The world is changing. And along with it so are we. So are our mindsets. So why not look at the way we travel, a little differently too? Here is what I believe should and will set the travel landscape for a long time to come. connect@theubuntu.life to give your travel calendar a fresh new life! And to walk away from these journeys with clarity, insight, learnings, and deep connections and friendships.
Creative Wellness
I believe that developing our creativity and expression, that unison of mind and body, connecting with our hands is a great way to practice self-love and love for each other too.
- It Brings Dopamine Highs
- It Boosts Physical and Mental Health
- It Powers Your Brain
But creativity isn’t just about what we make. It’s also about what happens to us when we bring our creations to life—a transformation perfectly alive in the idea of ‘creative wellness.’
I have been creating experiential and transformational experiences in some lovely places for some time now. I have experienced the power of such experiences, first hand too.
Travel opens up creativity as we learn from other cultures and environments. These are therefore journeys with master-craftsmen, in different destinations helping us do just that! Spend time inside a master artist’s studio making something with your hands. Learn a new creative skill. You will spend a few days with the artist – learning the skill but also just local life and meeting their friends, cooking with them, meals, etc.
There is contemporary dance, music production, glass art, film and photography, printmaking, papercrafts, woodworking, writing, metal crafts, painting and illustrations, ceramics, culinary, and so much more!
The Quest for Quiet
Can you shut off, truly and totally, shut off your hearing? From the beginning of time, more than the sense of vision, we have been relying on what we hear. The slightest of sounds means something to someone. And back then, it meant survival too.
But today, we all seem to be longing more and more to cut through the noise, physical and mental, and gain access to our deepest, innermost selves. That passive true self who sits away from our social one. We tend to find calm amidst the natural world don’t we? The rustle of leaves, the whispers of the winds, the call of the birds, the ripples in flowing water, ocean song in a shell… By listening to natural silence, we feel connected to the land, to our evolutionary past, and to ourselves.
So then these journeys, in search of quiet, are journeys into physical sanctuaries but also into oneself. It is all about a reset. Alone, with family, with friends, with strangers. It’s about a slower, conscious pace of life with as little planned activity as possible. And we’re finding this quiet from Kalsoy in the Faroe Islands to Haida Gwaii, Maui, various US National Parks and even within some of the cities! From being high in the mountains in Bhutan and Morocco to the salt pans and flats in Bolivia and Botswana, from lakes in New Zealand to Lakes in Finnish Lapland, from monasteries in France and Italy to more remote corners of the world, I’ll help you find quiet close by or further away.
Take the Train
How would you like to travel, (almost) completely flight free?
Right now, flying is the norm for travel. This isn’t the best news for the planet, as we all know but cannot completely do away with. Rail travel accounts for just 14g of CO2 per passenger mile, 20X smaller than air travel’s 285g (Energy Saving Trust, 2018). So if we try to reduce flight travel where possible, we would be more impactful in making travel more sustainable.
Besides, it’s not just more sustainable; it’s also more fun! And what I can get you with my partners, is make your whole train travel itinerary easy and enjoyable! These journeys will be by land and/or sea avoiding over tourism hotspots and favouring off-the-beaten path stops, local transport and locally owned accommodation.
These are specialised journeys (customisable) for now, in UK & Ireland, Europe and even Morocco! And yes, beach and coastal routes included!
And then if you want something really cool and different, there are luxury trains in other parts of the world, like Australia, Peru, Malaysia and even Tanzania to Zambia! that make for oncein- a-lifetime experiences too!
Not just things
Why do you travel? The motivations are numerous and varied. But what if travel was designed around abstract possibilities? Around an idea or an object that is or might have been meaningful to you at some point? When some things are Not Just Things. And these things become the catalysts to my creativity and ideation for your journey. The striking magenta of the neighbourhood bougainvillea. A family heirloom? A rich morning latte maybe? Or that song at your first MTV grind? Maybe it is the smell of petrichor? Or the colour purple? Or that book about mischevious gnomes? Or was it that flat tire on the way home that one time?
A place, a person, a feeling, a moment. It’s something you cherished or still cherish for whatever reason. A reminder of a moment, of sorts. And we know that no moment can happen twice. And so, these things that can curate your journey are Not Just Things.
Step into the Moment
Do you plan a journey only during the typical holiday season? Doesn’t that make you feel like you’re missing out on so many other wondrous things?
What about planning your next journey to follow the auroras, not just the northern, but even the southern? Or eclipses. Or a journey following wildlife migrations and gatherings, on land, in the skies or in oceans and rivers too. Or a journey that follows indigenous celebratory gatherings too!
From travelling to experience natural phenomena to unique traditions and once-in-alifetime experiences, when you open up your travel calendar (and your mind) based on certain events, it brings you a different and probably even deeper connection to the place.
Think southern lights in New Zealand or Tasmania, a 5-day celebration as you hike and dance up to a glacier in the Andes, or maybe a moonlit hike in Cambodia to a secluded pagoda for a blessing from a monk at sunrise. There are monarch migrations in Mexico’s Central Highlands, koyo season in Japan, sperm whales’ calving season in the Azores, kayaking amidst bioluminescent plankton in Thailand or Costa Rica, bearing witness to snow leopards and black bears in Ladakh, photography in the salt flats of Bolivia with the right light, witnessing a mind-shifting journey in the Chadian Sahara, or an indigenous male beauty pageant in Tchad, or even a polar bear migration in the Arctic Tundra!
Taking the Leap!
I am seeing a lot of people up for a challenge this year! And these journeys can be pretty epic! It’s all about fortitude, inner strength and determination, something you do for yourself! It doesn’t have to be extreme; after all everybody’s “Everest” is different!
You could walk the Camino De Santiago, hike the Via Francigena, climb Kili, summit a volcano in Guatemala, go rock climbing in Suru Valley, India, take to the Hebridean way walking and cycling across 10 islands in Scotland, raft the white-water rapids of the Apurimac River in Peru, and then some! Get in touch to plan your challenge for the year!