This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
News from the tourist world, here and elsewhere.
Psychedelic, the trip!
It was written in the sky, that of Lucy, with diamonds… Now that she is authorized in a medical setting by the competent authorities of several countries, including Canada, the consumption of psilocybin mushrooms, the famous “mushrooms magic”, is again considered for recreational purposes.
In Journey to the edge of the mind, the essayist Michael Pollan recalls that the Aboriginals of Latin America have consumed psychotropic drugs since the dawn of time. He evokes the serious studies on the benefits of psilocybes conducted before the Harvard Project of psychologist Timothy Leary derailed and discredited them in the 1960s. conditions that psilocybin could treat.
In both British Columbia and Jamaica, psychedelic retreats are more about “clarity of mind”. Since recreational use of magic mushrooms is illegal, however, their organizers are taking advantage of the legal limbo surrounding the “truffle,” the gnarled, underground part of the plant. This is what Alalaho uses, in concentrations providing the same effects as the mushroom, during its supervised “ceremonies” in the Netherlands.
Co-founder of Alalaho, Jennifer Tessler says it straight away: “It’s not a party drug! We go to her “out of curiosity, in a process of personal transformation, of healing from an emotional blockage or in search of meaning”. Search for meaning through a hallucinogen? “It’s an inadequate word, because we don’t see Mickey Mouse, these are not hallucinations, but many revelations of our mind, of our inner world”, says the follower of meditation and Tibetan Buddhism.
For the young woman, psychedelics are a transformative tool to use with others, like yoga or practicing an art form. Everyone has their own thing… Personally, long live the endorphins that the gym gives me. But what a wonderful time, all the same!
With pedals and motor
Here are books that encourage us to hit the road, regardless of the vehicle we prefer to backpack. Thus, with Other stories to sleep outside. 20,000 km by bike, from Asia to South America (Vélo Québec), the engineering and law graduate who became emeritus cyclist Jonathan B. Roy is doing it again. He worked hard to better understand the world and he brilliantly tells us about his epiphanies. Thanks to the well thought-out routes of France on a motorcycle. 50 dream routes (collective, Ulysse), which crosses picturesque villages and steep mountains, it’s fun on a Harley! Just to still be able to smell the scents of the Corsican scrubland, I really believe that I would brave my fear of the machine… As for the guide Road trips in Europe (Lonely Planet), it offers 50 contemplative, gourmet and sporty itineraries for all types of motorists. Most ? For each route, three others of the same kind are suggested.
Scents from elsewhere
Speaking of scents, French perfumer Jérôme Épinette (the nose behind Zara Home fragrances) created some good ones for Assouline’s Travel From Home candle collection. Coordinated with the best-selling titles from the publisher’s “Travel Series” collection, these transport us in turn to the warm sand of a Tulum beach, to the bougainvillea-rich alleys of Mykonos, to the atmospheric cozy atmosphere of a riad in Marrakech, in a frenzied party in Ibiza, by the fireplace after a day of skiing in Gstaad, and even on the Moon, which, as everyone knows, smells of sand, pepper, cashmere wood and what more! As a bonus, it is a 100% sustainable form of “tourism”…
Not new, but still beautiful…
This content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.