This blog will try to answer a question: how much detail do you need before your cycling tour and why? I will explain why fewer details could be the answer.
How much detail about your cycling tour do you really need?
You go on vacation – on our type of vacation – to experience the unknown and to see the unseen.
You need some information, but you probably don’t want the whole program spoiled beforehand. We hope that one of your goals is to be...surprised.
Let's be honest: after you settle on a bike tour program, you could google every bit and piece of information on the website and get a comprehensive picture on which you could base your expectations. Hey, not that quick.
The truth is that the actual tour is going to look and feel nothing like your research. And that’s a good thing! Perhaps, your actual highlights will be re-ranked afterward. It's possible that the part of the tour you enjoy the most didn't make your bullet point list. The most memorable moment probably wasn't planned at all.
We HAD to change the wording.
Some travel companies call the document describing a tour a “detailed itinerary.” It’s beyond the point to decide how “detailed” it actually is. We don’t agree with that definition and we have always called ours a “tour summary.” It is a summary, not a day-by-day or hour-by-hour sequence of events.
With a summary, there’s room to fill the blanks. Our guides will partner with you to fill those blanks, and that’s not to be confused with improvisation. We willingly omit things from the tour summary to leave room for spontaneity, for guides to stage something just for you, and for you to be part of it in ways that you could have not anticipated ever.
The role of the guides
Let’s talk about what Tourissimo expects from our guides. They are the link between the traveler and the place and the people you visit. Our trips often take people off-the-beaten-path to places not featured in any guide books, and they are designed by our local guides.
First and foremost, our guides embrace our mission:
We don't want to be the biggest adventure travel company. We want to be the most authentic and the most beneficial to local communities.
We take pride in where we are from. We want to highlight the best of what Italy has to offer and provide a truly authentic experience by creating tours that:• immerse our guests in the local culture and benefit the local economy,
• take our guests behind the scenes, away from the crowds and into the heart of Italy, and
• enrich the lives of not only our guests, but of the people and places they visit.
Too much need for control can damage the experience.
Do you agree? It all depends on how you are. It’s not that the details are too much or too little, within reason; it depends on how you are wired and on your personal experience.
Heather and I, as co-founders, strongly believe in preserving the joy of the unknown. That is also the way we are as travelers.
There was a time when organized cycling tours were much more adventurous in many ways. Then, something changed and the need for data and info took over. But that happened at the expense of the discovery of the unknown. Tourissimo needs to earn your trust and cherish that trust with original, sometimes unconventional, itineraries and activities. I can't be convinced that there's a better way to approach active and adventure travel in the present days. Our lives are filled with info and data and I believe that vacations can do with less.
I hope to see you on tour soon! Be ready for the joy of the unknown. I don't know how much detail you'll need, but probably less than you think.
