Imagine you have the floor to narrate your travel stories in front of a couple of hundred people for only 6 minutes in 18 slides. That’s both exhilarating and challenging, isn’t it? This is Traveler On Stage (TOS) – an initiative started in 2014 in France.
Short History of TOS
Traveler On Stage is an independent event without any political, commercial, or religious purpose, which seeks to promote all types of travels and trips irrespective of how distant they are, how long they lasted, and how they were organised. The peculiar (and I would say quite challenging) fact about this forum is that similar to the Japanese format Pecha Kucha, the presenters have 6 minutes and 18 slides with exactly 20 seconds for each one to recount their amusing (and often uproarious) stories in an effort to infect the audience with the “travel virus”.
*Warning – the travel virus is very contagious, so go to TOS at your own risk! : )
Traveler On Stage was conceived in the city of aeronautics – Toulouse – in 2014 and until 2016, it was only held there – in French.
TOS in Bulgaria
In June 2016, for the first time, TOS left the cosy French “house” and came to Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The creator and brains behind the format – Simon Vacher – came to the European Capital of Culture for 2019 and, in his honour, the first event was held in English.
The second and third events, which were held on 15 November 2016 (Sofia) and on 19 November 2016 (Plovdiv), were in Bulgarian.
All events usually comprise of 10 EXTRAORDINARY stories of 10 ORDINARY travellers, told in exactly 6 minutes. The short but amazingly amusing and entertaining format will definitely smash your everyday life, will trot you across the globe, and will certainly charge you with throngs of positive emotions (I can promise some of you will shed tears).
Not only it is a chance to break away from your grey daily routine but also to establish friends and find yourself travel buddies. And after all, travelling is all about the friendships and connections you make, isn’t it?
TOS Sofia 2017 – When and Where
The next TOS event in Sofia will be held on 8 April 2017 in “Dom na kinoto” from 15:00 to 17:00. Don’t go home immediately after that, as there will be culinary treats and that’s when the real networking commences. Break the ice with a beer or shake the beer with some ice and, most importantly, have fun!
*Warning – this is not a paid post. I just went to the first event in Sofia and absolutely loved the format, so I am only raising more awareness with this article. All opinions are exclusively mine. The photos have been kindly provided to me by the organisers.
Have you heard of TOS? Want to join?