Travis sits down with traveler, social media strategist and community builder Nicolette Orlemans.
Intro: Background + community origin story
Topic 1: What was it like growing up? How did you get started?
I grew up in a bilingual household in the Netherlands with a Polish mom and a Dutch dad. My parents inspired wanderlust in me as a child, as we traveled often (they started traveling with me when I was a baby). In 2000, we moved to the US for my dad’s work, and started expat life.
Travel has always been something I feel grateful to be able to do, and I really enjoy connecting with others who travel. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that, as people, we go to similar destinations, but have vastly different, unique experiences. That’s the beauty of travel and exploring local culture in our own way. I love being able to talk to others about their travels and experiences.
Topic 2: Let’s talk about what community means to you.
To me, community means a place where people can talk freely. It’s a space where people share stories, become inspired, feel supported, share advice, ask questions, and rely on each other’s feedback.
I don’t think community has to be a homogenous thing–meaning that people can have differences in opinion and perspectives–but it should be a place where people feel comfortable talking to each other no matter the differences.
Topic 3: Let’s talk about the different tribes that you support. Who are the members? Why does this circle exist and what is your mission? How do you work together to achieve your mission?
I especially love connecting with travelers, no matter how often they travel. Travelers tend to be very open-minded, and share interesting perspectives on not just the destinations they visit, but also on how they personally grow from visiting different places and learning from diverse cultures.
In 2014, I started participating more in Twitter chats, online real-time conversations happening over a unified hashtag at set dates/times. Twitter chats allow people to connect with others, and share their perspectives. As people respond with the associated hashtag, others can connect with them and ask questions or start conversations.
On November 13, 2014, I launched my very own travel Twitter chat focused on the intersection of culture and travel. I aspired to create conversations among people about cultural immersion, and what helps people get to know local culture on a deeper level.
Today, the chat is still happening every Thursday and connecting travelers worldwide in shared conversations. Since the launch of the chat, I’ve expanded into a community website, a Facebook group, and hosted in-person meetups to bring travelers together.
In October 2018, I launched a Kickstarter for Travel Banter, a conversation starter card game inspired by the online conversations my community has had over the years. It’s the “real life” version of the Twitter chats and helps bring people in a fun, meaningful way offline to have conversations around culture and travel.
Topic 4: What are a few lessons you’ve learned from your journey in the online community space?
As technology changes, we should embrace that. Technology is constantly evolving and new platforms pop up, though people crave real conversations no matter the platform.
Behind every social media profile is a real person. What excites this person? What stories does this person have to share? How do we connect to each other on a deeper level?
I think it’s important to inspire storytelling both online and offline. We can’t forget that storytelling is at the core of everything we do. We connect with people over shared experiences, and by learning from each other. We hear stories that we can relate to, and we feel inspired to share our own stories.
Topic 5: What community if any do you look up to, and why?
There are a few in the travel space that I really admire.
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