Colombian music gives me wings!

[BTConomist]

Had an inspiring conversation today, with a Colombian. As it turns out, Colombia isn't as dangerous as the US media and Hollywood love to paint it. People there are very welcoming to travelers... In fact, I could draw plenty parallels between life in Colombia and life in Russia, my home country.

Here's what that conversation had triggered... Could travel to Colombia and other countries become an effective way for this community to promote the use of BTC as money? Imagine a service that provides "curated trips" to the most interesting and fun spots around the world? The best part is that the service would bill strictly in BTC. Would anyone be interested in using such service and take a "curated trip" to a foreign country like Colombia?

[atomium]

Had an inspiring conversation today, with a Colombian. As it turns out, Colombia isn't as dangerous as the US media and Hollywood love to paint it. People there are very welcoming to travelers... In fact, I could draw plenty parallels between life in Colombia and life in Russia, my home country.

Here's what that conversation had triggered... Could travel to Colombia and other countries become an effective way for this community to promote the use of BTC as money? Imaging a service that provides "curated trips" to the most interesting and fun spots around the world? The best part is that the service would bill strictly in BTC. Would anyone be interested in using such service and take a "curated trip" to a foreign country like Colombia?

I really enjoy this post, as a colombian/american I happy to see that people are starting to see that colombia is not dangerous anymore. We are super friendly to travelers and want them to enjoy everything we have to offer. Do you have any pics or footage from your trip? That would be cool to see. Which cities did you visit?

[BTConomist]

We are super friendly to travelers and want them to enjoy everything we have to offer.

That's the feeling I got from that conversation.

Besides, you can tell a lot about a culture by its music.
And I have heard some wonderful music from Colombia.

Do you have any pics or footage from your trip? That would be cool to see. Which cities did you visit?

Looks like my OP needs to be improved, or you would not have asked me about my trip to Colombia (I'm yet to take a trip there).

I was merely trying to find out whether the bitcoin community, and miners in particular, would consider a travel service where every trip to some fun and interesting part of the world was curated for them according to their tastes. Basically, a "trip curator" would immerse the travelers into local cultures and activities of the foreign country, while making sure that everyone on the trip have everything they need to feel comfortable and enthusiastic.

[atomium]

We are super friendly to travelers and want them to enjoy everything we have to offer.

That's the feeling I got from that conversation.

Besides, you can tell a lot about a culture by its music.
And I have heard some wonderful music from Colombia.

Do you have any pics or footage from your trip? That would be cool to see. Which cities did you visit?

Looks like my OP needs to be improved, or you would not have asked me about my trip to Colombia (I'm yet to take a trip there).

I was merely trying to find out whether the bitcoin community, and miners in particular, would consider a travel service where every trip to some fun and interesting part of the world was curated for them according to their tastes. Basically, a "trip curator" would immerse the travelers into local cultures and activities of the foreign country, while making sure that everyone on the trip have everything they need to feel comfortable and enthusiastic.

haha yea youre right, i misunderstood you, but yea like you said a trip curator would be awesome to have! It's best to go with someone that lives there that can show you all the cool spots.

[BTConomist]

It's best to go with someone that lives there that can show you all the cool spots.

That's the idea!... Throughout my travels I came to a realization that living among the locals is much better than commercialized tours, provided you are into having great time while in a foreign country. Likewise, I had a blast being a host myself (back in Russia), where I would take my guests on a wild experiences that they have never had before. Because of this, they usually would have much more to say about their stay in Russia than "Oh, it was nice."

[bb999]

I would definitely use such a service.  The problem is always those first few trips where you need to establish credibility/trust.  A local in any foreign country is always going to give you better perspective so I think that is crucial to the venture but it's definitely an exciting possibility.

[BTConomist]

The problem is always those first few trips where you need to establish credibility/trust.

Totally agree about that... Do you have any thoughts regarding what would constitute as enough credibility for a service like that? Say I had great feedback as a guest (not host) on airbnb, would that be enough? Or can I merely set up a legal business entity on the US soil? Perhaps, in addition to all of the above, it would help to team up with someone who has an established OTC rating in this community? Basically, what would be your list of things that can make a service like that look credible enough for you to try it, provided you were the first customer?

[bb999]

As the first customer I think there are already existing services in the non BTC world that could be leveraged to increase the trust factor (I'm thinking TripAdvisor) If someone had existing positive reviews on a site like that they would make a great partner in whatever country you were looking to operate in.

It would definitely help for promotion on here to partner with someone with a solid trust rating and history. 

I think your idea of setting up a legal structure in the U.S. is useful if you expect most of your customers to be from the U.S. or that is your target market.  Otherwise, say to an Australian or Brit, simply having a U.S. structure does not increase trust because they still have no recourse.

Those are the ideas off the top of my head, I haven't put a huge amount of thought into this just spitballing on how to increase trust in a transaction like what you described. 

[BTConomist]

As the first customer I think there are already existing services in the non BTC world that could be leveraged to increase the trust factor (I'm thinking TripAdvisor) If someone had existing positive reviews on a site like that they would make a great partner in whatever country you were looking to operate in.

It seems that your concerns are mostly about the lodging, not a "trip curator" per se, right? But if we were to separate the two as different services, what would you say can be used to establish credibility for a "trip curator", given that he/she will essentially be your travel companion throughout the trip, making sure that you have nothing to worry about other than what to order next, out of all available options? Any suggestion is appreciated, especially in the form of spitballing.

[bb999]

Hey yeah, I definitely get your distinction.  There is actually quite a bit on TripAdvisor about activities/excursions within various cities and countries, in addition to lodging.  Another angle to take would be to look at current trip curator/traveling tour guide set ups and look to partner with one of them. 

I personally used guided tours through Italy and Eastern Europe (this goes back about 10 years ago) and most of the guides were local contractors hired by a national tour agency.  Individual guides like that would be great partners to use, they have local connections and as long as they can make money, the currency used is not important, the perfect BTC business. 

[BTConomist]

I personally used guided tours through Italy and Eastern Europe (this goes back about 10 years ago) and most of the guides were local contractors hired by a national tour agency.  Individual guides like that would be great partners to use, they have local connections and as long as they can make money, the currency used is not important, the perfect BTC business.

One problem that I see with utilizing the already available tour guides as partners is that they may not be the right fit for the tech/programmer/sys-admin culture formed around bitcoin. So the connection between a trip curator and a customer may not be there to begin with, which can make the trip less relaxing for both, and especially for the customer. Someone like me, on the other hand, who has already been fully immersed into that culture, can offer a curated trip that's properly polished, so to speak. Does it make sense?

[bb999]

I personally used guided tours through Italy and Eastern Europe (this goes back about 10 years ago) and most of the guides were local contractors hired by a national tour agency.  Individual guides like that would be great partners to use, they have local connections and as long as they can make money, the currency used is not important, the perfect BTC business.

One problem that I see with utilizing the already available tour guides as partners is that they may not be the right fit for the tech/programmer/sys-admin culture formed around bitcoin. So the connection between a trip curator and a customer may not be there to begin with, which can make the trip less relaxing for both, and especially for the customer. Someone like me, on the other hand, who has already been fully immersed into that culture, can offer a curated trip that's properly polished, so to speak. Does it make sense?

Yeah absolutely I see your distinction.  I think a major key will be partnering with someone with established credibility on these forums or offering relatively cheap trips in the beginning to get those first, glowing reviews about your service and use that as a springboard for more customers and higher prices, FWIW

[kodo]

 HAHA no. Columbia is the most violent place in south america.

[BTConomist]

 HAHA no. Columbia is the most violent place in south america.

Columbia — maybe.

But not Colombia. 

[bb999]

 HAHA no. Columbia is the most violent place in south america.

Columbia — maybe.

But not Colombia. 

Venezuela is the most violent country. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/9769897/Venezuela-murder-rate-soars.html

[cbeast]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/07/colombia-happiest-country-in-the-world-in-2012-survey-finds_n_2426667.html