Overview
So what is "Cultural Travel"? Wikipedia explains it as: "travel that emphasizes experiencing life within a foreign culture, rather than from the outside as a temporary visitor".
We translate Wikipedia's concept into our own understanding of what it means to us:
To find a rare gem, you have to dig deep. To discover the pulse of a destination, you have to step outside your comfort zone. To explore the pulse of a destination, you have to be willing to interact with the locals and actively pursue creative activities. The experience: a whole new outlook on life. The gem: invaluable knowledge gained that sets you on a path of an enlightened, spiritually-rich life.
Off-the-Beaten Track
The beautiful small towns, picturesque villages and quaint hamlets have more to offer than you might think; no matter where you might be visiting. They are the pulse of a destination and there are enormous potential to learn what really makes a destination unique.
The fact that the inhabitants in these areas live life in the slow lane is proof that they are more likely to uphold customs and traditions that have been replaced by modernity in the cities.
"Rome wasn't built in a day" it is said, and it rings true for the famous cities that we know of today across the world.
From Humble Beginnings ...
Big city life started with a few tribes who migrated to a certain area in a country, encountered the indigenous peoples of the area, which led to bloody wars survival and occupation on both sides. Ad after the dust had settled and both groups decided to co-exist peacefully next to each other, they started developing the areas into villages
Later, as the number of inhabitants grew, the area had to be expanded. This expansion often happened beyond the borders of the 'original' area, hence you will find that there are many 'old towns' coupled with 'new cities' in places across the world.
The moral of the story? Humble beginnings often evolve into big and magnificent things.
The Heart of Our Vacations
Our tour packages for small groups are therefore focused on introducing you to the very places of humble beginnings. Our vacations to Europe and South Africa is meant for you to experience the customs and cultures of these villages, hamlets and towns; in-depth, and in an immersive environment.
We don't give the big cities a miss altogether. After all, there are a wealth of historical heritage to discover in them too. The only difference is that they are well-known to most travelers across the world. Therefore, the main focus of our vacations is to explore and discover the lesser-known places that most travelers never bother to visit.
Since the big cities and smaller outlying areas that we visit are inter-connected, it's obvious that you'll get a better understanding of what drives the big-city dwellers to seek out these places when taking a much-needed break from their busy daily schedules.
They realize one thing for sure: that one cannot exist without the other; and it would be folly to avoid the big cities altogether. Like the big-city dwellers, we realize that it’s also important for our clients to experience both sides of the coin.
We also concentrate on areas that are not overcrowded, therefore, our vacations are planned around the ‘shoulder season’ when most travelers prefer not to travel. But whatever time of year, we ensure that our groups can enjoy the sights in a leisurely way, except of course, if there happens to be an annual event taking place at the time.
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Our vacations are designed around these events to give you an opportunity to become actively involved in the festivities. Unfortunately, however, we can’t always align all our vacations within the ‘shoulder season’, or during the times when the weather is best, but we try to. We do this by introducing you to the places that are not top-of-the usual traveler bucket list.
Also very unfortunate, is that most events are in or near the big cities, and are well-known across the world. Overcrowding can therefore not always be avoided on a certain day during the tour.
But for most of your vacation you will be among the few visitors who, like you, are in search of a meaningful experience in a foreign destination. Personalized and exclusive services are provided to you and your group through our professional and attentive partners in our destinations.
The inhabitants in the sleepy places are more open and friendly, most probably because their lives are so laid-back and they are in no hurry to get anywhere. This is priceless.
For example, it is well known to seasoned travelers that Parisiennes are the most 'unfriendly' people in France. This may be so, but there could be a good reason behind it - "living the rat race" can be stressful to the point that they might not have the time to be entertaining to tourists all the time. Food for thought!
The highlights of our vacations are the daily activities. Most of them are decided by us, while there are also opportunities for you and your group to explore on your own. This will be over week ends for most of the time, to give you a break from 'walking in formation like soldiers'.
But you can be assured that the activities planned are unique and exciting. You will definitely not be spending all your time only in museums and other historic places. You will also engage in activities that the locals cherish and that you can add to your 'live resume'. As in living the experience!
Welcome to our 'proactive' cultural journeys like you'll never experience anywhere else. Join us on one of our exciting vacations to make the 'proactive' cultural experience your own.
Happy travels and … Carpe Diem!
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Why Travel With Us?
We specialize in giving our groups great opportunities to explore our destinations in-depth so they can learn more, experience more and really expand their knowledge about the inhabitants and their unique customs.
Through our well-experienced and professional partnerships in our destinations, we are able to provide high quality and bespoke experiences and services to our groups throughout the tour.
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Choose us to experience cultural travel the way you imagined it, and make your dreams of 'a vacation of a lifetime' a reality!
Visit the following links to learn more about us, our services and what makes us the perfect choice for you next vacation:Â
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