I have a thing for gift-giving. Every new event or celebration, I jump on the occasion to surprise people with a little token — something tangible, something people can hold and keep. Not a digital message, but a real letter.
I have a particular love for postcards. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve kept them — a bunch from family and friends, tucked into a scrapbook I love going through from time to time.
I started the year with a mystery trip. I didn’t know who’d be travelling with me or where we were going. All I knew was: pack my bag, get into the minibus, and discover the faces I’d be living this adventure with. And I found some really pleasant surprises — friends I hadn’t seen in years.
So to add to the mystery, I made calendar postcards (even the trip organiser didn’t know about them 😄 — shoutout to Houria Travels and Events, I love that she was surprised!). I made four designs, each one a mini print of a painting from my sketchbook — scenes from previous hikes.
A lake by our campsite in Asfalou.
A fishing boat called Zwinate (translated beautiful girls) caught our eyes among a sea of fishing boats on the beach in Tafedna.
The beautiful mountain in Tacheddirt.
The happy valley of Aït Bouguemaz.
I tucked everything into envelopes, and on the way to a destination we still didn’t know, I’d pull out a small envelope and hand it to each person as they introduced themselves.
What happened next is the reason Creative Voyages exists.
Some people pulled out a scene and went quiet for a moment — I’ve been there. I’ve stood exactly there. A place they loved, now small enough to carry in a pocket. A token of somewhere that mattered.
Some got the Zwinate boat and everyone giggled. They loved her immediately, the way you love something that sees you. I’ll admit — I may have quietly made sure certain hands found her.
Watching people hold a place they recognized — or fall in love with a place they’d never been — that’s when I understood what this is really about.
Not postcards. Not art. Not a product.
Connection. The thread between a trail and a hand and a memory and a small piece of paper that says — this place was real. You were there. Or you could have been.
This is Creative Voyages.
Born on trails. Carried home on paper.
For curious explorers. For people who collect feelings, not just things. For anyone who has ever stood somewhere beautiful and wanted to keep a piece of it forever.
Welcome.