The Creative Traveler's Handbook: The Art of World Travel: Life-Seeing Instead of Sight-Seeing.
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The Creative Traveler's Handbook - Elena Paschinger
Culture
My Backstory: The Buzz Line of Creative Travel
It was the summer of 2007 and I was typing the words creative travel
in Google.
Intrigued by what I had studied earlier on in my cultural tourism management course at the IMC FH Krems University of Applied Sciences in Austria, I wanted to know more. Creative travel in New Zealand
was the answer I received to my Google search. Halfway around the globe from where I lived, a dedicated team of individuals was putting new elements of cultural tourism practice to the test. I decided, right then and there, to go in order to live, work, and create with them. At the time, I was 23 years old, with previous life and work experiences in Paris, Madrid, and London and three overseas experiences in Cuba and the United States. New Zealand? I simply trusted it was going to be fine. Luckily, my family did too.
Two years and many creative travel experiences later, not only had I turned my family and newfound friends in New Zealand into firm believers of this thing called creative travel,
but the rest of the world was waking up to this new trend too. Hands-on experiences. Active learning. Participative and engaging. Suddenly, there was a buzz.
In 2008, the city of Santa Fe convened the first ever international conference on Creative Tourism. In 2010, the city of Barcelona launched the first International Creative Tourism Network association. In 2012, I was running my own business, Creative Tourism Austria, and launching the first ever bilingual travel blog on the subject: Creativelena.com. To this day, it is one of the most extensive resources for travelers wishing to learn more about creative travel and its related fields all over the globe.
Solo travel. Food travel. Adventure travel. Luxury travel. All of these related topics have been explored in detail by other authors of The Traveler’s Handbooks series. Weaving them together gives us a first taste of the very nature of creative travel: a mindful, tasteful, experiential, and unique way to see the world. With this book, let me whet your appetite as to how.
My first time practicing creative travel: creating my very own Tiki
stone-carving made from Oamaru limestone found on New Zealand’s South Island.
The Paradigm Shift: From Cultural to Creative Travel
When we talk about creative travel, what comes to mind? A fresh link between creativity, the arts, and traveling? A unique way to craft your own individual travel experience? An opportunity to meet and interact with the local people in each of the places you visit?
Creative travel is all of that and more. As a travel style, it goes beyond the typical boundaries of a fleeting been there, done that
tourism experience.
It is the warmth you feel when you enter a family home anywhere on the planet and learn how to cook and share a meal with the local people.
It is the heat of the Tango that suddenly becomes palpable as you try to keep up with the pace, rhythm, and movements of your dance instructor.
It is the leap of joy when you finally hold your handcrafted souvenir in your hands.
Does this sound familiar? Chances are that you have already been a creative traveler on one of your trips – and if you haven’t, you will want to become one after you have finished reading this book. Let’s take a fresh look at what drives this change, this so-called paradigm shift, from cultural to creative travel.
Vectors of change
As an emerging trend, creative travel is rooted in the rise and mass democratization of cultural travel. The Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) shows that the experiences most enjoyed by cultural travelers are those offering a real taste of the local culture. The more experienced you become in your travels, the more likely you are to add some specific educational goals to them over mere rest and relaxation. In the past, cultural travel was largely based on cultural heritage, such as visits to museums or monuments. With the rise of the creative class, a socioeconomic class whose key driving force is economic development through education and entertainment, this focus is gradually shifting.¹
Urbanization and creativity
Let’s face it: most of us love going to cities, either for a short weekend break or to spend some time getting to know the local culture, food, and people. So what is it that attracts us to urban spaces? Essentially, it is the creative vibe that sets a city such as Barcelona apart from Seville, or Santa Fe apart from San Diego. Creative urban spaces, such as street art districts, food festivals, or other types of events attract not only the resident population, but also travelers wishing to mingle with what they perceive as the local, authentic flair of a place. Picture yourself learning more about what makes a place tick. Cities live and breathe to tell that story.
Life-seeing instead of sightseeing
As a traveler, you are interested in the life of the local residents. You are open to the way their language sounds when they sing, the kind of dance you watch them performing in the streets, and the sweet scent of the spices they like to cook and serve their meals with. Creative travel allows you to bridge the gap from being a mere observer to being an active participant in the local fabric of the place you are visiting.
Co-creation and active prosumers
Creative travel also takes the experience of the destination into account. The buzz word in this context is active
instead of passive. Thanks to your active participation, you are as much a part of the overall travel experience as is the person delivering and facilitating the experience for you.
As travelers, we are becoming more and more concerned about the real identity of the places we visit. There is a rising appetite for individualized and engaging itineraries, and cultural consumers are becoming creative prosumers
by actively shaping their own experiences. The traveler and the host are co-creating a new type of experience through a creative exchange: cooking classes require your effort to learn how to prepare local foods. Craft workshops require your hands to shape a bowl at the potter’s wheel. Dance lessons require you to actually take the first step.
Hands-on, bottom-up, eye-to-eye!
The rise of creative travel has taken cultural travel to a new level of engagement and interaction. More and more destinations around the world have begun harvesting culture and creativity as a potential resource for developing creative travel. Take the example of local women who, rather than serving tourists in bars or restaurants or selling trinkets in markets, are now empowered to teach and co-work with travelers, guiding them in the skills required to make traditional objects of their own culture.
These days, as travelers, you really have the power to impose your demand for creativity upon the traditional top-down approach to tourism development. Hands up, hands-on, it is! And eye-to-eye at that – coming together in order to create allows you to meet your host destination as well as the people in it in a new light, with respect and appreciation. You will discover more examples of this creative travel exchange as this book unfolds.
Why Creative Travel Is for You
Creative travel, despite its name, is not just for the creatively inclined among us.
As human beings, we are naturally creative. It simply runs in our blood. It may even be heightened when we travel. On the road, you take your time. You take that step out of your usual comfort zone. You are open to new experiences around you. You are in the flow.
"When was the last time you did something for the first time? If ‘too long ago’ is your answer, then you might be in need of the very inspiration creative travel can provide."
Let’s consider.
Do you prefer travel to be a rather leisurely type of experience that does not require much active involvement in the local culture? Consider an introductory lesson in the area of your interest or join a themed cultural tour, such as a street art graffiti walk or a tasty local food tour.
Are you ready to take your creativity to the next level? Let established masters guide you in creating your own art by joining a multi-day mosaic workshop in Barcelona, or attend an interactive festival