There is not one right way to travel and that perhaps is what makes travelling so personal a life experience, uniquely occurring to each of the many hundreds and thousands and millions and billions who derive a certain value out of it. Travelling is indulgence for some, while it is thrilling for some more even when as a lot many different descriptions sit fit for this pursuit in exploring the world in all its offerings of the overwhelming and the ordinary alike. Be it seeking out the beauty of the landscape or the grandeur of its wildlife, or gaping open mouthed at the maverick curations of architecture and deciphering joy in connecting instead with the way of living and culture so uniquely expressive of the place embarked upon, travel sparks a certain curiosity within the confines of the human so deftly and so pronouncedly that only furthers this urge in what occurs as an organised mode in tourism.
But the character of tourism derives not just from the kind of experience it entails. Also closely defining of the whole travel and tourism identity is a very unique realisation that dwells first and foremost on the essence of connection. Connecting not just with the group in which one travels or the specific community with which they experience a sense of belongingness by their individual occurring as a solo traveler for instance but managing to eke out for oneself a relevance in what concerns the current circumstance of their living, for even in travelling one is living indeed life even when in a different way of it.
This aspiration very much embedded in the trails of travelling, of catering also to the real essence of living as a truly learning experience that one can pursue anytime, anywhere in the course of their life, is what has also manifested as a certain type of it. Indeed, travelling can take many forms and assertions in respect to what it is pursued for, sometimes in leisure, other times in work or education even and so on and so forth. And one such characterisation that the larger picture in travel and tourism has spanned across happens to occur as a large still identity of agritourism. Often overlapping with related but distinct still concepts of ecotourism and geotourism, this unfurling of the travel categorisation as one so evidently related to the essences nestled in agriculture and/ or farming harbours in its folds even many an enriching concepts of much intrigue as well.
As something that people live considerable days of their life through, it only is obvious that one of the many requirements that help eke out success for the theory of tourism concerns the availability of adequate means and resources in physical stay. Synergising this exact requirement in living with the holistic model in such travel plans that seek to explore the dynamic process and method and even result of farming is such exclusively touristry concept that resides in a certain understanding in luxurious leisure, even when it is one of the humblest and yet one of the more enriching encounters upon this amazingly diverse field.
Conjuring up visions in sprawling expanses of acres and acres of land steeped in the assertion of greenery, in all its shades with profusion indeed of the myriad hues of produce, of fruits and veggies and flowers and seeds are these entities of what emerge as farm stays- essentially a working farm allowing the alternate option of accommodation in different capacities of working. Definitely idyllic in their setting along the chirpy pastures of the countryside, affording a vision of country life and a feel of the rustic pleasantness unable to be experienced in those zones of the modern human dwelling from which majority of the tourists and travellers of the world venture out are these farm stays that offer a dual package in soaking up the experience indeed of a farm life while also granting access to such sights and sounds and senses that adheres so perfectly to the core travelling motive in leisure, even when variously driven by other associated factors of work or adventure or the like.
Farm stays occur as a definite part of the agritourism narrative, rising to popularity first in Europe during the 1980s and persisting since as a travel trend that is only growing in its prominence owing to its resting an appeal of the most natural leanings. Particularly in Italy farmstays rest in a distinction of their own, occurring as a specific assertion in agriturismo and even beyond that curation in popularity it still is the essence that make these simultaneously trendy and traditional options in ‘vacationing’ an established and yet emerging still prospect so unconventionally stirring of the ideas in tourism all over the world.
Luxurious indeed in lines with the popular perception of them, as spacious expanses abounding in the beauty of all things natural, with farm fresh offerings a point of special attraction that amps up the experience in dining and brunching so as to be relaxing an avenue in travelling, farm stays sure stand up to the fancy image of them in much charm. And what makes them even more encapsulating an experience to live in is also the very engaging mode of their working. Generally allowing of visitors and guests to take part in the numerous activities that might encompass everything from planting and harvesting to feeding animals and milking cows and collecting eggs and plucking fruits, farm stays offer indeed one of the most differently enriching escapades that the immersive idea in touring and travelling can afford and in such residing in realisation and realism that fosters a connection to the true root of all existences.
It though isn’t all essence and profoundness and uniqueness and ethics as well that have made farm stays emerge as an exquisite proposition in exploration within the tourism dimension. Equally assertive can be the economic interests that very often leads farmers and owners to throw open their personal expanses of not just life but livelihood as well to guests and visitors and travellers or even ‘consumers’, as the case might be. As an additional source of income derived upon something very basic to them, this avenue of the farm stays helps the rural population chart out earning options in more certainty.
On the other end of the spectrum that views this arrangement in light of the more urban folks captivated by the charm of the countryside and intrigued by the process of agriculture and even more encapsulated by the concept of farm to table, specifically in their limited exposure to this strand of reality through which life manifests, farm stays are one of the most conducive ways in experiencing first hand this amazing revelation of rural living. Attending as well to their desire in reconnecting with the rural heritage and the culture of farming while being a more affordable and unique still approach in both travelling and lodging are these far more welcoming homes indeed that make them feel more like family and endow them therefore also with a certain sense of belongingness that only further enhances the expression of their world experience.
Availing thus of a truly authentic insight into the local life while satisfying also one’s own curiosity in farming and producing, even as activities that characterise as typically touristry, be it hiking along the village trails or trekking the surrounding mountains or perhaps enjoying a boat ride in the river sustaining that hamlet while fishing as well or watching birds flitter about and around, the farm stay exploration in travelling might occur at first to be only a staying experience but there of course is more to it than just that. No wonder in the times that have unfolded in present day relevance in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic that made more popular travel places inaccessible or perhaps even ‘unsustainable’, this farm staying mode in travelling has charted out even greater fame and commanded a larger ambit of preference for it.
And yet it isn’t only this sense of perceiving nature in her full glory, of course through the human fostering of that essence, that dictates the popular terms of agritourism in being relevant to the farm stay experience. Farm stays also are gaining more and more prominence in recent times owing to their characteristic adherence to such ideals summing up many of the needs of the current times that demand urgent attention.
Whether it be in promoting the concept in responsible travelling that lays emphasis on both the protection of the environment as well as the upliftment of the locals as something that the immensely profitably tourism industry should pursue out of moral obligation or in more physical assertion of such nature through engaging in organic and sustainable community activities so as to empathise greatly with the folks regularly working to that effect while manifesting all the more the geographical, cultural, societal and social identity and uniqueness of the place in which such immersive indulgence in idiosyncrasies has been experienced, farm stays are here to redefine indeed the very nature of travel and tourism for the better.
