of travel we demonstrate its transformative potential. Our involvement in projects creates wealth for our clients, for wider society, and positive impacts on the environment. Futurists, trends intelligence agencies, management and marketing consultants rely on our insights in their work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1614264198651-RH740GIMYMILUUFG71R8/image-asset.jpeg Consultancy - On the Shoulders of Giants REVISIT’s practice reflects the latest research and thinking in the art and science of travel and experience design. Our consultancy offers solutions with insight, meaning and impact. Scientists at Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Cambridge and the LSE inform much of our work. The celebrated psychologist Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly informs our approach to choreography and flow. Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky at the University of California provides insight on happiness, while Dr. Yoshifumi Miyazaki and Dr. Herbert Benson offer expertise in the fields of mindfulness and relaxation. Understanding client and consumer motives is a key component of our craft. We use a blend of experience, creativity and research by leading thinkers such as of Dr Marvin Zuckerman, Dr. BJ Fogg, social psychologist Dr. Jonathan Haidt and Dr. Jaime Kurtz of James Madison University to understand the role travel plays in people’s lives. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623416061825-FGY6E6UX3NJYABYL1A54/iStock-1180187740+people+nodes+used+for+REVISIT+website.jpg Consultancy - Behavioural Science x Creativity in Travel The greatest gains to be made in travel today are psychological in nature. Our Behavioural Science Practice works creatively to apply the insights of contemporary behavioural science to diagnose, create and validate opportunities in real-world and virtual travel. Our work includes experience and service design, organisational change and behavioural change. So, if you face an unusual problem, a tricky challenge or behaviours you’d like to change, work with us. All sorts of unforeseen opportunities await you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1625160879439-K6YGP7N9TFP84D143UXP/unsplash-image-w0lI3AkD14A.jpg Consultancy - Welcome to Hyperreality. This is the place where physical and virtual experiences converge. The travel professionals of tomorrow will discover the virtual travel experiences we’re designing today. Imagine a virtual library of VR experiences based on the reality of all your client’s travels. A vast legacy of stories, experiences and real-world travel memories to transport you vividly through time. And when your clients can’t travel physically we create bespoke virtual worlds in which they can learn, play, discover, challenge themselves and connect with family, friends and friends they have yet to meet in lands they have yet to discover. And if you’re developping a tourism industry or a new travel product or service imagine the value of bespoke virtual experiences that build excitement, engagement and connection. Imagine transporting your audiences to places in your imagination before they even exists on earth or in space. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1614264617640-P87BL95UJ5N4MDRJAGVR/image-asset.jpeg Consultancy - Expertise Research: Deep research and situational analysis, risk assessment, untapped opportunities, and define scenarios and drivers the future of your tourism industry. Strategic Planning: Actionable planning, marketing, design, and product development. Thought-leadership, Copywriting & Storytelling: Build reputation and awareness for your brand and initiatives. Behavioural Science: We apply the insights of contemporary behavioural science to diagnose, create and validate opportunities in real-world and virtual travel. Workshops: Workshops to uncover trends, reveal consumer insights, and resolve mission-critical issues. The scope and needs of your project, will dictate who your hand-picked team could involve: academics, tourism and travel strategists, destination marketing specialists, transformational travel experts, hoteliers, tourism communications professionals, award-winning creative teams, online marketing specialists, travel journalists and experts in operations, indigenous culture, project management and product development. We take on a limited number of projects each year. To involve us and add valuable insights to your project get in touch. https://www.revisittravel.com/bio daily 0.75 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622971745679-Z02APVGL9PP8ZI1BUMTX/CMC_Dates__191.jpg BIO https://www.revisittravel.com/keynotes daily 0.75 2021-06-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623879202640-5U3HBT0Z88N3FBZEMUW3/unsplash-image-xfngap_DToE.jpg KEYNOTE - The keynotes Philippe Brown has given: Taught travel professionals about creativity & how to design more creative travel experiences Brought Transformational Travel, its value, principles and methodologies to life Given the audience the tools to think differently & productively about any subject Taught the valuable and applicable principles of luxury marketing Demystified the role of the Trusted Advisor Anticipated the future of travel Explored the future of A.I, AR, VR in travel Clients include: Future Laboratory Virtuoso ABTA TTG Luxury Connections Brown + Hudson Cavendish Medical https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623135567526-V0GZWUB65UVS3B3IK0DR/IMG_6923-ConvertImage.jpg KEYNOTE https://www.revisittravel.com/take-the-test daily 0.75 2021-06-17 https://www.revisittravel.com/professionaldevelopment daily 0.75 2021-06-16 https://www.revisittravel.com/contact daily 0.75 2021-06-16 https://www.revisittravel.com/experiencedesign daily 0.75 2021-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623917115533-6CC1Z4EG9S14Q6CUAM52/unsplash-image-LXsChQXNqWE.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916851109-UYWJNTS5NG4N39DK55B0/unsplash-image-8Iu6NzvLkz8.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916829850-BU493RNKURW19QIZV5O3/unsplash-image--IhgLixx7Z8.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916875740-B95TGFLVI1TOH7H0EZY5/unsplash-image-dMQBXH1J7m4.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916894718-NWYX0195SAP0NUQHI8GC/unsplash-image-0hAdietsUrE.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623919722930-98VJN8DKJP6O4NLMWZ9J/unsplash-image-d9wjEneo6zg.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916936983-AC75DGP6O06KEJ9UCUI8/unsplash-image-hRg1KL4-AUE.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916959228-GP1B0CLI553GWCK9W552/unsplash-image-83K2b2ezNAY.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623916984802-2NEJ7XJKS7EBN4ZQO5CJ/unsplash-image-mwRVgrYslUA.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623917008086-M3GOJLSG01KE7G2FQUA8/unsplash-image-uv4-vl3liKM.jpg XD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623771266004-F943SJ4TVWJUDUPNFJQQ/_MG_8155+%282%29+High+Resolution.jpg XD https://www.revisittravel.com/author daily 0.75 2026-03-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622980437638-196LH76AQJXLR6SM3Z3X/logos_r1_c1+luxx.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622980695442-IORLECNCCQJ33FM6XW4E/logos_r1_c2+CNT.png AUTHOR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622980475052-USRTWVKBZXARR6RBI2CC/logos_r1_c4+robb.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622980616889-6LXZLO39PH2U99801OHD/logos_r1_c5+skift.png AUTHOR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622980511886-2H7L3TV88YNE8434NGCP/logos_r1_c7+berkshire.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1622980653959-31KZEJCK4OW4VLYAAYB3/logos_r1_c3+FT.png AUTHOR - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623157593778-V73WMRXTL79069KGU5N1/THE+IDEAS+OF+TRAVEL+%285%29.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623157539078-IDCZVCU2O3QC9R0NWONY/ULTRA+%282%29.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623159493380-6FZUJ54ISTEQ1F30FPWR/Pillars%2B%25283%2529.jpg AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623157663999-LU10NKQEMD1ETUQH4TI1/TRAVEL+AS+THERAPY+%281%29.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623153287250-BZHS5GLKGHT4AFJC9E27/BookBrushImage3D-07_book_Template-small.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623157729632-G6R60F613P12AY9FNVK6/REVISIT+%282%29.png AUTHOR https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/603779232bb4cb5fe8e13fac/1623157627923-7QK2Q9SWLJCC9GIZMBO5/PRE-FECTION+%283%29.png AUTHOR