Immersive Travel Planning

Immersive Travel Planning – Where to Start

Half of the joy of Immersive Travel is imagining where to go next.

Travel planning is an exercise of imagination, the expression of curiosity, and the definition of a theme.

Imagine  approaching an elegant buffet with a great variety of food and drink, ranging from haute cuisine to more basic. Tempting dishes from the far flung parts of the world. You’re hungry. How do you decide what to eat with so much variety? The problem comes down to choice, with an endless array at our fingertips.

The Challenge of Choice

Such is the challenge in trip planning. The explorable world lies before us like an elegant, well organized feast. We merely need to decide what’s next on our plate. It sounds easy, and it would be if we had constraints. Using the buffet analogy, if we were seafood lovers for example, we would immediately gravitate toward what we liked most, adding that to our plate. And so it is with trip planning. We need to know what we like, or at least what interests us next, either due to our own inspiration, or the ongoing execution of a theme.

Immersive Travel Requires a Theme

The theme is the thread that binds a collection of destinations together into a trip, giving it greater meaning than the sum of its individual parts. Themes are derived from our desires and motivations for travel, and may be geographical, historical, or cultural in nature. See the post on Immersive Travel Motivation to get an idea and find your travel inspiration.

Let’s take Europe as the section of the world buffet we want to explore next. We don’t have the appetite to explore all of Europe, so we need to drill down. We can choose a specific country, or a culture to further refine our trip theme.

An Example

Suppose we want to explore German Language as a cultural variation, and refinement to our work-in-progress theme. This narrows the geography to the borders of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. A circuit that is doable in a couple of weeks by rental car. And would be a wonderfully immersive travel experience. Naturally, this presumes we like German language centric cultures. We need to know what we like.

The approach is to pick a section of the buffet, and narrow the selection down to what accommodates our current desires. Choose a hemisphere, then a continent, followed by a country or region, then select some destinations that allow a theme to flow.

A Developed Skill

Sounds simple, and in reality engaging the imagination is the hardest part, but practice makes it ever better over time. Once the big picture comes into view, what remains is logistics. Airfare, transportation, specific parts of town to settle into, and the all important selection of residence. The residence contributes significantly to the immersive travel experience, and should be selected judiciously.

Wonderful Examples of Immersive Travel Planning

 

Peru Travel Planning Peru Travel Planning - Why Go to Peru –  Peru Travel Planning Peru travel planning can be tricky because there’s tremendous variety for the first time visitor. Options include the vast, arid Pacific Ocean beaches, the steamy, and exotic Amazonia, Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable Lake in the world, the high Andes with ancient Inca secrets like Machu Picchu, …
Travel Planning France and Italy. France and Italy Travel Planning – Highlights of Europe - Motivation – France and Italy Travel Planning A long-time friend of mine asked to join me for one of my immersive travel experiences. More clearly, he asked that he and his wife join my wife and I for one of our immersive travel experiences. I had to give the idea some thought before I agreed …
Portugal Travel Planning Portugal Travel Planning - Motivation – Portugal Travel Planning With architecture dating back to the 1500 – 1800s, when Portugal had a mighty maritime empire, a food culture centering around the bounty of the sea, and a tradition of winemaking that includes fortified, vintage Port, there are plenty of motivations to visit this gem of the Iberian Peninsula.  Portugal’s history …
Croatia Travel Planning Croatia Travel Planning - Motivation – Croatia Travel Planning The Balkans are a part of the continent that must be explored by anyone wanting to see a good representation of European history, geography, and culture. There is so much more to Europe than France and Italy, with all due respect to the charm and allure of this magical duo. Let’s face …
Northern Italy Travel Planning - Milan, Genoa, Portofino, Verona, Como Northern Italy Travel Planning - Motivation – Northern Italy Travel Planning This is about travel planning – an exercise in imagination regarding where to go, and moreover, why go there. It helps me set my own expectations about what’s to come at the selected destinations. The theme of this trip is a selected region within a single country – Northern Italy. …
Travel Planning Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic -   Travel Planning – Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic Motivation This is about trip planning, but more than anything, it’s about an exercise of imagination, the expression of curiosity, and the definition of a theme. Imagine  approaching an elegant buffet with a great variety of food and drink, ranging from haute cuisine to more basic, but …
France Travel Planning - Lyon to Bordeaux France Travel Planning – Lyon to Bordeaux - Motivation – France Travel Planning This would not be an itinerary I’d choose for a first-time visit to Europe in general, nor for a first-time visit to France specifically. This is a combination of destinations suitable to a more seasoned European traveler, and moreover, someone having experienced France previously. Having been to France in the past, …
Chile travel planning Chile Travel Planning – Santiago, The Lakes District and Patagonia - Motivation – Chile Travel Planning Of all the countries is South America, why would I choose Chile as the first to visit for some personal vacation time. Personal safety comes to top of mind as a motivator. Chile is safe to visit, even for those that speak no Spanish, with a low incident of crime. Chile …