Imagine getting a jigsaw puzzle, dumping it on the table, and then finding out there is no picture of what you're trying to piece together. Your puzzle is now one-dimensional and 95% of the enjoyment is gone. This is often the experience in using many tourism-focused websites to plan a trip. Whether it's a day trip or a week-long excursion, why is travel planning so puzzling? What if the focus was on creating experiences? Most websites are created in silos or drop-down menus. There's one for lodging, another for food, and another for things to do. Your job is to figure out how the one-dimensional puzzle pieces all fit together without seeing the picture of the area you're visiting. It's fascinating because we don't live that way, we don't travel that way, but we are marketed to that way. I want a map that can show me where are the places to eat, where to stay, how to get there, and what to see along the way. I like a theme that connects the items together. I am an avid wanderer. I like the flexibility of choosing a different route, visiting something that wasn't in the marketing brochure, finding the restaurants that locals frequent, and the wide open spaces of car travel with me as the pilot. When you drive, do you wonder what it is that you're missing when you're on the road from one destination to another? Several years back I was in southern Indiana visiting with Dan Adams at the Winzerwald Winery, which he owns with his wife. Two motorcyclists drove in while traveling a wine trail. During our conversation with them, we learned that their next stop was Turtle Run Winery near Corydon. I asked if they enjoyed Civil War history and the man said, "Yes, I love that stuff." I told them they were going to be within a few miles of the only Civil War battle fought in Indiana. They got excited and I shared how to get there. The real problem? The wine trail brochure only tells about its wineries, not the places travelers drive by or through on their journeys. We can do better. First, county boundaries only limit the possibilities of marketers. Travelers don't care about county lines and can't tell you what county they're in anyway (and they don't care). Second, when we market by counties, we miss the opportunity to connect assets and string together experiences. For example, the original Whitewater Canal in southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio traversed five counties and three counties each had one significant site. It took a group of innovative leaders to see the possibilities of connecting the canal sites and many other assets to create the Whitewater Canal Scenic Byway, which spawned the Presidential Pathways Scenic Byway in neighboring Ohio. Together, these byways have created experiences by connecting eight counties, two states, six different byways, and lots more than canal ruins. Visit its website to learn more, www.whitewatercanalscenicbyway.org. Third, in many parts of the Midwest, often called flyover states, we can't wow with mountains or beaches, but we have a lot to offer. Small towns with a single point of interest can be threaded together between cities or destination sites to create routes worth traveling rather than racing from place to place, or worse, just to a single place. Our experiences are not sites visited but memories created and stories told and retold. Imagine a nine-county trail – Colleges, Canyons, and Covered Bridges – in Western Indiana that could connect six college campuses (Purdue, Wabash, DePauw, Rose-Hulman, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, and Indiana State). Then add two premier state parks (Turkey Run and Shades), 40+ covered bridges, numerous nature preserves, historical sites, a national scenic byway, river towns (great food, lodging, antiques, shopping), and lots of stories waiting to be shared. Now it's a region worth visiting again and again. Finally, communities and sites must collaborate to find the connections, create the trails, and share the opportunities. Giving me a data set of sites and amenities does not make travel planning easier. Sharing possibilities of connected experiences enables me to plan for two, four, or more people traveling together, each with different interests. Tourism marketers should know what their puzzle looks like and not expect visitors to put it together. Some tourism agencies really get this, many others can't move beyond the trifold brochure or drop-down menus. Why don't we share better? We can. We should. Puzzling, isn't it? Recall a time on a playground when you and a friend hopped on the see-saw or teeter-totter. Bobbing up and down brought joy to both of you. It exciting to be at the top, rising a little off the seat and getting "air." At the same time, you needed to go to the bottom in order for your friend to experience the same joy. There's a thrill in the ups and downs. Now, imagine the two of you standing across from each other straddling your seat while each of you have your feet touching the ground. Without the rise and fall of the board, in perfect balance, there is no fun at all. This is what life is all about. Sometimes work takes precedence, sometimes a health issue. At other times, a volunteer responsibility rises to the top, or maybe a child's or parent's needs. And, don't forget the importance of stepping away for a moment, a few minutes, a day, or a week, enabling you to withdraw and reorient yourself to life's priorities and actions. Like the teeter-totter, you can only relish life's peaks if you experience life's valleys. We are bombarded with the myth of work-life balance. It is elusive and actually misguided. Since when did we give up so much of ourselves that we have only two dimensions left - work and everything else? Do we really seek balance? Years ago, I was working lots of hours, running from meeting to meeting, managing employees, engaging volunteers and everything else it took to direct a membership organization. At the time, I would stop by to see my mother who was suffering from a debilitating disease. She would rest in her bed and I would lay down to visit. Invariably, I would doze off and she would let me rest. Then one day, she said, "You cannot keep up this pace, it's not good for your health." I smugly responded, "I'm not worried about burning the candle at both ends as long as I don't run out of wax." Her reply stopped me cold, "No one will stand over your casket and talk about the meetings you missed." She was right. Even though she and my father worked hard, they understood that there was more to life than work. Life is about service and joy, and feeding the soul. Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore said, "I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." Everyone has mental, spiritual, physical, and social dimensions to their lives and work cannot satisfy all of them. Robert Greenleaf said, "The work exists for the person as much as the person exists for the work." Do you value integrated lives? Yours and others'? Ask yourself these questions:
What if our need for personal growth was encouraged, service to others valued, work fueled our passion, and personal demands honored? How different could our families, friendships, businesses, and communities be if we abandon the myth of work-life balance and seek something more. What if we choose to be Life-aholics? |
AuthorI am a strategic connector-of-dots, cutting through clutter, identifying patterns, and simplifying complexities. I am fascinated by ideas and their connections. “When can we start?” is a recurring question in my life. Turning thoughts into action energizes me. By focusing on strengths, whether mine or someone else’s, I pursue excellence with people and through people. As an engaging communicator I bring ideas to life, energize them, and use stories to simply convey important messages. Archives
July 2016
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