A propos to our Friday discussion

What a fantastic article! Generally speaking and also in terms of parsing the upside of the “application” process. Thanks for posting, Ansley.

A few more insights into the transformative travel industry:

Written by the publisher of Travel Weekly, a trade mag. He knows his stuff! https://www.travelweekly.com/Arnie-Weissmann/Can-transformational-travel-be-more-than-a-buzzword
The New York Times raises some good issues here (involves the company that threatened me, also gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/travel/transformational-travel-Portugal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.mE8.YjxZ.hEAZH2JVXpFe&smid=url-share
Skift (industry title): https://skift.com/insights/skift-trends-report-the-rise-of-transformative-travel/
And here’s an example of a roundup touching on the trend’s ideas lightly: https://www.travelandleisure.com/trips-to-help-reboot-your-life-7555442

I’m really torn about all this. I believe in travel’s ability to inspire lasting change. But can that experience be manufactured or will it always feel “more like a random jumble of transformational travel imagery, like being trapped inside a constantly updating Instagram feed,” as Charly Wilder described in the NYT?

And even if epiphanies can be orchestrated, should they be monetized and commoditized like this?

It all leaves me very uncomfortable, even if I set aside Explorer X’s slander and threats to sue and blacklist me professionally (spoiler: didn’t happen). It feels like turning something deeply intimate —- and sacred in some traditions — into a sanctimonious gimmick to sell trips and training packages.

Thanks for sharing, Ansley! Definitely great inspo on how to frame a similar piece. It reminded me so much of the photo workshop I did in the Dolomites, which was amazing for exactly the reasons the author described. The woman who ran it was from the area and only worked with locally owned hotels, mountain huts, and restaurants. She explored everything herself first, hired local mountain guides for the tougher hikes, and completely avoided the overdone Instagram spots.

The NYT article cracked me up, especially the part about her doing yoga after chugging wine 😂 But I agree, real transformation can’t be manufactured, HOWEVER, she has a point that the trip she went on, is a sustainable form of travel… I thought it was interesting she said millennials drive the transformation economy, I’d argue it’s Gen Z. They’re so used to instant everything, they want the same shortcut for transformation too.

It actually made me think of all those TikToks of Gen Z riding on top of the Mauritania iron ore train illegally, enduring brutal conditions just for the story (cos-playing being poor??). It’s wild how this craving for instant “epic” experiences shows up. Feels like chasing transformation without the actual depth.

Oooh, Poynter has a free course to orient writers to legal challenges!

Safeguarding your journalism against legal threats | an OnPoynt Webinar

Enrollment for the IIJ’s virtual conference just opened, $49 early bird rate (usually until the end of the year). I’m reaching out to see if the school will receive a discount this year…
https://theiij.com/sessions-26

It looks like the Writer’s Co-op shuttered last year (apologies!), but co-founder Wudan Yan has maintained its resource store

https://www.wudanyan.com/resource-store