Worldwide

Happy World Tourism Day!

Why we do what we do and how we do it
backpack & Atlantic watch

ABCity.org is a nomadic programme. ‘It’s a project and it’s a trip’. We believe that we do not need to be statically in one single place if we want to make local impact. We can do this by travelling, connecting and using diversity as a source of inspiration.

On World Tourism Day, we think that our travelling attitude is something to celebrate!

We also think that it is a great opportunity to share our thoughts around tourism, especially knowing that this year’s focus for this special day is on sustainable tourism and how it can contribute to development. Or to social impact.

 

1/ Why do we think that travelling is important?

The very first, easy answer is through Omar Khayyam’s words:

"Life is but a journey, to travel is to live twice".

Life is about learning, giving, receiving, exploring, missing and getting opportunities. And so is travelling in an amplified yet condensed way.

 

2/ Why do we think that tourism can help development and contribute to social impact?

Economic answer: because it creates jobs and represents 10% of gross domestic product worldwide (UN data). And because taking time off helps productivity and increases creativity.

Cultural answer: because it builds bridges, it facilitates exchanges, it reduces distances, it helps deconstructing prejudices and fixed ideas. It shows that things can be done differently in different places; that history, geography and human experience lead to a variety of results… and that’s ok!

Ethical answer: we don’t actually think that any tourism help development and social impact. We need tourism with a purpose… in the same way as we need businesses with a purpose.  

 

3/ What do we mean by ‘tourism with a purpose’?

We mean travelling in order not to consume but to enrich - your mind, your spirit, your body, the place you visit, the people you meet.

We mean doing good when travelling and we mean GOOD travelling. Similarly to what our friends at GOOD travel social enterprise promote.

 

If you want to know more about our way to GOOD travelling, watch this space.

In the meantime… we’d love to hear your thoughts on World Tourism Day! Do get in touch :)

The Business Activist Entrepreneurs Bootcamp

How to boost your business in 21 days
Our brilliant graphics...

21 days ago we completed ‘The Business Activist Entrepreneurs Bootcamp’, a 21-day learning experience that we have very much enjoyed.

Short daily videos followed by useful exercises and accompanied by a funbook.

The aim? Learn how to develop a business idea, secure money to get started and launch!

The hosts? Brandon and Amanda Neely, two business activist entrepreneurs themselves. They that have run a coffee bar for nearly 10 years with the mission to ‘inspire a genuine and local community of people who change the world with their purchasing power, time, and talents’.

Light bulb - what we have learnt

  1. We don’t need a huge amount of time to improve our venture day by day... as long as we’ve got a good guide!  

  2. Key ingredients for success: a vision, consistency, good prep… and a plan B and C. On this, see also last week’s post in case you’ve missed it!  

  3. Oh wow… there are so many more learning learning points. Ok, a good one is that we can all be super-heroes  as long as we know what our super-power is. A simple test can help. 

Heart - what we have loved

  1. It was short and to the point. 1 theme a week. Three weeks altogether. No more than 20 minutes a day to spend on videos or exercises.   

  2. The exercises. Learning for a purpose.

  3. The forum. Great to share thoughts and ideas with other bootcampers and to receive useful insights from the facilitators.

Bootcamp

Smile - what made us laugh

  1. Diligently spending our lunch break in August with the tablet and the headphones on the landing, just out of our office door :)

  2. Some of the comments in the forum space   

  3. Talking about consistency with a creative person who hates planning and deadlines!

Pointing finger - what we take away

  1. An Instagram page with a consistent picture every Weds… prepping for our trip start!    

  2. A revised concept of triple bottom line which is very much in line with ABCity.org’s philosophy - measuring results through money, social impact and fun!     

Shaking hands - what connections we have made

  1. The first fans of our Facebook page were participants in the bootcamp!     

  2. We discovered the Smart Passive Income podcast and through it... The Bakers!     

  3. So much inspiration and good examples from another bootcamper, Sabine @ From Scratch

Bootcamp

Rooted foot - what we knew already and was important to remember

  1. #small matters. From selling coffee beans to setting up an amazing learning & business activist community :)

  2. One thing is to have a story to tell, another thing is to be able to tell it in a way that it’s engaging, inspiring and meaningful for other people

  3. There’s need to really understand what customers want, expect and think like.     

Bin - what we’d kick away (didn’t like that much…)

  1. Having 2 platforms to share comments and learning - the bootcamp forum and the Facebook page. 1 would have been sufficient or having the 2 talking to each other.

  2. A $1,000 worth bonus randomly allocated to a bootcamp participant - mainly because the winner was not super-engaged and we still don’t know what they won!  

  3. The impossibility to join the next step… the BUSINESS ACTIVIST BREAKTHROUGH! Mainly due to logistical reasons as ABCity.org will soon be travelling :)

If you’d like to know more about any of the above, leave a comment below!

If you’d like to know more about other learning opportunities that Brandon and Amanda can provide, this is the link for you http://overflowyourpossibility.com/bootcamp.

And if you want to receive regular inspiration pills, sign up for Overflow Your Possibility newsletter or follow Amanda on Twitter.

Quoting Amanda would say: “Keep overflowing”!

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