It’s been a great year for adventure travel. I savored the snow in January and February; from Nordic skiing at Devil’s Thumb Ranch to snowshoeing at the C Lazy U Ranch to skiing in Telluride, Jackson Hole, and Breckenridge. Then I partook in some of spring’s finest running and cycling, most notably the Jerusalem Half Marathon in March and biking Egypt’s Eastern (Arabian) Desert and Nile River in May. June was all about adrenaline sports, with a white-water rafting and zip-lining trip to Costa Rica, followed by downhill mountain bike racing in Oregon, and finally, a road trip to Telluride for a weekend of dancing at the 37th Annual Bluegrass Festival.
Now that it’s July, I’m taking a little vacation, which ironically means no travel this month. There could be worse things than staying put in scenic and sporty Boulder, Colorado, but after a few days of feeling refreshed, I started to feel antsy. Fortunately, I found a fast remedy. I’m calling it “Inverse Travel.”
Inverse Travel isn’t about traveling, but rather engaging with visitors in your own hometown. We have all done this on some level when we’ve entertained out-of-town friends or family, taking them out for a night on the town, or for a day hiking in the foothills. Inverse travel is similar to that experience, but amplified because you engage with foreigners who are complete strangers.
Consider last week. On Wednesday, I had dinner 2 miles away at my friend Daniel’s place. Simple enough. But Daniel is the founder of The Unreasonable Institute, which means also at dinner were 25 young social entrepreneurs from all over the world currently attending the institute’s 10-week program in Boulder. I hung out with people like Khalida Brohi, from Pakistan, who is working to abolish honor killings from the inside out by working with tribal leaders to foster education and skills among women in their communities. She logs her impressions of Boulder and America at http://khalida-brohi.blogspot.com.
On Friday, my friend Adam, who works as an editor at Running Times magazine and as the Trail Running Community Manager for Salomon organized a BBQ over at North Boulder Park. Kilian Jonet, the international sky running phenom from Spain, was in town with his entourage, as were a few other notable ultra runners.
By seeking out and participating in events like these, I found that I felt fully satiated. In fact, I may never need to travel again. Wait, that’s an exaggeration. But I think I’m really onto something with Inverse Travel. It’s a meaningful way to expand my horizons without even changing the scenery.
What do you think? Have you been Inverse Traveling this summer?
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Jayme Otto is a travel blogger and contributing editor for Women’s Adventure and a freelancer at large. Look for her regular blogs on www.womensadventuremagazine.com.
I've doing something similar to inverse traveling with running and eating. A group of skydivers from Skydive Houston got together and started to run (we are now participating in several 5Ks, Warrior Dash, and Half Marathon). I have been able to see parts of Houston that I've never been to before. It's allowing me to map out routes and see trails.
Another subset group of skydivers from Skydive Houston have also gotten together to explore different restaurants around the city. I do not live close to downtown Houston, but I have been there more in the last couple of months than I'm used to just to visit restaurants. Now, I get a whole new outlook on food. I'm eating food that I would have never touched before. I intentionly pick food that I haven't eaten. It's been a great and rewarding experience.