Head Scratching Time

Head Scratching Time - and no, I don't have lice!

During my days as a school teacher, that was a real concern, but those days are long gone. 

Yet, like in those days, I'm still planning excursions. I aim for them to be fun, educational, embody positive attitudes and values, and be cost-effective in terms of funds and time.

As mentioned in our recent newsletter, Creative Arts Safaris is expanding.

We're thrilled to welcome a new tour host on board! If you have a better title than "Fellow Fun Wrangler" or "Coordinator of Fun and Adventures," please share your ideas. 😜 We're all about keeping things lively!

While we stick to our itinerary, we're always open to squeezing in a little something extra whenever the opportunity arises. Our tours are packed full of interesting and inspiring people, wonderful artistic and craft practices and beautiful locations. 

Hand Crafted Tours- how does that sound? I am looking for words to use in Marketing- they call them key words or key phrases.... they need to accurately and clearly let search engines know what you do to match you with searches. OH boy! it is hard work to sift through possibilities.

Carefully Curated- does that sound better? I laugh because actually I have a huge pile of possibilities and cram in as much as I can whilst saying to myself- "Don't forget to give them time to breath and soak it all up"

On a personal note, my eldest son David is ready for a career change. With a passion for cooking, good food, and travel, he's currently a head chef. However, the demanding hours aren't ideal for him with two young children. David excels under pressure and manages countless details effortlessly - qualities that will make him an excellent Chief Office Coordinator for us.

There are countless wonderful places and people we've visited, with many more yet to explore (but let's stay focused for now - that excitement is for another day!).

Now, it's time to buckle down and take on some serious tasks—developing a marketing strategy, documenting all my research, and organizing it into clear, actionable paths for others to follow. While I have a million and one lists and plans, many are in shorthand or even just in my head! To collaborate effectively, they need to be visible, open to questions, and easy to follow for everyone involved.

You know, I'm taking a moment to chat with you—I was knee-deep in drafting a formal marketing strategy- I had to Google what to do by the way and sorting through its thousand and one questions that need clarifying. Quite the task, I must say! Distractions are easy. 

What do I have in my favour?

• Run a darn good excursion 
• PHD level of research- I explored the idea of Sustainable Tourism Practices as a topic- but don't have time! - you should see my lists and notes that I need to organize to make accessible for others
• Experience developing a Social Enterprise, working as a social entrepreneur 
• Focus of The Stitching Project was social development - it was exciting to be designer. 
•  I like a friendly day out to look, learn and see something amazing.

Distraction and whinge! I bought a new dell xps13 computer- it looks a beauty. thin and light - able to go anywhere. So happy until I started typing. the @ and " are back to front..... I contact support and have been given the run around for days- go and buy a flash drive, reinstall the OS !!! oh it didn't work properly, do it again.

Glad you are so far away- there might be a few bad words floating around. I paid a lot of money for a tool to use, not rubbish I have to fix myself.

Oh dear.

hard to focus when that needs to be fiddled with.

I am working on a survey to work out how you found Creative Arts Safaris, and ask if you have any suggestions for its future. I want to find more guests to share our tours with but I don't know if I believe everything marketing gurus say.... 

Most of our gang of travellers are 50+ the ones I have asked hate the ads on Instagram or FB, never click on a Sponsored link when they search. Any suggestions on how to contact people like us who are irritated with the suggestions marketing experts have? Haha Oh a conundrum.

I hope many of you will indulge me by adding your insights to the survey.

I know I can't remain a complete Luddite forever, but I want to spend our funds carefully. I'd rather see you with more bucks in your pocket to "Help the Local Economy" when we travel.

Check out our website for all the improvements we have made and most importantly some fabulous adventures we would like to share with you.