Experiential Travel
“Travel slowly, see less, feel more.”
Experiential Travel may be touted as one of the new trends in travel, but as a race, we have always been curious as to what lies beyond the next horizon.
Travel for enjoyment can perhaps be traced back to the 17th Century when those in Western Europe with good incomes would undertake what was known as the Grand Tour, usually through France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and perhaps through to Hungary.
They would travel to experience the culture, literature, art, music, the people and their customs. It was regarded as part of the education of a young man, and occasionally woman. Very occasionally an unaccompanied woman might travel to explore, but writers such as Mary Kingsley (no relation) are perhaps very much the exception of the times.
As transport options improved so too did the numbers travelling increase, those travelling for experiences being drawn from a far wider pool of society. The writer Patrick Leigh Fermor travelled through Eastern Europe as an 18 year old in the 1930s, with some describing his journey as the longest ever gap year.
What is Experiential Travel?
We have many reasons for travel, sometimes just to get from A to B, sometimes to relax on a holiday, or to do business, see family, and then there is the desire to see and experience another culture. Experiential travel is about immersing yourself in that other culture through engaging with its people, food, environment.
You may hear talk that the experience is more important than the destination, but I am not sure that I agree. If you want a wine tasting experience, the destination is important: do you want to drink Rioja, Bordeaux, Valpolicella, or cross to Greece and the Balkans, to the birthplace of wine, Georgia, or go round to Australia or further round to Chile, Argentine or South Africa?
There is such a temptation to treat our travel as a tick box exercise: so many countries been to, this site instagrammed, tried this, done that. Often the emphasis is on what we have done. But what if we shifted the emphasis onto who had we spoken to? What if instead of doing, we allowed ourselves just to be in a destination? What if we we felt the destination?
Travel as feeling
India is often described as an assault on the senses: it’s bigger, louder, tastes spicier, it’s textiles are softer, the aromas are stronger. It is also an invitation to allow your emotions to feel the country.
I saw this piece of street art, Kochi is a feeling. We have to let a destination into our hearts to truly feel a destination, and Kochi certainly made a big impression on me. I felt so free, so relaxed. The people on the street were friendly, welcoming, so willing to speak to strangers.
Goa launched a campaign Feels like Goa at the 2025 edition of World Travel Market. They want travellers to the state to enjoy more than just the famous beaches and lively night life. There is a rich culture beyond the beaches to explore, traditions that can give travellers so much more than a good time one evening, and the opportunity to contribute to local communities.
A traveller’s tale
Jose Joaquin Arazuri (1918- 2000) was a child care doctor in Pamplona with a passion for his home town. He wrote a series of books and built up a collection of some 7,000 photos. The books would sell out almost immediately, and in 1992, the City Council awarded him a gold medal for his work in documenting the city.
His love of his city and his determination to share that love with the inhabitants of the city seem to me to be more deserving of recognition than the American writer, Earnest Hemingway, whose novel Fiesta, subsequently published as The Sun Also Rises, so popularised the Festival of San Fermin, the running of the bulls.
Pamplona may be slightly more difficult to get to than other cities in the region. You can fly to Madrid and then fly to Pamplona, or to Bilbao or Barcelona and take the train.
Whichever route you take, Pamplona is well worth visiting. Its tapas or Pintxos are among the best. It is a small, walkable city, with a lively atmosphere.
It’s probably best visited outside the San Fermin Festival, the famous bull running event in July, unless of course you are a Hemingway type. The city gets very crowded during the festival, hotels are fully booked, it’s hard to get a table in a restaurant.
But there is a reason why Jose Joaquin Arazuri loved his city so much. Travel with me to find out why, and see if you agree with him.
Wine Tasting Holidays
Wine can really define an area. The great wine regions of the world, such as Bordeaux, Veneto and Rioja give you a real understanding of the wine, its geography and its people. You will enjoy the wine so much more.
But wine tasting should be more than just sipping wine. My wine tasting holidays will give you unique experiences and insights.
Read my article on Wine Tasting in Moldova for One Planet Journey here
https://oneplanetjourney.com/moldova-wine-tour-milestii-mici-worlds-largest-wine-cellar/
Sustainable Travel
Sustainable travel is increasingly linked to experiential travel, and vice versa.
As the trend and demand for travel that is more sustainable grows,we have to be careful to distinguish real efforts to make travel more sustainable and what we call “greenwashing,” or false claims to promote a sustainable agenda.
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Tea Tourism
Tea tourism may still be a bit of a niche area in travel but it is increasing in popularity. Like wine, tea allows the traveller to immerse themselves into local culture and tradition.
Not only are teas very different from region to region, so too are the ways in which it is consumed, from an English High Tea to a Japanese tea ceremony.
My tea tours allow you to experience the world in a tea cup.