What Comes from Curiosity?
This is a blog that I wrote for Smiling Albino, which is where most of my attention is focussed. However, I want to put it here as well for any stray eyes that may wander this way. It’s a really important message that I think we all need to remember. Over at Smiling Albino the blog is focused on how this type of thinking can be applied to travel, but it really can be applied in any number of arenas - corporate training, personal development, project management, etc. Being curious about the spaces in between will rarely point you in the wrong direction.
When the word 'curiosity is bounching around inside your head like an old DVD televisions screensaver, it's often in your best interest to just let it guide you to new and amazing places. So with that in mind, a story about the benefits of being curious about the places in between.
Staring at megaliths
Crafting an exciting new adventure out of thin air is a relatively straight forward process. That’s why when Smiling Albino does it, we challenge ourselves to create something that’s either never been done before, or that someone else likely could never conceive of doing. That’s where things get challenging.
When we are blessed with the opportunity to craft a unique experience for an individual, we always try to keep one word in mind: curiosity.
A few weeks ago I was deep in the countryside of Laos scouting for a brand new adventure for an ultra-high net worth customer, visiting mist-covered peaks, lush rice fields, friendly villages and magnificent sites like the Plain of Jars. All fantastic places layered in history, but not very exclusive, and unlikely to offer a mind-blowing experience for an extremely well-traveled individual who skydives to relax. How do you impress someone like this?
With my guides taking in the Plain of Jars in Laos' Xieng Khouang province.
So I decided to let curiosity lead me forward.
“Where to next?” asked my driver.
Knowing that the places most people ignore often have plenty to offer a curious visitor, I replied “How about we just drive around. I want to go down small roads and dead-end streets, I want to see the parts of Laos that people never go to.”
Thinking he was driving around a crazy person (and possibly a bit nervous), the driver nonetheless complied, and wouldn’t you know it, we struck gold.
On one lonely street we spied a dusty building with a collection of old Russian military machinery rusting away out front and what looked to be more inside. Upon entering we were greeted by a large workshop with nearly a dozen hulking Vietnam- and Cold War-era vehicles in various states of disrepair. It was a gearhead’s dream, a beautiful, dusty steampunk playhouse with engines and gears and springs and God knows what else lining every nook and poking out of every cranny. Like Mad Max had taken a wrong turn and ended up in a Blade Runner movie.
Mr. Sidvorn's workshop. Endless things to explore.
My driver and I introduced ourselves to the owner, Mr. Sidvorn, who was unsurprisingly a bit perplexed as to why a lost-looking foreigner was staring at his collected junk with a gleam in his eye, but after explaining our purpose we were soon sitting around a table together drinking tea and sharing stories.
As it turns out, Mr. Sidvorn is a mechanical wizard who takes old Russian military vehicles and upcycles them into farm equipment, breathing fruitful new life into forgotten junk that once had a more sinister purpose. He talked about his life as a mechanic, showed off pictures of his family and explained how his neighbor’s son recently found some UXO (unexploded ordnance) while walking around the neighbourhood. Stories like this are commonplace in Laos.
Many hours later my driver and I bid a warm goodbye to our new friend.
This meeting never would have happened without a lust for curiosity. In all my years working in travel and creating some incredible adventures, I’ve found that when we begin in the spaces in between, the places that most people would overlook, we can conjure magic out of nothing.
In my experience, these curious little detours often yield the most human outcomes – the exchange of stories, the shared laughs, the quiet moments trying to understand situations that you can barely imagine. In these moments, surrounded by new faces, you find beauty in the messiness of the world.
As a result of our curious meeting, part of the new itinerary that my team and I at Smiling Albino are building for our adventurous customer will include a private VIP dinner right in the middle of Mr. Sidvorn’s amazing workshop for what will no doubt be a raucous evening of laughter and storytelling with the entire village.
So while the group was sitting there looking at 2,000-year old megalithic structures just across the field in the distance, it was a reminder that the important sites we seek ultimately serve as bookends to an incredible experience. The real magic is what’s created in the spaces in between.
Discussing life, the universe and everything with Mr. Sidvorn and friends.
