ExperienceLess in Köln

This week we’ve received a super surprise. Sara and Maria, two impassioned trourists, decided on their own to breathe some new life into ExperienceLess, the movement we launched last summer to dramatize our belief that the most fun, genuine and special experiences are those that travellers live with local folk at the destination visited.

Following is a video taped by Sara and Maria during their Erasmus jaunt in Deutschland. Without a doubt, it’s these kinds of spontaneous, interest-free initiatives that make the work we do here at trourist all very worthwhile.

Now, let’s see what Maria has to say about this experience:

Q. How do your parents feel about your dedicating “study time” to rummaging through dumpsters for carton, writing up messages and parading through the streets of Cologne with them?

A. First, they thought we’d lost it, it was like … isn’t it a bit dangerous? But once we explained why, what ExperienceLess was about, etc. they gave us their unconditional support. They know I like to travel and live new experiences and they’re thrilled at being able to watch the video over and over again.

Q. You look bundled up in the video. What was the temperature on the day of your experience?

A. It was one of the coldest days I’ve known in Cologne, it was exactly 2 below zero centigrade. We ended up with feet, hands and faces all frozen up. Luckily, we later came across some hot chocolate.

Q. With that kind of cold, what drove you to become experience-hunters?

A. I imagined myself in sandals, bermudas and a backpack sitting on the ground like you guys did in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Istanbul. Once in Cologne, however, I realized that searching for experiences would be considerably more complicated in a city covered by snow during Jsnuary and February. Even so, this didn’t dampen my desire to seek real experiences … since I was also curious about how people have fun in a place whose weather is so different than my own. In any case, if I had to do it over again, I’d definitely do it in the summer when there are more people out on the streets.

Q. How did you feel when people gave you invaluable advice on their town?

A. After tons of stares, comments, laughter and even indifference … you finally feel good that someone wants to share some of their free time with you. It’s nice for people to tell you what they like most about their city and want to share it with a complete stranger.

Q. I’m sure there were some funny moments. Would you care to tell us one?

A. We laughed so hard when a boy told us about his favorite disco in Cologne, which Sara and Lisa just happened to know and always called the biggest electronic-music dump in all Cologne.