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Trail Running in France and The Creativity of Immersion Travel

August 18, 2017 by Lisa Gerber Leave a Comment

Research by Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School, found that immersing yourself in a country outside your own can prompt mental change, including increased creativity.

Creativity is related to neural pathways and influenced by daily life, including your habits or surroundings, The Atlantic reports. Experiencing new things can create new connections in the mind.” – Thrive Global, How Travel Can Get You Out of a Creative Rut

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It turns out the travel bug is good for you in so many ways and today I have no guest – it’s just me, talking about travel, specifically, international and what I’d call “immersion” travel – the kind where you get off the beaten path, beyond the “manicured for tourist” experience and really get to know a place and it’s people.

As you likely know, Patrick and I took a month to live in SW France. We were able to work from there on our businesses and explore the area and truly experience the region. Since we’ve returned, there has been a lot of interest in the trip and how we planned it. I wanted to share some big lessons of our own, and outcomes of this kind of travel. Now, we were lucky enough to be able to take a month to do this. I’m not suggesting it has to be a long time. You could do this for a week if you wanted!

Some of the things discussed: 

  • It’s kind of a financial commitment. so how did we do it?
  • How did we pull it off and make this trip happen?
  • How a month in France. 
  • Planning vs. serendipity.
  • Technology and apps – resources did we use for our trip planning.  
  • Being an American in a foreign country.

Links and resources

  • Thrive Global- How Travel Can Get You Out of a Creative Rut
  • My post on Medium explores Ordinary vs. Extraordinary: What Immersion Travel Taught Me

What the trail markers look like in France:

trail running in france

This way for the yellow and the red/white trail.

trail running in france

Red/white continue straight. Yellow, turn right up ahead. Oh yeah, and there are bathrooms and hot coffee to the right.

trail running in france

Yellow, turn right up ahead. Orange go left. PR 17 (petite randonée/trail #17) to the right.

Locations mentioned

  • Tarn River Gorge
  • Town of Le Rozier
  • Kayaking in Les Vignes

Apps used

  • Gaia GPS
  • IGN topo maps – France topo maps
  • Fooding
  • Google Maps 

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or here or here:
Lastly, I wanted to share with you a new app for finding and listening to podcasts – it’s called Radio Public. You can easily import your podcast list from your current app, explore new ones from curated lists, create your own playlist and share playlists with others. Find The Gear Show on Radio Public.

See you next week!

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Filed Under: Breaking Trail Podcast

About Lisa Gerber

Lisa Gerber advises purpose-driven leaders on how to effectively use the power of storytelling and communication to influence action and bring ideas to life. She guides non-profits and individuals through the digital maze of constantly changing tools to build discovery, loyalty, and ultimately help them achieve their own big leaps. If you like what you read, contact us for more or to subscribe.

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