Travel Changed Me

Some trips leave you with souvenirs, but the ones that truly change you leave behind something more significant – a new experience so vivid it lingers long after you return home. Now, as part of its ongoing partnership with the new season of HBO’s The White Lotus (also shot in Thailand), the original travel lifestyle brand, Away, is launching a new campaign entitled “Travel Changed Me,” developed in partnership with creative agency, American Haiku.

Rather than focusing on ‘the destination,’ the film explores how travel changes a person. It’s a sensorial film that reminds us of travel’s power for self-exploration, for finding the parts of ourselves that remain hidden in our day-to-day lives.

A 90-second film sits at the center of the campaign, directed by Jordan Hemingway and FKA twigs and shot on 35 mm film by Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Lukasz Zal through production company Object & Animal. In the film, a woman glides through Bangkok’s waterways on a long-tail boat, then wanders the city's streets, absorbing its sights, sounds and smells, but feeling a deep sense of disconnection.

As the rain begins to pour and day fades into night, the neon glow of a Thai boxing ring emerges, drawing her in a world of intensity, color and stimulation. As she carries her luggage in one hand, she’s pulled by a child closer to the fight in the other. The sound…the movement of the boys in the ring…the smell… and then, KO. The crowd goes crazy, and at that moment the woman knows she has experienced an awakening: travel has changed her.

“Travel Changed Me,” is a response to the notion that travel is more than an escape – it’s a catalyst for change. Targeted to women aged 25-40, the campaign is designed to celebrate Away's distinct identity and deepen the connection with its passionate community, reinforcing what has always made the brand a beloved favorite.

The film follows other components of Away’s partnership with HBO’s The White Lotus that have celebrated the spirit of transformation, including the recent The White Lotus product line and a reworking of the show’s iconic title sequence for the line. Along with her creative partner, Jordan Hemingway, FKA twigs, a director with a keen sense of what it is to be a woman today, was the perfect person to bring this campaign to life. The campaign will run on Away’s social channels and ECOMM.