Adventu.re

One of the most surprising things I found out when I began working for a large adventure travel company was that many of the “adventures” that the company billed to clients as “real life experiences” were actually canned and recycled shows for tourists. Case in point: Thuy, the one armed hat maker in Hue, Vietnam.

Thuy is amazing to watch. She’s overcome a great deal of hardship in her life. She makes wonderful, extraordinary, traditional Vietnamese hats, each with a silhouette built in when you hold it up to the light.

Led by an expert local guide, our group walked through back alleys and seemed to spontaneously happen upon Thuy’s small house in central Hue. We sat in a half circle and were moved by her story and her amazing dexterity. We felt like we were seeing something unique, something special– something truly off the beaten track and real. Spending time watching Thuy make hats was a great experience, one that many of our group held up as one of the most moving experiences on the best day of our trip to Vietnam.

When I later found out that three other groups from my company alone visited that day, and that hundreds of groups visit her each year, I felt a little cheated for having thought I was actually having an authentic experience. The tour leader didn’t inform the group, but I know the group would have all felt differently about the day, had they known how canned the experience actually was.

The number of photographs of Thuy out there on Google Images, Flickr, and Picasa are clear evididence of the sheer number of tourists who visit the one-armed hat maker in Hue each year.

As an industry insider, I look at people’s photographs from their trips to Vietnam and I see the same incense shop, the same back alley motorcycle tour, the same young monk, and yes, the same hat maker. I wonder how many of those clients actually think they’re having an “authentic,” and “unique experience.”

Am I saying, don’t travel with a tour group? No. Go on that adventure trip of a lifetime, but don’t forget that when you’re with a group, chances are someone’s been there before. Use time away from your group to seek out those truly spontaneous cultural experiences that you can only have in a one on one encounter.