Agritourism is not an innovative idea, but treating agritourism as an alternative therapy is.

Remember the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun"? The divorcee (Diane Lane) decided to purchase a rural Tuscan Villa to start her life all over again. Though the decision seemed impulsive, there was no doubt that she sensed a healing potential and a therapeutic benefit of operating that Villa, which she saw through a series of serendipitous events.

Agritourism Therapy

Like Diane Lane, whose life threw her a giant curveball, many people have experienced depressions and anxieties during Covid-19. But fortunately, we do not have to put our savings into a Tuscan-style Villa to heal our souls. Being a part of local agritourism could probably do a similar trick.

Diana Lane's Tuscan Journey vs. My Monkton Agritourism Trip

Here is the commonality of Diana Lane's Tuscan healing journey and my therapeutic agritourism trip.

Being away:

Diana Lane traveled from her gloomy apartment in San Francisco to a town in Tuscan Province, Italy. Regardless of how rural her Villa is located, this 14-hours flight has physically brought her away from her past.
This farm brewery is not thousands of miles away from where I stay, yet, two-hours driving on the road has also taken me to another mental state. My attention has shifted from my desk to a road exploration.

Left: Diana Lane’s priceless Tuscan Journey, Right: my affordable Agritourism trip

Compatibility:

Diana Lane grew into this Villa through series of coincidences: first saw a watercolor picture outside of a real estate agency. Then reencounter the same house with a "vendesi" (for sale) sign while she was on a bus tour. She was intrigued by the mansion relief on a ceramic tile and walked in. Before she left the house, a bird dropped poop on her. The house owner thought it was a godly sign thus agreed to sell the house for whatever cash she had with her.
I previously lived in the northern Virginia area. During the years I resided there, I always liked to walk in Nottoway Park. In the park, there is a historic house, the Hunter House. Hunter house was built in 1890 as a small farmhouse. It also produced an on-site beverage, "Virginia Maid," in the past. The color of the exterior has a warm, corn-like yellowish tint. Therefore when I first saw the barn house at Inverness Brewery, I sensed a strong familiarity that triggered my experience of Hunter house.

Left: Hunter House, Virginia, Right: Inverness Brewery, Maryland. (Hunter House original photo credit: Emily Ott/ beauty of the soul photography, Image edited by author)

Extent:

Diana Lane was a literature professor; understanding Italian was not a complicated task for her. However, being in an extraordinary foreign country required intense focus (voluntary attention) to figure out where things were and maneuvered from place to place.
I did not realize I needed to use "voluntary attention" on this farm brewery trip when I first accepted this trip invitation. On the other hand, grew up in a dense urban neighborhood, being on an ample farm (surprisingly with entertainment) is a complete novel experience. Watching horses inches away, seeing on-site brewery facilities, and touching historical farm artifacts have all ticked my curiosity that required my further attention to understand.

Fascination

The word "Fascination" in environmental psychology has a specific definition. It means the mental state that provides the opportunity for a depleted attention system to rest.

More interestingly, the built environment and natural environment offer opposite impacts on "fascination": the more visually intriguing built environment stimulates "higher fascination" in human beings; yet, the less visually exciting landscape environment enables "higher fascination." (see the chart below)

In Diana Lane's story, the Tuscan Villa's sophisticated exterior and elaborated interior had brought her to a higher fascination state. The uniformness of olive trees in the backyard also got her a higher fascination. The activities such as olive harvesting created added benefits for her stress relief and extra bonding experience with her neighbors.

In my Inverness Brewery trip, the high fascination states were like this:

Gazing vast cornfield before entering the farm (high-fascination).
Seeing a yellow-painted giant barn house with the only plain surface (low- fascination).
Following the music, seeing the barn interior with elaborated ceiling structure and ornaments (high-fascination).
Picking a spot and viewing the expansive grassland surrounded by horse fence (low-fascination).

Attention Restoration Theory

Though I enjoy telling stories, there is an actual theory behind Diana Lane's journey and what is described as my farm brewery experiences.

Decades ago, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan proposed the Attention Restoration Theory (ART) to explain human beings' responses to our surroundings. This theory centered on cognitive processes and suggested that human beings' capacity for mental attention can be depleted by activities demanding prolonged effortful focus. That leads to fatigue, frustration, stress, and other chronic diseases.

Everyone's story is different. Yet, this almost 2-year long Covid-19 pandemic has made us sickened from social isolation. I have a very introverted personality. Being socially isolated was not challenging for me. Still, I was fatigued by only staying at my desk or only walking around the house. Going to the Inverness Brewery was a therapeutic excursion.