See you in Tuscany, my love? How travel & design intersect
By Samaya Sinha, Co-founder at Ideate Labs
I wanted to share a more personal story with you today - when I was nine years old, I moved to the U.S. from India and it turned out to be one of the biggest adventures of my life.
It's probably why Khrys, my better half, and I work together so well - she made her journey from Ukraine at nine to live in Philly. Little did we know then that our paths would cross fourteen years later at our very first jobs out of college.
Growing up, it was sometimes a struggle to make ends meet for our families. I think we've both grown up with an awareness of our place as women and immigrants in society, and perhaps that's been a bit of a chip on our shoulders to help us achieve what we strive to achieve.
Our families instilled values of hard work, determination, risk-taking, and thrill seeking in us that we both needed to start a business together and build Ideate Labs.
For me, my dad was pivotal to helping me get out of my comfort zone. He's a pilot and flight instructor currently so you can imagine that his tolerances for calculated risks are much higher than mine!
I remember that he organized a lot of road trips and camping trips growing up. We traveled everywhere, from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite, to Bryce, Zion, Yellowstone, Sequoia National Park, and so much more.
Our whole family lived on an annual budget of $40K back then with both of my parents in the thick of growing and scaling our family-owned business in the U.S. Yet, somehow they always found ways to go on adventures with us kids.
When we first moved to the U.S. we lived across from a trailer park in New Jersey, and when we traveled we would always stop at trucker motels and eat at McDonalds so that we could really stretch a buck to travel to more places.
And those were some of the best memories of my childhood- jumping on beds scented with cigarette smoke, my dad farting in the car after another meal of burgers and fries, playing make-believe games with my younger sister while camping or hiking.
Why am I bringing this up now? As Ideate Labs turned three years old this year, Khrys and I have been brainstorming ways to really build deeper and more authentic friendships and connections within our UX community, both in real life and online.
We would love to get a chance to meet our UX community members IRL in a relaxing and calming setting like the backdrop of Tuscany. This is why we are planning a week-long summer retreat to Italy and we would love to invite you to join us!
There is something so therapeutic about travel, meditation, and immersing ourselves in meaningful conversations with like-minded women creatives. I think it would be a great way for all of us to take a small step out of our usual comfort zones and build incredible, life-changing memories together.
Who knows? You might even meet your best friend, business co-founder, or creative soul sister while on this trip :) This retreat is also all about designing an intentional life, balancing both personal and professional goals and dreams. Think of this as an executive retreat where you are the CEO of your life. What truly matters to you? What should you prioritize in your life and how should you plan for it?
Travel and design really intersect in so many ways, and it takes a similar mindset to be a worldwide traveler as as it does to be a designer. How come?
You must balance planning with action, just like how we must balance data collection and synthesis (i.e., UX research) with taking action, designing and building workflows, screens, prototypes (i.e., UX UI design)
You sometimes have to react to unforeseen circumstances- in UX, there are often shifts in consumer or stakeholder mindsets that we as designers and researchers have to react to. We'll talk more about this in detail in our next newsletter!
You sometimes have to find the best short-term solution before thinking long-term- Yes, sometimes we as designers have to focus on designing an MVP (minimum viable product) in a short amount of time with limited resources. Only then can we gradually work our way towards a grander vision and a more nuanced user experience. Remember how Netflix got started as a DVD librarian mailing DVDs to our doorsteps? Look at them now...the first streamer and an original film/show creator.
If you are interested in joining the retreat, please hop on a call with us to iron out the details! We only have 7 bedrooms available for folks interested in the retreat so we would recommend chatting ASAP.
P.S. We wanted to give you a $490 friend & family discount if you register with a friend. The fee for the retreat will help us break even on living accommodations, meals served at the retreat, transportation to the retreat location, workshop facilitator costs, and a cooking class/ wine tasting for all who attend! You can book a call with us to get access to the discount code and both you and your friend/family member/partner will get a $490 discount.
P.P.S. The deadline to join the retreat is May 30, 2024. You can commit to this retreat by paying the travel fee here in either one lump sum or in installments.
P.P.P.S. Want to see where we'll be staying? Check out our retreat FAQs here. Also, we wanted to share this pic of Khrys and I celebrating Ideate Labs' third birthday in December! We have really enjoyed the journey so far!
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