Other Routes and In-Camper: Live In-Touch. Two Creators of Transformative Experiences talk about themselves

Other Routes and In-Camper:Live In-Touch.
Two Creators of Transformative Experiences talk about themselves

Other Routes and In-Camper: Live In-Touch, two creators who participated in the Pilot Program, interviewed each other during one of the Pilots in Talk events. Laura, Federico, and Stefano met live in Apical’s FB Community to compare notes and talk about their projects.

Watch the interview

Do you want to know what questions, concerns, and solutions Creators like you have that offer Transformative Experiences?

Find out about them by following the double interview!

Laura: How did your project start?

Federico: We met during the course to become environmental guides in 2019. After that we spent the pandemic period together. We got to know each other and have experiences together. From a hiking perspective, we found that we had many ideas in common. Later, we wanted to start a path together and the idea of weekend excursions was born. From early on, we shared a passion for the mountains, albeit with different approaches. There was also an intersection of external factors, in fact I was doing another activity, in the field of architecture. Then Covid also had an influence, and I found myself having to reinvent myself a bit. So we took the chance and thought it was worth a try. From the spring of 2022, we started jotting down the first ideas, and from there the first contact with Apical was born. We found ourselves here.

Laura: I also took part in the course. At Apical we have always talked about innovation and experience creation. Since you are doing a route that, for better or worse, we often find in the area (for example, the Apuan Alps are invaded by so many associations, so many tours, and so many hiking guides),in what do you think you could give something more than others and how could you publicize your hikes?

Federico: Tough question! It is one of the first questions we also asked ourselves: what differentiates us from the many competitors working in the industry? It is a legitimate question. In practical terms, it is always hiking and walking-related practices. What we share as a type of thinking is that we have taken up the concept of ecology. The discourse is that of rewilding, that is, returning a little “to the wild.” Rewilding is an ecological practice by which ecosystems are restored through animal reproduction and everything is left to nature’s course . So man goes back to being a bit of an animal and breaks away from the anthropocentric view. We wanted to link the attendance of natural environments to this concept. We developed primarily in a natural setting, and it was essential for us to place a special emphasis on this direct contact with the natural environment, leaving behind the comforts and ordinariness of a city life. The aim is to rediscover direct contact through multi-day trips and itineraries outside the more classic circuits that allow users to have a direct experience, in contact with nature and in the context of overnight stays and bivouacs . It is important for us to work on the concept of essentiality. Relationship within and outside the group is another important factor. Doing small groups for us is a key aspect, on par with essentiality and moving away from comfort. Small groups allow for an intimate and exclusive relationship both between the users and the guide and with the outdoor environment. There are several factors we are working on to come up with something different. We have not come to a conclusion but little by little we are refining the project.

Laura: My project is still in a very experimental stage. This project is a combination of is my personal work and my passion. I was born into a family of campers, and I am a camper myself. I then put in my job: I am an instructor for people with visual impairments. For me, it’s about reeducating and returning to those senses that are so often left behind such as touch, smell, taste, and hearing. This isbecause we focus a lot on contact, vision, aesthetics. With blind people I work on the educational part, but also on the more sporty and aesthetic part. Then I made two calculations: many people with disabilities go through a certain kind of path until the age of 18/19 (with support, caregivers, operators, etc.), but once they get to that age, boh. I find myself with kids who at that age have never had a travel experience, which so many times is taken for granted. An experience of pure openness to the world is often lacking.
Later I met Giulia, a blind girl with a great passion for travel, with whom I had a lot of discussions and asked for advice on many ideas. Every year Giulia goes to a sporting event in Tuscany on the Etruscan coast. We went together with the camper, an environment where everything is born, not formal. She, blind since birth, could not know what the inside of the RV looked like but when she sat down she said, “oh, I finally feel at home.” This was kind of the key that started the project idea in me, which was to create accessible trips with an RV. For now I am moving to Tuscany. How? I drive the camper and she “drives” the people who come with us on the trip. We do multisensory travel and focus in the sense of touch, reeducating and stimulating travelers. The RV does not accommodate that many people, and like you, I am of the opinion that the small group creates much more energy: a small, almost uterine environment leads us after a while to open up, both positively and negatively. We realized that after the pandemic many people rediscovered travel. They also rediscovered their own biorhythms, we “stopped” to rediscover our own times. The activities I was thinking of doing are mainly related to the nature dimension, going to research accessible environments and parks. Environments, therefore, affordable to all. My goal is to Change the educational paradigm that is still anchored in society today. Often and often the person with disabilities is seen as a person to be cared for and not a future client or trainer himself. Approaching a blind trainer or instructor leads to broadening one’s range of knowledge, because it offers the opportunity to experience at the n–eighth power an experience.
I am within Apical because, having started from scratch, I did not know the basics. Before I did the Pilot Program, I talked to Nicola to try to figure out if I was a good fit for the acceleration track. I was greeted with tremendous helpfulness by everyone working in Apical. The thing I like most is the idea of being part of a community. For me, it means that, for example, I can lean on others to work and collaborate, trying to make the experience usable.

Are you guys analyzing the pros and cons and your competitors?

Federico: Sure, it’s part of the path and we look around trying to do something different.

Laura: Have you had moments of crisis when you thought that there are already too many ideas in this world?

Stephen: The fact that I think there is already a big market on hiking, trekking and guiding, I see it as an incentive to do something more and to seek out the specialness. There will always be something missing in this world, so the fact that there are so many people offering almost the same things is an incentive in giving something more, not something that demoralizes me. I think there is room for everyone because it is a growing market, interest in these outdoor activities is exploding.

Watch the interview in full

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In conclusion, Laura introduces a reflection: the community that has formed around Apical includes people with similar goals. Stephen also finds that there is a special sensitivity shared by all people in the Community. People find themselves inside Apical because a message of innovation, sustainability and transformation has been communicated.

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MISSION
  • When more people share an intense experience, they naturally become more open, curious and able to understand each other. Experience Makers have the power to transform the lives of the people and territories they traverse, which is why Apical supports them
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Regolamento e procedure anti Covid19

La partecipazione a TUTTI gli eventi organizzati da Apical prevede l’accettazione, da parte del partecipante, del seguente regolamento disciplinare, in cui sono elencate le Misure di prevenzione e protezione per evitare la diffusione da coronavirus – Covid-19.

Per tale motivo il partecipante agli eventi Apical:

– assicura di rispettare le Misure di contenimento della diffusione del COVID-19 espresse

nell’articolo 1 del decreto-legge n. 33 del 16 maggio 2020, ed è a conoscenza delle sanzioni, in caso di mancato rispetto, espresse nell’art 2 del suddetto decreto;

– è a conoscenza del decreto-legge n. 6 del 23 febbraio 2020, articolo 1, lett. h) e i), che

preclude l’accesso ad ogni attività a chiunque sia Positivo al COVID-19 e a chiunque, negli

ultimi 14 giorni abbia avuto contatti con soggetti risultati positivi al COVID-19 o provenga da zone a rischio secondo le indicazioni dell’OMS;

– in presenza di febbre (oltre 37.5°) o altri sintomi influenzali, ha l’obbligo di rimanere al

proprio domicilio e di chiamare il proprio medico di famiglia e/o l’autorità sanitaria;

– se ha eseguito un tampone, per accertare positività o meno al COVID-19, di cui non ha ancora esito, ha l’obbligo di non prendere parte all’attività;

– accetta di sottoporsi, prima dell’inizio dell’attività, al controllo della temperatura eseguito dalla guida. Qualora risultasse uguale o superiore a 37.5° accetta di non prendere parte all’attività.

Il partecipante deve inoltre rispettare le ulteriori norme disciplinari stabilite da Apical:

– obbligo di indossare mascherina, qualora non fosse possibile rispettare la distanza minima di 1 metro dagli altri partecipanti e avere sempre con sé un gel igienizzante a base alcolica da utilizzare in tutte le occasioni, dove necessario.

– niente abbracci e strette di mano.

– rispetto delle distanza minima di 1 metro tra ogni partecipante.

– divieto di uso promiscuo di bottiglie e bicchieri.

– obbligo di informare immediatamente la Guida in caso di qualsiasi malessere o sintomo
 influenzale dovesse sopravvenire durante l’escursione.

Con l’accettazione del regolamento il partecipante dichiara di essere stato compiutamente informato da Apical in merito alle procedure anti Covid da rispettare ed esonera e manleva formalmente Apical da qualsiasi responsabilità di qualsiasi titolo e/o genere e/o natura e/o efficacia, derivante dalla violazione, da parte del partecipante medesimo, delle prescrizioni contenute nel “regolamento e procedure anti Covid” sopra citato.

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