Simple, delicious food
One of our participants from a recently concluded trip to Orvieto in May said upon her return it was hard to explain to people what our trip was like because it is so different, so not like a tour group. While an inability to explain the difference makes selling our trips harder, I took her assessment as a very real positive.
We aren’t just any old travel company. We bring our individual passions and experiences to each trip. The result is something that is hard to put your finger on, hard to quantify, hard to express in a sentence or two, hard to convey when everyone has an image of what travel with a travel company is like.
Making friends with the natives
I think it is fair to say that what we care about infuses and imbues our trips with an exceptional quality and character, making them more rewarding than you can imagine.
I bring a cross cultural history to the table. Born in Iran, having lived some of my formative years in Afghanistan, in a cross cultural family that had culture as its business, I care about connecting with other cultures. I am interested in understanding, appreciating, getting to know, connecting, building relationships in and with other cultures. As a result we connect and people on
Interesting, supportive environment
our trips connect to Italy, Italians, and the folks in Orvieto in a deeper, more satisfying way than they would normally, certainly than with most other travel companies.
The second thing I care about is our man made environment and how it supports human activity and interaction. This is what I did before starting Adventures in Italy. In fact, my first trips to Orvieto were to show how its physical environment is good for us as people. While this is not what our trips are about (except a few where this is what the instructor is focused on), it is evident in the character of the trip. Our people are exposed to the very human environment that Orvieto is. It is warm, supportive, alive, fun, energizing, enthralling, enticing. We aren’t
True friendships develop
running through the streets bagging sites and oblivious to the special environment surrounding us. We are very much in tune with it. This makes the trips uniquely satisfying in a way that is hard to characterize and put your finger on. It just feels good.
Kristi has been a teacher for 30 years and brings her skills at helping people learn to our trips. Additionally, and strikingly, she believes we all have creative abilities, and deny our lives such richness by not trusting ourselves and our talents. As a result, our trips are nurturing of everyone, lifting them up, supporting their talents and abilities. They are reaffirming because this is what
Supporting and nurturing our talents
Kristi cares about and injects into the week’s activities and attitude.
Travel with us is different. It isn’t for everyone. But for those wanting a deeper, more intimate Italian experience, those wanting to develop a talent or interest, those wanting to enjoy a nurturing, stimulating environment, our trips are for you.
Bill, I have tried to convey in my ‘Wild Somerset Child’ blog today what a visit to Orvieto with ‘Adventures in Italy’ is like, without even having participated. Italy almost sells itself, but the added impetus to join you all on a workshop has to be the wonderful opportunity of CREATIVE PURPOSE: an end result, not just a gawping at each and every statue and painting and view through a camera lens. Travel to live, to learn and create; a tour would never enter my head.
You know Ann, I wouldn’t go on a tour either! Ironic then, that I lead them with Kristi. We enjoy discovering things on our own, so we rarely do tours. Yet we do this in Orvieto because our contacts allow people to really enjoy and experience Italy in such a genuine way, and because it is a fabulous way to learn.