We have a new ExperienceLess video! This time it’s from Eider, Leire, Paloma and Nerea, four trourists who’ve spent the last half-year getting the most out of their Erasmus program up in Gothenburg. They wanted to see and live the city from an ExperienceLess perspective and towards that end hit the streets with their sign in tow. Local reaction was excellent and the experience enabled them to sample one of those restaurants that only locals know and get together at on special occasions.
Two of the most fully-convinced trourists from the Community (Oiana and Mikel) recently had an opportunity to live Brazil before embarking for South Africa where they’ll spending the next 6 months. During their visit, they took full advantage of their stay and lived the pre-carnival goings on like any two cariocas (locals from Rio de Janeiro) and never hesitated in bunkering down on a Rio beach in search of real experiences. Here is a video taping of their ExperienceLess adventure:
Green with envy, right? Enjoy your next adventure on the African continent to the max. Looking forward to your news from Capetown.
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.
Eight cities. Thirty-three days. 12.500 kilometers. A motor home transformed into a zeppelin. And one goal: live those experiences hidden to anyone traveling as a tourist; plus, get to know cities with the help of others and enlist the participation of its people.To sum up, that’s been ExperienceLess, an eight-city romp full of rewarding impressions from both a personal and professional standpoint.
ExperienceLess is a spinoff of trourist.com, created for the two-fold purpose of enjoying unique experiences among friends and underscoring our principal ideal: to live the places, rather than merely visit them. During our crusade, we’ve scampered through Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Istambul and Barcelona – cities in which we often resorted to the unconventional in order to meet our objectives.
Seated in squares, parks, even a metro, we’ve held up a cardboard poster bearing the message: “Help! I’m ExperienceLess. I don’t want to visit your city, I want to live it. Thanks.” As you can readily see, our setting was not unlike that of a homeless person and the name of our project’s initiative was not pure happenstance.
Admittedly, there were people who when they saw us understood nothing. Others observed us with indifference. Generally speaking, though, we were quite pleased with the hospitality shown. People gave their time and interest so that we could walk away from their cities with more than just mute stares from historical buildings and museums.
Our backpack of experiences was filled with all kinds of goodies: home-cooked Dutch cuisine with a student in Amsterdam; a hoola-hoop class in a Berlin park, a birthday bash with a Budapest boy, smoking a water pipe atop an Istanbul rooftop, and collectively cooking a potato omelet with a couple in Barcelona, with a follow-up concert to boot. Not bad for four amigos who before the trip were ExperienceLess.
After 33 days of personal enrichment, 12,500 kilometers of fun and sun in eight dream cities, we’re back where it all started – home sweet home. Needless to say, we’re a tad exhausted, but infinitely proud of all the experiences lived at the same time.
A quick mental-rewind takes us to … the hours of coexistence in the zeppelin. Our nerves that first day in Paris. The home-cooked dinner that Neils from Amsterdam prepared for four strangers: us. The fine-tuning our hips enjoyed practicing hoola-hoop in a Berlin park. The semi-debacle in Prague. The Budapest birthday bash that wrapped up at seven in the morning. The unequalled hospitality shown by Istambul’s citizenry. The night-life in Barcelona.
Regardless of whether this ExperienceLess journey is considered a success, the sense of achievement will forever occupy a prominent place in our hearts.
Even though our zeppelin trip has concluded, the spirit of ExperienceLess is still alive. From now on, it’s our intention, to “throw ourselves down” with our sign whenever we can. Not just as a pretext for filling up this blog, but because we can’t think of a more fun and spontaneous way to get to know cities and their people. Besides, it’s one of the coolest things any of us has ever done.
That’s why we encourage you to do the same. Crazy as it seems, just “thrown down” that sign and don’t hesitate to enlist help from locals and get ready for anything on earth to happen. If you can manage to tape, record, or otherwise document your experiences, send them on to us at: experienceless@gmail.com and, well, hunky-dory.
Our journey was approaching its final stage and we could feel it in our bones. We arrived in Barcelona on a Thursday after a long day on the road. Fatigue had taken control of our bodies, but a burning desire to make the most of our last stop dissipated any hint of collective weariness. We still had three days of adventure ahead of us!
Barcelona stood before us majestic, just as it always does: good weather, a general hullabaloo everywhere, neighborhoods teeming with activity and the Mediterranean, finally, making its appearance on our travel log.
After one day of commiserating with friends, we pulled out our markers and drew up one of our posters with a by-now familiar message. On this occasion, we chose Plaza Macba to publicize our desire to live Barcelona. The seemingly endless array of skaters that congregate in this square daily delighted us with their gravity-defying leaps and showmanship. Not only did they provide us with entertainment, but also more than one close call, making this “sit” the most thrilling one to date.
It was here that we received a healthy smattering of smiles from Barcelonans passing by and an equally salubrious share of good advice. But the master plan was suggested by Guillen and Laura, who informed us that that very night Monjtuic (known as the “the magic mountain” of Barcelona) would be experiencing its most special night of the year, with all sorts of activities scheduled up and down the mountain. Not only were our new acquaintances kind enough to tell us, but they invited us to join them and other friends to experience it. We readily accepted!
Things kicked off at Laura’s house, where assorted mates joined in to prepare potato omelets to savor later that evening. Rumba concerts, Brazilian rhythms and Capoheira gym-dance exhibitions were among the night’s entertainment fare. Words of gratitude are forwarded to Guillen, Laura and all their pals for the convivial hospitality shown.
Once again, our sense of being ExperienceLess vanished, thanks to the input and good vibes of others.
Istambul, a city where East meets West and Europe merges with Asia, has captivated a place in our hearts forever. Not only because of the reigning chaos that prevails on each and every street, but also, and perhaps especially, because of the unceasing hospitality and vitality of its people, determined as they are to always put their best foot forward.
We arrived in what was once Constantinople, capital of the Byzanntine Empire one Friday night, and during our first four days, we saw no need to pull out our magic markers and write new posters. Tips from locals came with unprecedeted ease, sometimes after chatting with someone for just five minutes. Never in our wildest expectations did we expect to have our kickoff visit to local drinking holes end up on the Bosphorus, sharing beers with native Turks. Nor the next night when we followed up our initial romp with a sort of karaoke bash, singing our lungs out till five in the morning.
As if things weren’t going well enough already, we did do a special “sit”. The results were remarkable. We do not exagerrate when we say that it took a record 25 seconds for someone to come up with a program of activities that really permitted us to get to know the city and its people. First, there was Damla, an exceedingly friendly and interesting writer, who took us to dine at her favorite restaurant. Subsequently, an amiable lad named Ahmet led us to a place where smoking a water pipe took on a whole new dimension.
Without question, arriving as an ExperienceLess visitor to an unknown city has been one of the most enrichening and fun experiences any of us has ever had. Istambul wins hands down as the city that managed to make us feel most welcome. What a pity that our trip is winding down and the number of stages left dwindles with each passing day.
ExperienceLess is a movement that was born to live, not to die.
You, with your ideas, suggestions, comments, photos and videos, can keep it alive – even make it immortal. Together we can transform it into a meeting point for those of us who travel to live destinations, not visit them.
by haritz
"Hey! Many thanks for the post guys! And keep traveling real! ;)"