Deep and meaningful travel

When I was 23 years old, it seemed like everyone I knew was totting up their country counts. Interrailing around Europe, spending a day in each capital. Crossing the globe in their "year out".

Meanwhile, my husband and I had set off on our first big adventure together – teaching English to NATO soldiers at a language school in a small Hungarian town. Three years later, we were still there, grappling with the language, exploring the local area by bike and drinking more palinka than was strictly advisable.

We felt like we'd discovered paradise. And yet I often felt uneasy at the thought of the unexplored destinations lying in wait for us. Shouldn't we be working our way through our long bucket list of still-to-be-seen places?

If only I'd know about Richard Lindberg 's deep travel philosophy back then. It would have saved me a lot of angst!

Discovering Richard's posts, and subsequently visiting One Planet Journey (the world's first deep travel magazine), has felt like a vindication of the years my husband and I spent meandering around central Europe. Although the term hadn't been coined yet, this was deep travel.

Of course, the landscape has changed a lot since then. What does deep travel look like today? How do you do it? Is it for all budgets? Or the prerogative of the rich?

I can't think of anyone better placed to answer my questions than @RichardLindberg. As my guest on last week's Tour Pro Talks, he did an excellent job of defining and unpacking the concept of deep travel, as well as answering questions from our lively and engaged audience.

If you missed it, here's the link to the replay.

What is deep travel?

I began by asking Richard to unpack the term "deep travel" for any listeners unfamiliar with it. Here's what he said:

• Deep travellers begin by asking the question “what should I do?” instead of “where should I go?”: As Richard says: "Experience and purpose is at the heart of every deep travel experience."
• It’s an investment: You spend a lot of money when you travel, and deep travel gives you a higher ROI (through the memories you make, the things you learn, the human connections you make etc.)
• It’s an umbrella term for ways of travelling with intent: Under the "deep travel" umbrella we find slow travel, slow travel, digital nomadism, nature travel etc.
• Deep travel can be seen as a spectrum: Depending on your situation, you might travel more or less deeply. At certain times in your life, you may be unable to spend long periods abroad. However, you can still experience deep travel, even on shorter trips.
• It's connected with certain keywords: For example: intentional, immersive, authentic, sustainable, responsible and exclusive.

Repeat visits: where the magic happens

For Richard, deep travel often involves repeat visits. The first trip to a new place involves a certain amount of reconnoitre work, which can put pressure on the traveller. As Richard sees it: "The first time you go somewhere, maybe you are feeling stressed. There are certain things you have to see."

"It's when you come back that you can be more unstressed and really get to know the community, start forming connections and new friendships."

Richard believes that the "repeat visit" phenomenon offers destinations an opportunity to build lifelong relationships with travellers and increase revenue.

How differently would you do things if you knew your guests would return, year on year?

So it's the age old question, right? Quantity, quality, what are you after?

A prerogative of the rich?

Deep travel is often linked with exclusivity and luxury. But Richard stresses that it is open to all budgets. As he sees it, dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant and dinner from a street-food vendor are both equally deep experiences.

It's the same with accommodation choices. Does couch surfing provide less of an experience than a night at a glamping site?

There are sustainable glamping sites, there are eco lodges, they're quite expensive. But they provide something for a deep traveller as well. But you can also do home stays. You can stay at wineries for free and, help with the harvest and things like that.

Deep travel, slow travel – what's the difference?

This was a question that had long been on my mind. Of course, Richard had the answer.

Slow travel comes from the slow food movement. It's about taking your time and savouring the experience. Primarily, it's about pace.

Deep travel is less about place and more about mindset. If your itinerary stretches to just one day, you can still have a deep travel experience. Even in a metropolis like London.

If you lack the time to travel far, it's worth remembering the experiences you can have close to home. Richard says: "Having that kind of curiosity or openness to be excited about something that's close to you [...] is also part of the travel mindset".

With deep travel, preparation is key. That doesn't mean that everything has to be scheduled like a military exercise. You still leave room for spontaneity. You don't have to fill your calendar with activities all the time. Because these kind of serendipitous encounters you will remember more than anything else.

Deep travel, off-peak

If you're seeking a deep travel experience, consider booking your trip outside of peak season.

Doing so has a range of benefits, as Richard outlines:

• it alleviates over-tourism
• it eases pressure on the destination
• it's a more relaxing experience for the traveller
• temperatures may be milder
• locals are likely to be more receptive
• it can be cheaper

However, as Richard points out, not all destinations are prepared to be visited off-season.

Also, not everyone is able to travel off-peak. Teachers and parents may find themselves tied to school holidays. In this case, Richard suggests checking out some of the alternative (less busy) destinations covered in One Planet Journey.

 Attracting deep travellers

If you're reading this from a travel industry perspective, you might be wondering how you can attract your share of deep travellers. And, according to Richard, you'd be sensible to try to do this. Why? Because deep travellers are a pretty nice bunch.

As Richard says: "They're respectful. They come with a specific set of interests. They're open. They want to engage with the local community. They will probably want to come back. So you have a revenue aspect as well, right? Building that kind of loyalty with people both as a service provider but also the destination itself."

How to go about attracting them to your destination, in that case?

Communication is key. Deep travellers want and expect more. So travel and tourism providers need to analyse the data so they know what their visitors are interested in. Then they need to combine these interests to create something special.

Let's say they're interested in food. Maybe they're also interested in culture. They, you know, create some new experiences that that mix and match, make them exclusive, have the destination, be prepared for the off season. Like we told before, promote alternative destinations in your in your city to to balance out the crowds. Use technology to reduce the friction.

Dig deeper

If you'd like to find out more about Deep Travel, the best place to start is with One Planet Journey. Warning: you might not surface for a few hours! And, of course, you can follow Richard Lindberg here.

Huge thanks to Richard for such an illuminating discussion.

Tour Pro News

Tour Pro Talks will be taking a little break for a few weeks. Next week I'll be in London at The Short Stay Summit and speaking at Your Air Success. Do let me know if you're coming to either of these events. I love to meet people IRL!

After that, I'm having my own deep travel adventure around the Cambridge area with my eldest and youngest (if anyone has any hacks for keeping a 19-year-old and a 4-year-old simultaneously amused, I'd love to hear them).

Tour Pro Talks will be back towards the end of April. I'll be announcing my next guest at the end of this week. Keep 'em peeled, this is going to be amazing!

And, as ever, if you'd like to be a guest on Tour Pro Talks, please get in touch.