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Beyond the Guidebook: Experiential Travel Tips

June 10, 2014

Enriching the lives of our clients and friends is the main focus of our Women & Wealth Series. With each event, we seek to provide new ideas and experiences. Our Denver team recently invited Susan Mammel, owner of the Art of Travel, and Elizabeth Montana, owner of Dream Italia, to speak to our guests about stepping away from a tourist guidebook and creating a unique, immersive cultural experience on your next trip.

The luncheon brought together a group of 30 women, who learned from Susan and Elizabeth’s experiences and memories, and came away with three new tips:

  1. Arrange for a culinary experience. In many cities, if you call ahead to a restaurant (or ask your concierge to do so), you can request to sit at the chef’s table and have a truly unique evening. In some countries, Italy in particular, you can even arrange for a full day of culinary fun, shopping with the chef, watching the preparation, and finally, enjoying a delicious dinner. The whole experience allows you to see the marketplace, learn about local foods, and of course, enjoy a fabulous meal.
  2. Meet with a local celebrity. The best advice about any city comes from a local, and why not learn from someone with a little notoriety? If you put in some effort, city officials and authors may make the time to meet with you. Authors often make their contact information public, so an email or phone call could see you spending time with one of your favorite writers.
  3. Volunteer for half a day. Half a day won’t take too much time away from sight-seeing or other activities, and for your time, you meet with locals and get a rewarding experience. Talking to people outside of the tourist sights opens up different adventures and new perspectives. Volunteering at a soup kitchen can be a great way to learn more about life in the city and give you the opportunity to do good while having fun.

Any trip can be turned into a rewarding and memorable experience with a little research and effort. If you’re interested in learning more about creating a trip beyond the guidebook, please feel free to reach out to our guest speakers. Susan can be contacted at info@art-of-travel.com and Elizabeth can be reached at info@dreamitalia.com.

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