Maybe don't do the whirl-wind 2 hour tour of town. I don't know about you, but I'm over the drunk bike trolleys too - I mean what do you really remember from those besides how exhausting it was? I love finding more creative ways to binge some local history and culture. My recent trip to Tucson turned up a gem that speaks to this more mindful travel style.

I only had a few days in Tucson and wanted to get a quick and comprehensive lay of the land. Mission Garden, a living agricultural museum of the Sonoran Desert, checked a lot of boxes for me. I really wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather (don't be fooled ,Tucson is gorgeous 300 days of the year) and I wanted to binge some culture and interact with the locals. Studying food is my FAVORITE way to learn to about anything, history and current culture included. In my planning, I discovered that Tucson was the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy designated in the United States. The rich food culture of Tucson is so diverse and impressive it's literally an international treasure! This didn't just happen because some great chefs moved to town. The Tucson food scene has a history over 4,000 years in the making. I was particularly interested to see how Tucson was integrating traditional native foods and the food traditions of the indigenous people's of the Sonoran Desert. We can't forget that Arizona was pretty recently part of Mexico and heavily influenced by Spanish, African and Hispanic cultures as well. Not to mention more recent contributions from more recent immigrate populations. Mission Garden was fascinating and refreshing - I'd highly recommend it, especially for children!

All of this layering and mixing makes for some amazing food and much more riveting way to learn about a destination than the traditional 2 hour walking tour of the downtown. These are the sort of excursions I like to put into my custom itineraries. I get to know my clients so that I can hand select perfect additions to their itineraries. I love finding new and engaging opportunities that speak to their individual interests such as street mural tours with a chance to practice your own graffiti, tours highlighting the African-American experience, private guided river kayaking tours, local cuisine cooking classes, guided progressive dinners - there are ALWAYS fascinating options that will make more impactful memories than the standard 2 hour bus tour with a guide regurgitating memorized facts while you blow by sites. No thank you. If you want more impactful, interesting travel, message me for perfectly planned travel.