Travel these days is much more than simply
ticking off those all-important boxes of must-visit sites and must-do
activities. Enter the learning vacation where picking up a new skill or craft
while immersing yourself in the local culture of the place you visit is the
latest buzz word in travel. Raul Dias shows you just how to go about that!
Tips To Keep In Mind
1. Choose an activity that really interests you and don’t just do it because the rest of your family or travel group is enthused by it. Let’s be honest; kite-boarding isn’t for everyone!
2. Don’t feel the pressure to pack in too many learning activities into your vacation. Remember it is a holiday after all, not an offsite skills course.
3. Do ample research before signing up and make sure that the place or the person from whom you are learning from has the right credentials and is truly an expert in their field.
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t seem very good at that particular skill or craft. Give yourself some time and practice. It’s worth remembering that clichéd phrase: “Rome wasn’t built in a day!”
By Raul Dias
Not content with merely
sitting around sipping fruity cocktails by the beach on your next summer
holiday? We hear you. For most of us these days, the idea of the vacation has
evolved from the one of the past where sight-seeing and picking up souvenirs
was all we ever wanted out of it. And one the greatest agents of this evolution
is the learning vacation. A popular trend in the west, the learning vacation is
now one of the top ways we Indians travel. More and more of us are choosing
this style of seeing the world, while taking back something less material and
more life enriching.
Today’s holiday is all about getting more bang for one’s buck by partaking in more immersive (and dare-we-say, ‘Insta-friendly’) experiences while we pick up skills and hobbies that will not just be with us forever, but skills that may come in handy later. The learning vacation seeks to be the conduit to all this and much, much more.
Imagine picking up a skill like pottery while embracing Mother Nature in all her glory! You can very much do that. Regarded as India’s pottery capital, the bucolic village of Andretta set against the mighty Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh is where all you pottery enthusiasts should head to. Here, the Andretta Pottery and Craft Society in Kangra is THE place to get an immersive experience by staying at a potter’s collective where you will participate in daily hands-on classes to make your own bowls, jugs and other earthenware under the guidance of an expert (andrettapottery.com).
For those with a sportier inclination why not learn to surf in some of India’s best beaches? Located 10km north of the union territory of Puducherry, near the village of Tandryankupam, Serenity Beach is home to the Kallialay Surf School run by two expat Spanish brothers. Here you can channel your inner (hidden!?) surfer as you learn the watersport’s finer nuances by signing up for their five-day surfing course that teaches you all you need to know about cruising the waves (surfschoolindia.com).
The learning vacation shouldn’t be just limited to your domestic travel. Expand your horizons and do things you’ve never done before. For example, the Northern Thailand region of Lanna is well-known as a place, not just for learning and its amazing culture, but also as a bastion of exquisite food. So, on your next Thailand vacation take some time and head up country to the arts capital of Chiang Mai to include some skill-gathering? Sign up for a four-hours long, hands-on cookery class with Chef Chanrat Karatna who will teach you to whip up from scratch local dishes like the Northern Thailand version of the ubiquitous somtamthai papaya and prawn salad and more, all served with sticky black rice that is a specialty of the Lanna region (airthaikitchen.com).
Fancy something a bit fancier? Simple. Learn all there is to truffle hunting when in Italy! A mere 15 minutes outside the Renaissance-rich city of Florence, the forested hills of Bagno a Ripoli are said to be rich with that magical, perfumed haute cuisine ingredient called black truffles. Sign up for a day foraging for and learning about all there is to know about the delicious fungus with truffle hunting expert Giulio Benuzzi and his specially trained sniffer dog named Eda. You will explore the forest near their home and follow Eda’s keen sense of smell and instincts on the track to truffles. And that’s not all. Once you unearth a few delicious truffles, you will be treated to a lunch made from them (giuliothetrufflehunter.com).
While we’ve kept this list to a minimum in adherence to brevity, the possibilities for a learning vacation are excitingly limitless. Learn a new language or hone those salsa dancing skills. Remember that the world is your oyster and it’s never too late to add value to your next vacation.
Today’s holiday is all about getting more bang for one’s buck by partaking in more immersive (and dare-we-say, ‘Insta-friendly’) experiences while we pick up skills and hobbies that will not just be with us forever, but skills that may come in handy later. The learning vacation seeks to be the conduit to all this and much, much more.
Imagine picking up a skill like pottery while embracing Mother Nature in all her glory! You can very much do that. Regarded as India’s pottery capital, the bucolic village of Andretta set against the mighty Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh is where all you pottery enthusiasts should head to. Here, the Andretta Pottery and Craft Society in Kangra is THE place to get an immersive experience by staying at a potter’s collective where you will participate in daily hands-on classes to make your own bowls, jugs and other earthenware under the guidance of an expert (andrettapottery.com).
For those with a sportier inclination why not learn to surf in some of India’s best beaches? Located 10km north of the union territory of Puducherry, near the village of Tandryankupam, Serenity Beach is home to the Kallialay Surf School run by two expat Spanish brothers. Here you can channel your inner (hidden!?) surfer as you learn the watersport’s finer nuances by signing up for their five-day surfing course that teaches you all you need to know about cruising the waves (surfschoolindia.com).
The learning vacation shouldn’t be just limited to your domestic travel. Expand your horizons and do things you’ve never done before. For example, the Northern Thailand region of Lanna is well-known as a place, not just for learning and its amazing culture, but also as a bastion of exquisite food. So, on your next Thailand vacation take some time and head up country to the arts capital of Chiang Mai to include some skill-gathering? Sign up for a four-hours long, hands-on cookery class with Chef Chanrat Karatna who will teach you to whip up from scratch local dishes like the Northern Thailand version of the ubiquitous somtamthai papaya and prawn salad and more, all served with sticky black rice that is a specialty of the Lanna region (airthaikitchen.com).
Fancy something a bit fancier? Simple. Learn all there is to truffle hunting when in Italy! A mere 15 minutes outside the Renaissance-rich city of Florence, the forested hills of Bagno a Ripoli are said to be rich with that magical, perfumed haute cuisine ingredient called black truffles. Sign up for a day foraging for and learning about all there is to know about the delicious fungus with truffle hunting expert Giulio Benuzzi and his specially trained sniffer dog named Eda. You will explore the forest near their home and follow Eda’s keen sense of smell and instincts on the track to truffles. And that’s not all. Once you unearth a few delicious truffles, you will be treated to a lunch made from them (giuliothetrufflehunter.com).
While we’ve kept this list to a minimum in adherence to brevity, the possibilities for a learning vacation are excitingly limitless. Learn a new language or hone those salsa dancing skills. Remember that the world is your oyster and it’s never too late to add value to your next vacation.
Tips To Keep In Mind
1. Choose an activity that really interests you and don’t just do it because the rest of your family or travel group is enthused by it. Let’s be honest; kite-boarding isn’t for everyone!
2. Don’t feel the pressure to pack in too many learning activities into your vacation. Remember it is a holiday after all, not an offsite skills course.
3. Do ample research before signing up and make sure that the place or the person from whom you are learning from has the right credentials and is truly an expert in their field.
4. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t seem very good at that particular skill or craft. Give yourself some time and practice. It’s worth remembering that clichéd phrase: “Rome wasn’t built in a day!”
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the April 2019 issue of Purple Hues magazine of Sterling Holidays https://www.sterlingholidays.com/content/dam/sterlingholidays/footer/files/sterlingworld/purple-hues-magazine-apr-2019.pdf)
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