Welcome to the twelfth edition of VoiceMap’s newsletter, Senses of Direction, where we share stories from around the world that spark curiosity and stimulate your senses.
Today, we’re sharing a delightful video that explains why Mumbai Local passengers are suddenly excited about buying train tickets. You’ll also find ideas from 18th century Florence for mitigating overtourism today, and a personal perspective on what Minneapolis was like the week George Floyd died, on the anniversary of his death.
You can sign up to the Senses of Direction newsletter by entering your details below:
For your sense of ingenuity | Getting lucky on an Indian train
How do you tackle fare evasion in a city as big as Mumbai where 7.5 million passengers – sitting, standing, hanging out the doors, or riding on the roof – commute on local trains every day? You turn train tickets into lottery tickets!
That’s what the Mumbai Division of Central Railways began doing last month in the hopes of recouping some of the hundreds of millions of dollars that the company loses every year to “ticketless travel.” The ingenious ‘Lucky Yatra’ campaign gives one lucky train ticket holder the chance to win Rs10,000 ($120) every day and five times that every week.
🔗 Watch this delightful video about the Lucky Yatra (literally “lucky pilgrimage”) scheme, which features wonderfully uplifting footage of the daily jostle at Indian train stations.
For your sense of justice | Days of rage, nights of fire: Five years after George Floyd
Tomorrow will be five years to the day since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, sparking protests against racism and police brutality around the world.
Award-winning writer and essayist Frank Bures lives a couple of miles from what is, today, George Floyd Square. He created a VoiceMap to document the week of 25 May 2020, “and the moments when it felt like things were spiraling out of control”.
Bures describes the events that shook the country as they unfolded – from George Floyd’s murder on Monday 25th, to the burning of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct and many other buildings later that week – and also draws on interviews with several residents.
On Tuesday 26th, video footage of Floyd’s death began circulating and protesters started gathering at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Bures’ daughters told their father they wanted to join in, and the three of them arrived with some handmade signs. The writing on his eleven year-old daughter’s sign said: We’re better than this! (Or should be.) A few hours later, the crowd dispersed, and there was a calm before the storm.
🔗 Listen to ‘Tuesday,’ Bures’ account of the second day of the United States’ largest protests against racial injustice since the Civil Rights Movement. You can also preview the first three tracks or listen to the whole tour, Days of Rage, Nights of Fire: A History Tour of Midtown Minneapolis.
For your sense of personal space | Lonely Planet’s Guide to overtourism
If you’re planning a trip to Europe this summer, you’ve probably thought about overtourism – and how you might avoid contributing to this growing problem.
But “overtourism” means very different things to each of us. For residents in places with a high concentration of ‘must-see’ or (groan) ‘bucket list’ sites, overtourism can mean being pushed out of the city centre, beyond the best Airbnb locations.
For Angelo Zinna – who grew up in Tuscany and is a contributor to ten Lonely Planet guidebooks – it’s “the feeling of zigzagging through selfie sticks or being caught up in lines of people waiting to share their sandwich quests online.”
And, in the summer 1725, it was British diplomat Francis Colman’s annoyance at “the concourse of English gentlemen” in Florence. “I have hardly had one hour to myself this last week,” he complained.
In his new article, Zinna takes a look at the ‘Grand Tour’ era of travel, half a century before the Uffizi opened as a public museum, and decades before Italy’s tourism industry exploded.
Zinna’s piece – which, somewhat ironically, was written for the travel guidebook publisher who played no small part in the creation of “traveller ghettos” – also offers several creative tips for navigating crowds, reducing your footprint, and making sure you don’t become “part of the problem.”
His best advice? Stay longer and explore more. With 70% of people who visit Italy limiting themselves to just 1% of the country, there’s every reason to travel more widely.
🔗 Read the article here.
Until next time, thanks for travelling with us!
Best Wishes,
Claire
Looking for a thoughtful last-minute gift? VoiceMap’s digital gift cards are a thoughtful surprise for friends and family who delight in discovery. Just add a personal message and choose your delivery date.