6*6 Fantasy Series —6
Imagine you will go on six adventures in six countries
From New Zealand to France, you can choose any country and immerse yourself in it
Louis-Ferdinand Céline says:
“Travel is very useful and it exercises the imagination. All the rest is disappointment and fatigue. Our own journey is entirely imaginary. That is its strength. It goes from life to death. People, animals, cities, things, all are imagined. It’s a novel, simply a fictitious narrative.”
Traveling to diverse countries and living in different parts of the world is one of the greatest privileges you can experience in your life. I remember some of my fondest memories are from my travels:
- Getting lost in the souks of Marrakesh in Morocco,
- Listening to French music and seeing some wonderful paintings near Sacré-Cœur in Paris,
- Wandering among the statues and pirate ships of Skopje,
- Drinking tea and eating delicacies while listening to the call to prayer (azan) along the Bosphorus in Istanbul,
- Swimming and eating fresh fish in Skala Mistagnon in Lesvos in Greece,
- Exploring the crazy range of attractions of Manhattan, New York,
- Getting on the seaplanes from Vancouver to Vancouver Island…
I have traveled to 32 countries in my life, and I learned tremendously in each of my trips and adventures. I had amazing fun — it felt like my mind and soul were on a feast each time I did travel. Since the Coronavirus lockdowns, I have felt a bit trapped at home. My only way to escape was to use Google Earth to fly to different parts of the world. I preferred to fly on the landscapes of Italy, France, Netherlands, UK, USA, Canada, and Japan. It was good fun — although not as fun as the real deal of travel.
When you travel, you get a different perspective on life, you become more open-minded, and you learn tremendously. When you immerse yourself in a different culture, your creativity goes way up.
When you cross borders and experience different cultures, you become a more well-rounded person. You learn a different culture, you get to eat new food, you listen to new music, and you explore new places and cities. You appreciate the diversity of the global community, get to see unique lifestyles, and make new friends from all corners of the globe.
In today’s exercise, I want you to imagine that you have the time, money, and opportunity to travel to six different countries in the world. You will choose six cities/places in six countries that most appeal to your interests. You will choose the duration of your journey and you will decide what type of living experience you would like to have. You can choose to stay longer or work in this place if you wish.
Which countries or cities would you choose?
If you would like to get inspired or informed about different country brands, here is an excellent report on it:
6*6 Fantasy Series
This series (6*6) is about fostering our ability to use imagination and find fascination in unfamiliar places. Strange realms of imagination, fantasy, travel, and fiction. In this series, I aim to bridge the worlds of creativity, fantasy, and imagination. In total, I present you with six imagination adventures or fantasy challenges. I am developing these challenges during the months of August and September. The goal of these adventures is to help you expand your muscles of imagination through designing new worlds, universes, or stories. What you are reading now is the 6th and the last installment of this series.
You can find the first 5 installments of this series below:
Adventure 6: Imagine you will go on six adventures in six countries
In this challenge, imagine that you have the time and resources to visit and live in six countries you choose. You can go to any city or country in the world, and you can spend time as long as you wish in that place. You can work or live there as you wish.
You will create six travel adventures for yourself and you will write six short stories about your plans or itineraries. For example, what sort of experiences would you like to have in each place? Where would you like to stay? What are your goals for travel? You can choose any place to immerse yourself into.
You will choose six cities/places in six countries that most appeal to your interests. You will choose the duration of your journey and you will decide what type of living experience you would like to have. You can choose to stay longer or work in this place if you wish. Which countries or cities would you choose?
Check out the following guides and resources to get you inspired:
Check out UNESCO’s World Heritage List for unforgettable journeys and experiences. It includes 1121 places in 167 countries.
Imagination and immersion are your friends while you are writing. The closer you can get to imagining the fabric of daily life and how it feels like living in that place, the better you learn and develop your cultural literacy.
Even if you cannot travel to these destinations (due to Coronavirus or lack of time/opportunities), you can still imagine that you are transported there, and you are living in it through your storytelling. You can still fly over the landscape using Google Earth. You can play music from that region, and try to order or cook food from that region. You can also watch a movie set in that place. When you start imagining, you can find a lot of ways to immerse yourself in that place. Write down your itinerary and your plans. Create a story out of this, if you can.
As you write, loosen up. Do not judge yourself. Make sure you do this for fun. You can be naive, goofy, and foolish in your storytelling. No one will judge you. You will be constructing stories set in these places and try to make them compelling and exciting. Imagine yourself as a character or as a hero in that city or country.
You can use the following points to create your stories or adventures:
- Describe your travel. Why do you travel? What are your goals? Do you have a bucket list?
- Describe the place/city and the context and immerse yourself in this setting.
- Think about the type of experiences you will have as a tourist or traveler.
- Describe the journey: What are some of the highlights? Where is the call to adventure? How will you make sure that you will learn and grow?
- Describe the overall goal/mission of your visit. Will you meet new people or hang out with the locals? How will you immerse yourself in that culture?
- Create a refreshing and relaxing itinerary for yourself. You can still improvise and incorporate surprises and twists along the way — what would be some risks and rewards in this journey?
- Think of a compelling and satisfying take-away from each visit if you can.
You will create six travel or immersion experiences set in six countries and sketch an outline of key ideas for each travel. You do not need to aim for fully developed itineraries or stories. You just need to write a minimum viable travel plan with some refreshing and exciting ideas. You will make it fast and practical — do not aim for perfect travel. This is meant to be for fun — just play and mess around. Improvise as needed. Be open to emergence and surprises along the way. Try to surprise yourself and your brain.
Finally, here are some brilliant travel movies that will transport you to new places:
