The book “The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel” is a surprising addition to the more traditional line of Lonely Planet themed books.
At the same time, it is an indication of a trend that people are looking for a new ways to travel than just picking a spot to visit.
Experimental travel encourages people to think up new and different ways to travel, without necessarily focusing on a particular destination.
For your enjoyment and inspiration, I’ve outlined some of the most most unique and fun ideas from the book :
- BackPack at Home – Ask a friend to drop you off at an airport and visit the city as if you had never been here. Hang out with other backpackers.
- Spend 24 Hours Blindfolded (with a friend who is not) exploring a new location
- Ero Tourism with Partner – Both travel separately to a new city, try to find each other.
- Night Tourism – Arrive to a new location at dusk, visit the city throughout the night, leave at dawn
- Costume Prop Adventure – Travel somewhere wearing an obvious prop (ie horse’s head), go about your normal tourist business and watch people’s reactions to you. For instance, you could travel while wearing a wedding dress & tux – Act Normal
- Monopoly Travel – Find a Monopoly game for the city of choice and visit all the locations on the board (yes even the Jail and the electricity companies)
- Red Carnation Crusade – With a group of friends or strangers via the web travelling to the same city separately, everyone should wear an easily identifiable item like a red carnation.
- Travel Pursuit – Find out when a friend of yours is going on vacation… follow them & take their pictures without them knowing.
From Time Asia, May 2005, Have Horse Head, Will Travel:
“Experimental travel” is the clever invention of Joel Henry, a French journalist who, in 1990, began devising amusing ways of liberating himself and his friends from the often unfulfilling experiences of conventional tourism. His methods involve the imposition of arbitrary and often absurd constraints that turn mundane travel into a fascinating series of games.
Check Out the LP Website Dedicated to this Book : http://www.lonelyplanet.com/experimentaltravel/
Buy the Book : http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/product_detail.cfm?productID=2738&
Any other books out there that promote a different style of travelling?