The souks of Marrakech, the marvel of Machu Picchu and the splendour of the Taj Mahal. The ‘Reunification Express’ in Vietnam, the ‘Big Five’ in Africa and the extraordinary feat of engineering that is the Great Wall of China.
These, amongst many others, of course, are the headline soundbites that fill the world’s travel brochures, bucket lists and Instagram feeds. Yet, in my humble opinion, they’re not the best thing about travel. After all, we all know what the Great Wall looks like. And a quick search on YouTube will give us a point-of-view experience of walking through the souks of Marrakech.
So, as amazing as these places are, the big bucket list items are just the back drop to the real magic. For me, it’s the small things that make the biggest memories.
It’s the unexpected encounters.
It’s the surprise shaft of light in a rain-filled sky that perfectly illuminates a temple.
It’s the personal stories from locals that give you a privileged insight into a life very different from our own.
It’s singing your favourite songs under the veranda of a remote lodge whilst a tropical rainstorm rages a few feet outside.
It’s discovering that the world’s best banana pancakes are made by a teenager with a gas-fired hotplate attached to the front of his bicycle.
It’s walking the cattle back home with local Maasai because you happen to have arrived at the village just at the right time.
It’s those ‘pinch me’ moments when the hair stands up on the back of your neck and you know this is a life-long memory in the making.
It’s all the stuff we can’t write about in our itineraries; not because we want to keep them a secret, but because we don’t know what they’ll be.
It’s all the things that makes every one of our adventures unique.
We can put together the plan, hopefully putting you in the right place at the right time, but the real magic is beyond our control.
Adrian Ferraro, Director
STC Expeditions
