Fly home with more than pictures. Fly home a different person.
We like to say that travel can change the world, but just because you travel to another country doesn’t automatically mean your worldview changes.
You can fly to every country in the world and return home with the same unexamined assumptions and beliefs.
We are not changed with good itineraries and hotel reservations. We are changed by each other. We are changed by relationships. We are changed by expanding our understanding of how life can be wonderful, even if it’s fundamentally strange compared what we have always known.
With Beyond Tourism, you can go from uninspired travel that looks a little too much like your hometown to a truly vibrant, engaged intercultural experience.
Beyond Tourism can teach you how to leave behind harmful cultural programming, gain a new perspective on the world, be a competent traveler, and make genuine connections across cultures.
If you’re struggling to find an international experience that changes you, these may be the mistakes you’ve been making…
…Limiting your travel to countries that are similar to your home culture.
…Allowing unexamined cultural assumptions decide where to go.
…Sticking to a tour bus, resort or cruise ship.
…Booking travel based on what is familiar and comfortable.
When you cross an entire ocean, and your hotel room looks the same as the one down the street from home, you’ve traveled in a way that protects you and doesn’t allow for true growth and learning.
““Summoning the nerve to face discomfort is a character skill and is an especially important form of determination. It takes three kinds of courage; to abandon your tried and true methods, to put yourself in the ring before you feel ready, and to make more mistakes than others make attempts. The best way to accelerate growth is to embrace, seek, and amplify discomfort.””
If we’re traveling for change, pictures of ourselves in front of famous landmarks are special, but they’re not what we’re after. Our experiences must have some kind of meaning to really change us. In and of itself, visiting the Eiffel Tower will not change your views, your perspective on the world, or provide you with any challenge that will make you a better, more enlightened person. I have been to the Eiffel Tower, and it was very cool, but it wasn’t meaningful to me.
However, when I visited the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia in Riga, I was changed. I learned how Latvia and its people were brutally occupied by Russia. I met a Latvian woman who shared her personal story of growing up with family members who had been sent to the Gulag. Her knowledge and story changed my view of the world and even my view of current world events and politics.
What changed me in Latvia? A person and her story.
Human to human connection is what changes us. This is the unobservable, invisible, under the iceberg part of culture. When we learn about history, how it impacted families, how and why people are the way they are, and the circumstances around their change, when we have the opportunity to see and get to know a person, even on a short-term basis, we can be changed.
What’s the solution?
Book travel with Beyond Tourism.
We’ll sit down and have a conversation about where you’ve been before, what you liked and didn’t like, and what are new destinations that might be interesting and challenging to you. You’ll never be forced to go to a place you’re uncomfortable (no one is going to North Korea, folks), but you’ll be invited to explore ideas that you may not have thought of before.
“International travel is consistently listed as being among the top three to five transformative experiences in the lives of adults. Experiencing the jarring nature of being removed from our familiar surrounding, when combined with these other practices, is one of the most powerful ways to look below the tip of the iceberg. Those of us with opportunities to travel abroad are entrusted with an amazing resource for deepening our interpretive CQ.”
— David Livermore in
Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage With Our Multicultural World
Beyond Tourism’s services are not for a person who…
…needs a relaxing vacation on the beach (though everyone needs those sometimes!)
…expects people from other countries to act like them.
…prefers to stay in their comfortable cultural bubble.
Beyond Tourism’s services are definitely for a person who…
…wants their travel to change their perspective.
…has an adventurous spirit.
…wants to go beyond the tourist traps.
…is ready and open to what the world wants to teach them.
When you book travel with Beyond Tourism, you also have the opportunity to take the Individual Intercultural Training for a discounted price.
Are you ready to book travel that actually changes you? Fill out this form to get started with the conversation. I’ll reach out with questions, and offer to set up a free consultation.
Hi! I’m Renae and I own and operate Beyond Tourism. I’m passionate about connecting people across cultures, and I also love helping people find the perfect travel experience to expand their understanding of the world and themselves. Beyond Tourism’s services aren’t for every traveler. Sometimes you just want to lay on a beach and relax. That’s not hard to plan or prepare for, and there are many travel agencies well-suited to support you.
You can read more of my story here. I am certified by the Cultural Intelligence Center and you can see my credentials below. I can’t wait to help you grow your cultural intelligence through travel!
