Maybe, you don’t know yet, because you’re still in your cocoon and you are afraid… BUT you are HERE following your guts, feeling down in your heart that you want to become a Touristologists!!!
Some of you, will say – I’m NOT afraid.. I have my reasons
Well, you can call them reasons BUT they seem like excuses to me!
I have a list of those reasons /excuses that I have been collecting during my (near to) 25 years as a Touristologist builder.
1) I don’t give my presentations in English, because I prefer to put that off until I finish my undergraduate, then I will travel and work around the world… OR I don’t give my presentations in English because my teachers’ accent is not perfect!!! Reasons? Excuses? Blaming others? Avoiding Responsibilities?… you name it!
2) I don’t search for internships in “this” tourism enterprise, that I will love to work with,  until I get more free time, or until my University makes a special deal with it, or until I am sure that they want my… what would happen if they reject me? Or if I would annoy them with my phone call??? Reason? Excuses? Blaming others? Avoiding Responsibilities?… you name it!
3) I don’t want to design and create a Data Base, program a portlet, or build a native application or mobile web app… I’m sure that someday I will find a partner or a team willing to do this for me OR I will work for a company that takes care of that! Reasons? Excuses? Blaming others? Avoiding Responsibilities?… you name it!
4) First I will work with local tourism then when I get experience, contacts, attitudes it will be easy to search and attract international tourism.
What do you think… reasons or excuses???
You have to stop making excuses and complete your transformation!
I experience firsthand the same process. It all began when I stopped looking for a web developer and I decided to become one. I had to stop making excuses and believing that it was others people fault. It has been a long process…not ended yet (I guess it won’t ever end!!!).
Do you know when I realized that I was on truck to become a full-stack web developer? It happened, and still happens, every time that I read an article, a post on a blog, a chapter in a book, a speech at a conference, a meeting with others that, like me, felt in love with web-engineering…and somebody (sometimes a genius, sometimes not…) recommend a specific “boilerplate code” and its integration in a specific full-stack (client and server side) environment. A long time ago, I followed carefully all the instructions then, one day, I began to listen to a voice inside me… – Jordi, get other people’s ideas BUT the ““boilerplate code” and its integration in a specific full-stack (client and server side) environment” are, definitely, your call.
Once you experience the power, the confidence, the independence of expressing your own ideas in your own code, there is not return. You know that you will do whatever it takes to have this felling again.
When you experience love… sex becomes secondary.
When you experience spirituality… religion becomes secondary.
When you connect with a human being… her/his culture, religion, gender, political ideas become secondary.
When you began to give your classes, seminars, in-company training sessions or start-up meetings in order to redefine their (OUR?) business model, speaking in a new language… reading, listening, writing it, become secondary.
When you are a thinker of the Business Model for Tourism enterprises or Destinations (from the beginning to the end of the trip, of course!) and the executor (alone or with a team) of the technological scheme… to be the one with just ideas becomes secondary!
I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point!
My advice, Touristologists?
Stop making excuses! Listen to your heart! If the message is clear and you are giving excuse after excuse, blaming others, in order to avoid taking responsibility…If you are feeling unhappiness because of that… you are protecting your cocoon (the comfort zone, some people call it!). Break the cocoon! Become a Touristologists!
It will be hard (I guarantee this) but worth it (I, also, guarantee this!!!) BUT, above all else… Do you want to know the most important reason? Nothing is worse than dying as a bug when your destiny is to become a beautiful… Touristologists!!!!
You have all the summer ahead! Redeem the time!!!! Make the most of IT!!!