The Rise of Skillcations

[0:00] Travel used to be about escape. Now it's about optimization. Language retreats, cooking intensives, photography workshops, conservation programs, trips that promise not just memories but measurable growth and experiences. They're called skillcations, vacations designed to teach you something new. And they're on the rise. But today I want to explore something deeper. [0:24] Are we genuinely reconnecting with culture and craft? Or are we turning self-improvement into another product that we consume? Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of Put the Guidebook Down. I am Kiara, your host, and this episode's all about skillcations.

[0:39] Experiential travel demand is surging. [0:42] Travel trend reporting shows massive growth in searches for immersive and hands-on travel versus the traditional sightseeing narrative. But you may be asking, what are skillcations and why are skill-based trips suddenly everywhere? We have to go back a little bit to answer that question, towards the pandemic and how remote work changed travel structure. [1:05] Workforce research from McKinsey shows flexible work enables longer stays and blended work travel lifestyles such as the rise of the digital nomad. And we really saw this shift start happening during the pandemic, and as more jobs shifted from a fully in-person situation to hybrid or even fully remote jobs. [1:26] And this was really the best of both worlds, because now you no longer had to apply to get PTO in order to travel. Now you could bring your travel with you and stay longer. So you could really blend now your productivity from your traditional nine to five with exploration. And as a result, [1:42] we started to see this mirror the experience economy shift that we're now seeing still to this day. So as a result, with people staying longer, people now want to do a little bit more of the immersion and try to learn new skills relative to the culture and area that they're now living in or staying [2:02] longer with their digital nomadic lifestyle. So travelers want that active participation, not just observation. They're valuing more of the doing versus just seeing and taking the photos to check off their lists, which is great. That's what we're all about here. And it's even better because it means that we're seeing more of a focus towards [2:21] that lifelong learning and cultural travel intersection. Even in this day and age, I won't go on it, we've had the episode about AI, but re-skilling and up-skilling is huge right now in the job market. So with the career fluidity, now you have to do constant up-skilling to stay relevant and competitive in today's job market. [2:39] Really this now ability to learn new skills from different areas and cultures is a way as building your own personal brand. LinkedIn workplace learning reports that Gen Z millennials prioritize continuous skill development over previous generations. And this may also be due to the fact of social media. We're not gonna ignore the fact that trying something new, [3:00] developing a new experience or skill, is another piece of content for you to add onto your social media profile. So this is also backed by the algorithm, by seeing these unique learning experiences outperform the generic travel posts. Usually some terminology is "I learned to" versus the "I went to." And this is even current in today's algorithm analysis. [3:22] I just watched a YouTube video explaining a little bit more behind this shift in YouTube's algorithm. Being able to showcase the skills and tell the story of how that user content creator learned those skills just performs better in the long run.

[3:38] And what I like about it is the fact that now you're able to learn some of the skills unique to a specific area or destination that you're visiting. One of the first ones that come to mind that I want to try is even with the different hawks or even hunting styles that are seen in Central Asia, [3:55] you're able to go horseback riding and go with the tribes and learn more about their unique hunting styles. Now, is that something I'm going to be putting on my resume? Most likely not, but it's a way for me to engage deeper with the culture and learn more than beyond the [4:08] surface level of what I may have gotten in a walking tour. So now one might say, okay, like this sounds all good and all, becoming a social currency? My initial answer is going to be yes. It's prevalent amongst social media. I already mentioned how the algorithms are prioritizing this type of content, [4:28] but it's also just going to be another form of connection and community building and cultivation for your personal brand. this in how much the algorithms and these social media platforms are rewarding this type of content, and by seeing the increase in these types of experiences being offered to tourists amongst different destinations around the world.

[4:51] Now I've been talking a lot about LinkedIn and social media algorithms, but let's get back to travel, since this is a travel podcast. So you may be thinking now, well, when does learning abroad deepen cultural connection? How does all of this relate to cultural travel? [5:08] The first one may be easy to recognize or maybe not, depending on where you are in your travel journey. But the first one is really language learning, in real life, in context, and an immersive style. Research has always proven that real life immersion into a language that you're learning, [5:25] whether you are just amongst native speakers or you're visiting the region where that language is spoken, being around that language and having to listen to it more, speak about it, just using it more on a day to day, accelerates your retention and adoption of the language. [5:41] I've had this in my own life multiple times, with my time living abroad in Moldova and being able to gain fluency in Romanian in just after four months, or even in my Bahasa Indonesia class, learning Indonesian in the span of two months to be able to [5:56] actually actively use it at a higher level in my day-to-day once I got to the country. So it definitely is possible. And intercultural education research shows that this immersion improves not just your language skills, but also your empathy and cross-cultural understanding, because you're getting exposure to the culture associated or that utilizes that language, and therefore [6:20] you're interacting with it and having those cultural nuances come out tying to the language, taking you deeper into the immersion.

The next one is a little bit more towards the tourism industry, but also now a little bit into cultural travel, is the economic impact on local communities. [6:36] This really benefits some of the local businesses or smaller businesses trying to get their foot into the door of tourism, because they're able to host these workshops with local artisans and therefore keep the money in the local community rather than feeding it to larger corporations or companies. [6:54] All they have to do is really sign up to be an Airbnb host or one of those experiences, or even TripAdvisor, Viator caters a little bit towards established small businesses. I know because this is how we're seeing some businesses adopt this practice in Moldova, and you're able to make different Moldovan food, make wine, [7:15] stay in guest houses, and it's all because of the focus towards the experience there rather than just catering towards the main tourist attractions.

The third reason is slow travel. We need deeper engagement, obviously, because you're staying longer in the destination in one location. So then you're able to foster relationships within the community that you're living [7:38] and also with the people that you cross paths with regularly. And this helps reduce extractive tourism patterns. Tourism research links slow travel to higher travel satisfaction and reduced burnout. But also, again, back to my earlier point, helps with feeling a more positive impact on local communities and cultural [7:57] preservation, because you're having those times associating with the locals, using the culture, using the language, gaining more exposure to the culture, and therefore become a new unofficial ambassador that can tell your stories about your experiences and skills gained to other travelers in hopes that they too go to that destination and learn for themselves. [8:19] Participation transforms tourists into contributors. Their efforts with being more into the skill development and experiences helps create long lasting memories and therefore gives you the possibility to obtain new skills to bring back with you.

[8:36] Now just like with anything else, there's a fine line between the authenticity versus another cookie cutter [8:42] experience focused on just getting you through the checklist. So you have to be careful and observant when making your choices so you're not crossing that line of self-improvement, these skillcations turning into just another form of performance that's put on for the travel industry. [9:00] One of the main signs is this hustle culture that I have explained in one of my previous episodes, and how it invades into the leisure that may have been in traditional travel, or now making you feel unproductive when you're just trying to rest or stay in one location. This is a lot, [9:20] this is often seen when we talk about social media and how some of the content creators have to keep moving or keep producing since it's their job or where they aspire to be. And then therefore the travel that they're doing just all comes into ROI of a mindset for, if I do this, [9:39] what will I get out of it? Or I have to keep moving to these other destinations because otherwise I'm not going to stay relevant or maybe I'm going to just get bored in a location. And this is fueled by some of those anxieties around the topics that I just [9:56] mentioned, or in terms of the pressure that's now coming with some of the travel industry, that you have to be clicking off the checklist in order to reach the ideal travel destination and vacation. So that's really the hustle culture that may be coming with it.

The second is the credentializing experiences. [10:14] And some places do offer the badges. When we were really into LinkedIn, we saw that LinkedIn badges became a huge thing and employers wanted to see that. If an experience you're signing up for is offering some kind of badge or certificate, really take a second to pause. One, why are they offering a certificate or a badge? [10:34] Is it necessary? or is it just another performance? then secondly, are you still getting an authentic experience? You have to be aware that some of these different skills certification courses are legit and that you do need to gain a certification out of it. However, some of the others like to take the marketing more towards your collecting [10:56] certifications rather than the connections. Sociological studies show experiences increasingly framed as self-optimization assets. So it becomes very much for you and your ROI rather than contextualizing it amongst the community, culture, and experiences ROI and what connection you made through the experience.

[11:20] A third one is a little bit of a bigger picture, in that it's about inequality of access. Time and money start to put those gates to immersive learning travel, which means that it's not equally accessible for every population or on the global scale. Therefore, not everyone can actually get that certification as a result. [11:43] And we start to see maybe people who come from local surrounding communities not being able to afford these different skill classes that are for their own culture, because the prices have been reflected to cater towards tourists and foreigners visiting the area. [11:58] So I would like you to pause here and really think, is growth still meaningful if it's packaged? And who gets to self-actualize through travel? You? The business? The tourism industry? Local communities? And if we're talking about this new rise of skillcations, are we consuming culture as a curriculum? Is this now going to lead to more gatekeeping? [12:20] What does that mean for us?

[12:22] I know I just left you with a lot of questions for you to reflect on. You're probably like, well, Kiara, you're the one that's doing the podcast. Aren't you supposed to answer these questions? Yeah, maybe. But at the same time, [12:31] I want you to also take the time to guide yourself to your own answers and see what you think about it. I'm always happy to see what your thoughts are in the comment section if you're interested in sharing. But really, this is also more of a reflection episode to challenge you to think beyond what the [12:48] labels are giving, and what the bigger picture and impact may be. So to get into the last segment of our episode, we're going to talk about the ethical way to skillcation travel and how do we pursue this different type of learning and travel responsibly. The big one is to learn with, not from. [13:09] Not only does that help make it of a community experience and help with retaining their roots, it's about the reciprocity over the extraction of the content and having cultural humility with it. You want to make sure that the experiences are emphasizing the respect of you as a traveler, but then also towards the host community. [13:28] So there's no verbiage that may be badmouthing the experience or whitewashing the true history and context of that skill and the experience of where it's from.

The next is to prioritize depth over efficiency. That means try to challenge yourself to opt for fewer places in your travel [13:47] journey within that time frame you're staying, and try to develop a deeper presence and immersion into the local community you're with. So instead of going on the whirlwind 20 countries and 20 days list that I'm sure someone's made a YouTube video about, why not try to do maybe five villages within the south of the country you're [14:09] visiting, or even just opt to stay in one city for a week or two and try to really explore and get deeper into that place.

The third one is something that I'm very passionate about, and I know several of our guests have come on the show to talk about. It's supporting community-led programs. [14:26] So this helps with promoting local ownership and cultural preservation. So I'm not saying that you need to go only for businesses that have this amount of people, because then we know that they're authentic and local businesses. I'm saying take the second to pause and really read about the company, the description, the operations, [14:47] and who benefits from it. Maybe try to go for one of the local businesses or community-run companies that you know is going to help with keeping the money in the local economy rather than feeding into a larger corporation. Sustainable tourism frameworks prioritize community decision making. So the communities are running the experience. They know it's authentic. [15:07] They know that's how they want their culture to be portrayed and remembered. And therefore, what you're learning is truly what the culture is, the history is, and not something that someone felt was a better way to remember the place.

Learning should transform perspective, not just profile. Travel is not a productivity hack, [15:28] so stop trying to go through a bunch of destinations in the short time span. And remember that growth requires humility. So you may or may not be able to pick up a skill right away the first time. You may have mistakes, and that's the beauty of growth and trying something new. [15:43] So don't let that discourage you from trying out a new skillcation or from embarking on a skillcation or maybe trying something out of your comfort zone. When we travel, it's our time to step outside of our comfort zone and show a different version of ourselves. I'm a firm believer that when you travel, [16:01] you're showing your true self, and that's your opportunity to really go without judgment.

[16:07] If travel becomes just another way to optimize ourselves, we risk missing the very thing that makes it transformative. Surrendering to experiences we can't measure. Skillcations shouldn't be the problem. [16:20] The intention behind them is where we could see the fault or maybe the loss in authenticity. Travel can teach us many different things: languages, crafts, new skills, histories, perspectives. But if every experience has to justify itself as productive or meaningful, we turn presence into performance. [16:41] Maybe the goal isn't to come home improved or with another badge or certificate to flaunt on social media. Maybe it's to come home changed for the better. I would like to thank everyone for listening to another episode, and I would like to leave you with these two final reflection points. [16:57] Are you traveling to grow or to prove growth? And what would learning look like without an audience? That's one of my favorite ones. If you're open to, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. Otherwise, please check out our channel and the other videos we have. Like, comment, subscribe. [17:15] That's what helps us understand what you're liking to view and where maybe we can grow in a channel and in our podcast. I hope you're able to learn something from this episode and maybe feel a little inspired to start looking at what skillcation is or maybe even opting it for your next Thank you so much everyone. Bye.