“That is a really good commercial,” my wife said of Travelocity’s latest TV spot starring the pictured Roaming Gnome. With exception to the undying use of the finding yourself cliche, I wholeheartedly agree—it’s a wonderful ad.
But instead of the playful humor normally associated with the inanimate humanoid, this year’s gnome takes a more reverent, if not, preachy approach to selling his online booking wares. Don’t travel … Adventure. Do something you’ve never done. Wander so you can tell more interesting stories.
Is that the path to more profound travel experiences? If so, how might that be achieved?
Keith Nowak, director of communications for Travelocity, echoes the gnome’s advice, starting with the distinction between vacation and travel. “There is certainly a lot of overlap between the two terms, but in general, a vacation is best defined as a period of time set aside for leisure travel,” he says.
Those kinds of trips are good for the soul in that they help us unwind. But they often fail at making us more social, confident and interesting. To do that, we need adventure—which by definition involves some level of risk. A skinned knee. A bruised ego. Broken bones. Stuck in a situation you can’t immediately evade. A challenging idea, emotion or lifestyle. In extreme cases, maybe even death.
In that sense, “journeys are best measured in experiences,” Nowak says. Meandering or irregular activities that help us experience something new and unique. Or re-experience a sensation we haven’t felt in a long time.
“It could be an hour, a day, a week or a month—anything from exploring a different part of town to trekking a continent for a month,” he adds. “While a journey can happen during a vacation, it’s mostly a state of mind.”