Ever wonder how to make a trip truly unforgettable and keep on giving? It’s not just about the places you visit, but the ideas you explore along the way. Let me explain.

If you were to organize a trip to share with others so that they might take a similar one, you might include one or more references, e.g. background on a special place to visit. While this is one way to think of references it’s not the only one. 

If the trip taken involves one or more persons than oneself, for instance in a group, you might in the course of conversations make reference to a book, a movie, an event, a service, etc. that isn’t physically present. Let’s call these trip references. Here’s a list of them from conversations with friends on a recent sailing trip.

- James Dickey poems & Deliverance - book, movie
- My Octopus Teacher - movie, man/octopus/nature relationship and learning
- The Big Bang, the Buddha and the Baby Boom - book, author’s autobiography shared by a generation
- Polio: An American Story - book, the disease and vaccine development
- Varieties of Religious Experiences, William James - book, father of American psychology
- The Bell and the Iron Lung - nonfiction book on polio
- Zen and the Art of Archery, book, Eugen Herrigel
- The Deepest Breath - documentary on the endurance sport of free diving - movie
- Cosmic Scholar: The Life and Times of Harry Smith - book, Harry who?
- How to Change Your Mind - ancient and contemporary use of psychedelic molecules - book, movie
- Willing to Love - book, use of psychosynthesis in couple relationships 
- The Overstory - book, environmentalism of trees, activism, movie forthcoming
- SwimTrek - a company, open water swimming adventures

What a crew! What diversity. Do you have memorable “trip references” that led somewhere new?

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