WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER13,2019 | THE GLOBE AND MAILO A
LIFE&ARTS TRAVEL | OPINION| PUZZLES | WEATHER
NEWS |LarryTowell:VintagePrints
STEPHENBULGERGALLERYINTORONTOContinuestoDec.21,
GuidedtouroftheexhibitionwithTowell:
Nov.16,3p.m.
Publicreception:Nov.16,2p.m.to5p.m.I
t’s people that photographer Larry Towell cares about. Whether
he’s documenting a bombed-out Russian military base in Kabul,
standing on the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center towers
in New York or caught in a cloud of smoke from a tire fire in Gaza
City, it’s the story of the individual’s part in the event that his lens is
trained on.
In Vintage Prints, the story of Towell’s 40-year career in photo-
journalism is captured in 100 frames – ranging from early work to
greatest hits to never-before-seen images – all documenting mo-
ments in the lives of ordinary people in often extraordinary circum-
stances.
Towell was the first Canadian to become a member of the presti-
gious Magnum Photos agency, founded by industry legends includ-
ing Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa in 1947. Also a talented
poet and folk musician, he has published 14 books, released four
albums and been the recipient of numerous international prizes for
his photography, including several first-place World Press Photo
awards.
But as much as he is any of his accomplishments, Towell is also a
family man and sharecropper – he currently lives on a 30-hectare
plot of land in Southwestern Ontario, where his daily uniform con-
sists of a straw hat and suspenders. His business card describes him
simply as “Human Being.”
Although his work has taken him all over the world, from India to
Guatemala, El Salvador to Palestine, and Mexico to Afghanistan, it’s
the condition of landlessness that seems to capture his attention. To
visit this version of the world stitched together through Towell’s
stills is to gain a lesson in how to live meaningfully, and with humili-
ty: take your time, pay attention, make eye contact. Living at the
frenzied pace of the endless scroll in a landscape mediated by social
networking will leave anyone feeling dispossessed – it’s artists such
as Towell who provide the grounding that will guide us toward
reclaiming a truer sense of self.LARRYTOWELL/MAGNUMPHOTOS ROSIEPRATA,SpecialtoTheGlobeandMail[PHOTOGRAPHY]Amanofthepeople
I
n January, Vanessa Monterrey Dugré
and her mother sat nervously in a taxi
on the way to Montreal’s Pierre Elliott
Trudeau International Airport. They
knew they were about to fly somewhere,
but had no idea where.
Then, with a deep breath, the 29-year-
old nurse ripped open a sealed envelope
and discovered tickets to Costa Rica.
“It was nerve-racking,” Dugré said. “I
doubted what I put in my suitcase. I wor-
ried I wouldn’t like the trip. But then it was
just excitement, a feeling of freedom and
joy.”
Dugré and her mother weren’t compet-
itors onThe Amazing Race, nor had they
won some sort of prize. They had contract-
ed Jubel, a tech-focused travel booking
firm, to organize their vacation and keep
the destination a secret until the very last
moment.
Jubel is just one of a growing number of
companies that provide surprise or mys-
tery travel services. As well as giving trav-
ellers their own reality-TV moment, these
operators offer the chance for people to
free themselves from the tyranny of plan-
ning and prior expectations.
But unlike the old-school penny-
pincher technique of heading to the airport
in the hopes of getting a standby flight, the
new surprise travel tends to be highly cus-
tomized. The process begins with an online
form or a discussion with an agent about
likes and dislikes (scenery preference:
plains or mountains?) to make sure the
itinerary will suit. Instructions are provid-
ed for what to pack, a date is settled, then
it’s off to the airport.
Clearly, surprise travel is a niche, but it’s
growing in popularity. When adventure-
travel giant Intrepid launched its Unchart-
ed Expedition – a one-off trip with a start
point, an end point and a whole lot of mys-
tery in between – in 2018, more than 1,
travellers applied for a spot. The company
had a similar response when it launched a
follow-up itinerary for 2020, and plans are
afoot for further adventures on more conti-
nents.
For some, it seems, surprise travel offers
people a chance to reconnect with sponta-
neity and a sense of adventure that has
been lost in a carefully curated, heavily
Instagrammed world.
“Social media has made it very easy to
share, filter and curate experiences, and
perhaps travel can look a bit homogenized
through that social-media lens, but we still
find that travellers from all walks of life
want to experience something new and get
off the beaten track,” said Michael Edwards,
Intrepid’s North American director.
That was certainly true for Dugré, who
relished the chance to get out of her com-
fort zone. “I would never have gone to Cos-
ta Rica because my dad is from Nicaragua
and it’s so close. But because I didn’t get to
choose, I discovered a country that I fell in
love with. It’s all about letting go.”
For others, surprise travel is simply a way
of conquering indecision.
“I couldn’t quite decide where to go,”
said Sue Rollins, a 58-year-old HR specialist
from Belleville, Ont.
“I honestly knew that I was ready to go
somewhere again, and at first I was think-
ing Egypt or India, but I’m getting a bit ol-
der now and I was a little bit hesitant. Then I
saw an ad pop up on my Facebook feed and
the idea caught my interest right away. I
just thought it was the coolest thing ever.”
Rollins ended up booking a two-month,
six-country solo surprise trip through Cen-
tral Europe with the Canadian agency Mys-
tery Adventures, only discovering her next
destination when she was ready to depart
the last one. Not only was it a great vaca-
tion, she said, but a chance for personal
growth.
“It was a little bit scary for sure. But I did
things I never would have. I don’t do sub-
way or local transit normally because I wor-
ry about getting lost, but I had no choice. I
had to figure it out. And it ended up being
spectacular. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”SpecialtoTheGlobeandMailMission:Unknown?Mysterytripstakeoff
Surprise-travelserviceshavecustomersfilloutanonlineformordiscusswithanagenttheirlikesanddislikes,suchasscenerypreferences,
thenprovidethetravellerswithinstructionsforwhattopackandadateofdeparture,withthedestinationkeptunderwraps.Forsome,theburgeoning
surprisetraveltrendisaway
toreconnectwithspontaneity
andadventurethathasbeen
lostinacarefullycurated
andInstagrammedworld
ALEXMcCLINTOCK
MYSTERYADVENTURES
Ontario-basedMysteryAdventuresoffersa
rangeofsurprisetravelexperiences,from
weekendgetawaysinCanadaandthe
UnitedStatestomultidestinationinterna-
tionalvacations.OwnerHeidiPerrinspeaks
witheveryclientonthephoneorface-
to-facebeforedesigninganitinerary.INTREPID
Intrepid’ssecondUnchartedExpedition
willdepartTehraninApril,2020,andendin
Istanbul18dayslater.Participantshave
alreadybeenselectedbyarandomballot,
buttravellerscanregisterforfuturetripson
theIntrepidwebsite.“Wehopeitwill
becomepartofourstandardrangeoftrips.
They’refuntodoandthey’rehugely
popular,”NorthAmericandirectorMichael
Edwardssays.JUBEL
Thisexperience-focusedonlinetravel
agentprovidestraditionalitinerariesas
wellasmysterytrips.Travellersfillinan
onlinequestionnaireandcanexpecttobe
contactedbyaJubelagentwithinhours.Surprisesarealsoavailableona
slidingscale:Ifyou’renotreadytocom-
pletelyletgo,youcanchooseyourdestina-
tionregion,countryorevencity.WHISKEDAWAY
Spend10minutesfillinginasurveyabout
yourbudget,preferencesandregionof
choiceandNorthCarolina-basedWhisked
Awaywilldesignyouanitinerary.Founder
CharlotteMcGheesaysmanyofherclients
arecoupleslookingforanunusualor
romanticwaytocelebrateaspecial
occasion.BLACKTOMATO
Iffindingoutyourdestinationatthelast
minuteisn’tenoughtogetyourjuices
flowing,luxuryoperatorBlackTomato
offerstheultimatetravelsurprise:Ontheir
GetLostexperience,travellersareun-
pluggedfromtechnologyandtransported
–sometimesbyprivateplane–toremote
locationssuchasNamibia’sSkeletonCoast,
thenlefttomaketheirownwayinthe
wilderness.Theyrecommendastayata
luxuryhotelafterward.ALEXMcCLINTOCKFIVESURPRISETRAVELOPERATORS