Telephone Me and I Will Show You My Land

New Zealand-born artist Nabil Sabio Azadi, 21, has reinvented a cherished commodity for world travellers seeking an authentic experience in a new place: a local’s recommendation, Erika Allen reports in The New York Times.

In a limited-edition book (just 200 copies were printed) titled For You the Traveller, Azadi has collected the personal experiences of natives in destinations across five continents: a scientist, a metalworker, a musician, a political analyst among them. The storytellers reveal how they spend their days and what their city means to them; and then they provide readers a phone number to contact them.

Each participant promises to be a port-of-call for those who purchase a book. “If you share yourself with them,” Azadi said, “they will share their shelter, philosophy and land with you.”

The book, with its hardbound cover sheathed in reclaimed rabbit fur, is part guide, part directory and part art project. The brief blocks of text, set by hand, are accompanied by simple black-and-white sketches and maps, all hand-drawn by Azadi.

Many of the book’s entries include an appeal to the tourist from the host. “Traveller,” says the guide in Lotan, Israel, “We love visitors who bring part of the outside world to our remote desert community. We like to share what we do with them, and gain immensely from that ourselves. You may telephone me at –”