What Makes a Journey Feel Deeply Right
People usually describe a successful tour in much the same way:
The weather.
The hotels.
The food.
If they saw everything.
If the guide was okay.
Extra plus, if the guide was excellent.
If the program was fulfilled.
If they had no stomach issues.
Photographs.
Souvenirs.
One beautiful sunrise.
Perhaps a camel ride.
Perhaps one new friend.
After almost 25 years of guiding, I started looking for what more there is. Because I noticed that many people are exhausted on their tours.
Like ghosts. Grey skin, wrinkled faces.
They are walking around almost automatically.
Are not listening.
And not knowing where we are going.
Not even knowing where we are…
So, somewhere during those years, I started sensing that what feels right in travel is something I kept feeling again and again but struggled to put into words.
A Good Journey is not Slow- It has the Right Rhythm
For a long time I used to think that a nourishing journey is a slow journey. But how many times have I drowned in an abundance of time? And how empty the time sometimes felt when there was too much of it?
So I got down to exploring the idea, and I realized that the day needs more.
A good journey is not monotonous.
A journey is not people walking around half asleep dressed in beige wellness robes.
It has aliveness.
And a contrast. Many contrasts, daily even.
You walk through the chaos of the Marrakech medina to finally reach the old, wooden door. Chaos is followed by calm and nourishment when you enter your riad hotel.
I think people flourish when the rhythm is right. Somebody might simply say: when it’s just right.
Right rhythm in groups.
Right rhythm in writing.
Right rhythm in cities.
In art.
And if the journey is to be just right, then guiding has to follow that rhythm, too.
Venice Water Taxi
Our Venetian day was moving toward a late afternoon. I saw that they were moving slowly. Their faces were grey and their eyes were tired. We arrived at the next vaporetto stop. I saw the dense crowd frightened them, and I sensed how exhausted we all were.
One of the things I love about designing luxury journeys is being able to take care of people in the way I truly want to.
I had enough money to spare and was able to take the group out of the crowd and into a private water taxi.
And suddenly the rhythm changed.
Seven minutes later we were standing in front of the Frari church.
The day breathed again.
After the rhythm was broken, it was now restored. The change mattered.
And rhythm also matters in the timing of information, experiences, and learning.
The Right Moment Needs to Come
For the first 10 years of guiding, I was obsessing over content.
What will I say and when. History, geography, culture, customs, food.
My one (out of two) suitcase was packed with notes. I had extensive lists.
I studied in the evening.
I studied in the morning.
I told the group everything I knew and kept on digging for more. I loved it. And I had learned a tone in the process. Now the base of my knowledge is extensive and I can simply take one fact from it when I need it.
Then years had passed. During that time, I was working and learning. I got more experiences and I tried different approaches. And I observed reactions to my various experiments. I learned that timing matters more than to be following the plan. Many times, it matters even more than content itself. But that is another story for another time.
The Berber “Homework”
There is a topic I talk about on a tour in Morocco that lasts for three days.
I used to explain it in one talk on a ride from Fes to the desert when we were crossing the mountains as we entered the Berber regions of Morocco. It is a nice talk and I find it fascinating and interesting, but some people paid attention, others not. And everybody forgot it the next day.
So, I once tried a new approach.
I let it linger for three days.
The first day I presented the group with a challenge. I gave no instructions, just a simple question: “how do we recognize a Berber from an Arab, if we meet them on the street?”
Guessing and ideas started immediately, but I firmly insisted on giving them time.
Time here mattered a lot.
I wanted them to experience and notice it on their own.
So they started looking at the Berbers, trying to get the answer, comparing what they noticed.
Everybody had their own theory.
And after days of looking, anticipation grew.
And they were deeply inside of the topic.
Without me giving a lecture. Not even a word. Not even a hint.
And only after the time felt right and they had gathered their insights, I came with a revelation followed by my talk on the Berber people, by replying to each of their theories and adding facts and insightful stories.
How Does a Rhythm Exist inside Groups?
There is a rhythm inside every group, too. The group develops a rhythm.
Guests know the program and learn where we are going, when we meet and how we travel together…
Then it happens that somebody arrives late.
Everybody notices and feels it.
I think it isn’t really because of the lost five minutes, but the rhythm that was interrupted.
And when I address it and ask to be more cautious with time, I feel a deep relief in the coach. It’s like a heavy stone has just fallen off their shoulders.
It’s like I can hear them think:
She reacted.
She did her job.
We were seen.
The rhythm was restored, and harmony was enabled again.
My Rhythm
Honestly, I think I feel the world and everything through rhythm.
My writing follows rhythm.
I adore rhythm in languages. I can pick up the accents quickly. That is pure rhythm.
(Unfortunately, I am much slower with memorizing words, though)
But I bring that rhythm into guiding, too.
The more I’m close to myself, the more I sense when the rhythm is wrong.
And the more I trust the rhythm, the more alive the journey becomes.
Alja
Elegant Cultural Tours
I write occasional Letters about travel, atmosphere, culture, beauty, and the human side of journeys.
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