Psychonaut Tours

[Getafix]

I liked the idea suggested by GOD in another thread.

Psychonaut tours , recomended places to stay , recomended things to do / to see , where to eat , coffee shops . Psychonaut events / partys . Education cources . Things to avoid .

Oficial / semi oficial guides ( both written and human )

= atract income , visitors with our interests .

I think the emphasis should be on learning good ways to do it and use it , on learning ritual . On how to talk to others about it , so , holidas , togetherness and real serious drug education mixed with fun . But not with the emphasis on DRUGS = it would be crap if people just turned up and fucked themsselves with drugs in the name of Psychonaut . No one can expect others to organise trips that will tuirn out good every time or to take the responsibility for others who take drugs . A bit of cannabis here and there is OK but industrial conveyor belt trip orgies is a dumb idea . Its one thing organiseing tours , a party and education and another haveing hard core kamakasis fucking their heads in the name of psychonautics . There are always very many people here who want to take trips but experience has shown that one needs to get to know them over a long time and sort the wheat from the chaff .

Maybe mixing that with some of Forks meetings and lectures + a few info papers . Of cource not the whole spectrum of psaible ideas all at once but a start is a start . A vist to the shop , a look at sensi seeds and then visits to a few of the coffee shops where Amsterdamers go with a visit to the hash museum and maybe the melkweg or paradiso afterwards . I`ve been to Amsterdam loads of times and that was the thing that was always missing and that i would have paid for . The worst thing about Amsterdam is being treated like a tourist and a real live Dutch guide would be the cats wiskers / the crack .

Anyone unemployed at the moment who would like to help set up a business?

Do we want our own hostel?

Any carpenters around who would like to create one?

What's the maximum number of tourists we want for each guide, or for each weekend? I think 4 people fit in each type of car, so that would be a good limit to start with.

I've got about 60 square meters (and a separate kitchen, plus somewhat of a garden) that could be used to create bedrooms for a small group of psychonauts. I'm about to move out myself, and empty the store. There could be up to six beds if we add a few walls. The rent is 1125 a month, so if each week we'd have at least 4 people come over, they'd have to pay something like 70 euros for their stay, regardless of the number of days (let's say two nights). A retour train ticket to Amsterdam is 14,40, and takes about 45 minutes, but Psychonaut Tours would of course have its own van to pick the visiting psychonauts up from the airport and drive them around. Another town with lots of cool places to visit is Utrecht, which is very nearby. We could also search for a place in Amsterdam, but that's going to be difficult (there's always noise around) and expensive. Transforming the shop into a Psychonaut Tours hostel / travel agency could commence immediately.

Any other ideas?

 

[magickmumu]

This idea could work out. The location is perfect.

 

[magickmumu]

I am not looking for a job.
But if you need help with this, you know where to find me.

 

[Getafix]

If you'd like to help, let me know:

- if you've got a drivers license;
- in which language(s) you could guide visitors;
- if you own or could obtain a van;
- if you would like to help set up a website through which people can register;
- if you have certain skills (carpentry, bookkeeping, etc.);
- if you can help create a list of places to go;
- if you're currently employed: what days could you help?

 

[Getafix]

Thanks mumu, I'm sure you can be of help.

Regarding the activities facilitated by the travel agency, there should be different options.

For example, if a small group simply wants a good place to stay, and transport to and from a series of sessions at the Santo Daime church in Amsterdam or Averhorn, Psychonaut Tours will also take care of that.

Or if a curandero or shaman comes over to give a healing session somewhere, visitors from other European countries can stay over in our hostel, and count on our taxi (which has a wide range of music and lectures to listen to, if visitors so desire) to drive them there and pick them up afterwards. Of course our hostel provides the most delicious tyramine-free breakfasts.

 

[restin]

good idea, would be hard for me to go working to the Netherlands each day But I will be a good customer

 

[GOD]

It sounds good to me . But ideas are one thing and getting it up and running another .

The first task / problem is getting enough people to come and regularly filling the beds . To do that i think it will probably be nesecery to make adverts on other sites . Weather as adverts or just like people do here start threads and tell people "hey i was there and its good" or "hey have you heard about this and what do you think" . There are enough people who would be interested = Amsterdam is a tourist magnet and lives off them .

After a while word of mouth would take over . There would also have to be some sort of controle because one cant aford to be noticed or put in a drug tourist / drug abuse catagory by the police or people like.........wilders .

If cannabis colledge is still open thats another adress to take a look at . Plus show the people the first coffee shops and grow shops and explain the history of the scene in Amsterdam / Holland .

Maybe the thing about trust is a three leveled thing . One level is the average joe / joan tourist , another is well known and established members here , another friends of friends with recomendations . At the worst one could fill beds by doing what the other people do and standing in front of the main station and asking tourists......

The idea about haveing a central data base / archive could also be incorperated . I have about 50 gigs of info / films / tapes and TV programs wich i`m prepared to give . If anyone knows how i can beam it to you i will do it . If not i would be prepared to put it on DVDs or maybe send you a big USB stick , wich we could post back and forth to eachother untill you had my whole archive . If others did that aswell we could build a realy big data base . ( Takeing care not to get in copyright troubles..... ) .

The BIG thing is not to cut your own throat by haveing people spreading false storys about being able to get acses to illegal drugs , and as i said not leaving a trail of dead hippys in canals and under open windows .

I`m very much into this idea but as i said it has to pay for itself and have regular income . Part of that could come from makeing % deals with some of the places that the tours would visit and the places recomended by you .

C`mon people throw some good ideas in , this is worth doing and worth suporting .

 

[Getafix]

Step 1: Create two walls in the shop itself, one close to the window. This will create three different rooms below, giving a total of six rooms. If someone knows how to create a low budget ventilation system for these rooms, that would be very helpful. Also if someone knows how to install doors, with locks, please come over. The current bathroom needs some repairs. A good plumber could even put the sink in a different corner of the bathroom so a bathtub could be installed.

Step 2: Get a van with enough seats & seatbelts, and pimp the ride. You know, good hi-fi set, a fridge for drinks, a mattress or two for sleepy psychonauts, First Aid kit, DVD-player... Note: the driver will always be completely sober, and well rested.

Step 3: Set up the website and figure out how we're going to receive our guests, who will do what, etc.

 

[magickmumu]

It sounds like a fun job to me. You get to meet a lot of people.
I don't know what you need to do to open up such a hostel?
What licenses you need ect?

 

[GOD]

Yep , i`m infected with the idea to .

Another thing is takeing people to good concerts and psy trance locations . Visitors usualy dont find them they just find crud ones and get financialy milked .

With the sleeping places youd have to be carefull that they are sensible . I`ve been in to many cheep "hotels" in Amsterdam where they had just divided a room into 3 "rooms" with plasterboard walls where i could hear the people in the next "room" unzipping their trousers and cleaning their teeth as if they were standing next to me .

 

[Getafix]

The BIG thing is not to cut your own throat by haveing people spreading false storys about being able to get acses to illegal drugs , and as i said not leaving a trail of dead hippys in canals and under open windows .

Yes, illegal (amounts of) drugs should not be available in the building or through the organizers. Psychonaut Tours provides information, transport, bed & breakfast, that's all.

But ideas are one thing and getting it up and running another .

True. But we could easily start with a humble beginning. My new job is only 32 hours a week, I'm gonna have some time left for other things. I'm also stuck with a building until 2011, and at the moment I have at least some money to buy building materials. I'm currently selling out the last items of my shop. I can continue living here until the hostel is operational, or even afterwards. All I would need are some helping hands and good advice. There are rewards as well as spare keys and a bed for anyone willing to help out.

 

[Getafix]

With the sleeping places youd have to be carefull that they are sensible . I`ve been in to many cheep "hotels" in Amsterdam where they had just divided a room into 3 "rooms" with plasterboard walls where i could hear the people in the next "room" unzipping their trousers and cleaning their teeth as if they were standing next to me .

Yes, I'm a big fan of ample use of isolation materials. Part of my idea would be to create at least one larger bedroom with extremely good sound isolation.

 

[Getafix]

I don't know what you need to do to open up such a hostel?
What licenses you need ect?

The answer is that there are no laws or rules for Bed & Breakfasts in the Netherlands. But you have to conform to the rules of several organizations.

http://www.loketplattelandstoerisme...hments/Startersgids voor bed en breakfast.pdf

6. Wet- en regelgeving

In Nederland zijn er voor Bed & Breakfasts (nog) geen landelijke wetten en regels van toepassing.

Er bestaat nog geen erkenning, zoals wel in Engeland of de Verenigde Staten. Iedere gemeente in Nederland heeft haar eigen beleid op het gebied van B&B. Waar het vaak op neerkomt, is dat een woning een woonbestemming moet houden. Boven een bepaald aantal bedden is meestal een zogenoemde gebruiksvergunning nodig, waarin ook brandweereisen zijn opgenomen.
Wij adviseren u om vooraf te controleren of uw gemeente uw voorgenomen) activiteiten toestaat.

U dient zelf bij uw gemeente na te gaan of uw plannen binnen de bestaande wet- en regelgeving vallen. Om te voorkomen dat u veel tijd en geld investeert in het maken van plannen die uiteindelijk worden afgekeurd, raden wij u aan om in een vroeg stadium te overleggen met uw gemeente.

U kunt te maken krijgen met de onderstaande wet- en regelgeving.

1. Bestemmingsplan.
2. Woningwet en Bouwverordening.
3. Exploitatievergunning.
4. Gebruiksvergunning.
5. Wet Milieubeheer.
6. Vestigingseisen.
7. Hygiënewetgeving.
8. Drank- en Horecawet.
9. Nachtregister
10. Reclamevergunning.
11. Besluit Attractie- en Speeltoestellen.
12. Aanwezigheidsvergunning voor speelautomaten.

De wet- en regelgeving is aan verandering onderhevig. Informeer daarom bij uw gemeente welke wetten voor u van toepassing zijn en wat de precieze inhoud is van deze wetten.

 

[Forkbender]

Nice idea.

I'd be willing to guide people around Amsterdam on saturdaynights/sundays/some weeknights. I'd have to dig up some basic info about drughistory here, but I'm sure it will be fun. I'd be willing to drive people, but I don't have a car/minivan.

 

[Forkbender]

One more thing:
We can easily compete with those shitty hostels we have here, especially if we offer something extra that they don't, like service.

One of the downsides of your location would be that people wouldn't be able to go into the city by themselves and stay out late, unless you got some kind of shuttle service (which I think is too expensive for 4 people staying at your b&b).

 

[GOD]

Thats not hard . They get offered a program and can take part or not . If not one just dumps them where they want to go and arranges to pick them up afterwards . The program would include a night at a a party / concert / in the city .

 

[Getafix]

One of the downsides of your location would be that people wouldn't be able to go into the city by themselves and stay out late, unless you got some kind of shuttle service (which I think is too expensive for 4 people staying at your b&b).

For those whose primary interest in visiting the Netherlands is enjoying the Amsterdam night life, a regular youth hostel or hotel room would be a better option. We would cater to the needs of a specific group of visitors.

The program would include a night at a a party / concert / in the city .

Yes. And the van I mentioned earlier would be used for the shuttle service.

 

[GOD]

The only things between you and sucess are a bit of building work and some visitors .

I think that the whole thing would be a big sucess if it was done on a personal basis , like a part of your family or some friends comeing to visit .

The van looks cool . Is it yours or ?

 

[Getafix]

The van looks cool . Is it yours or ?

No, I was just looking around for second hand vans.

 

[GOD]

I think it looks great and i like the colour . Who needs a car when one has a thing like that . One can transport anything and sleep in it on holidays and at festivals .