Tips and Commentary
Authentic vs Traditional
Sally at Unbravegirl wrote a post this past Sunday about her search for the “authentic” travel experience in Thailand. It is a good article and the comments are just as interesting. This post grows out of a comment I left there; and might make more sense if you read her article first. I come to pretty much the same conclusion as her and most of the commenters, but I was interested to see what would come out of my mind when put to that subject.
Enter the Figgy-Pudding
Bring us some figgy pudding; bring it right now. We won’t leave until we get some… so goes as version of “We Wish you a Merry Christmas”. While this is a well known song in the US, none of us have a clue what figgy pudding is. This post will not change that as it is about traveling figgy pudding and the tradition that grew out of a joke.
Trying to Do Too Much
Anyone else have days where the number of things you want to do is much bigger than the time allotted? Every day ends up having too many tasks, many of which are of little actual importance. This leads to feeling overwhelmed and needing a vacation. I so have these.
As with a lot of things, I relate this problem to travel and fear in order to sort it out. Travel is something I think I do quite well and do enjoy, and rarely have these problems. And fear is a common source to problems that I am getting better at dealing with.
Thankful Metaphor
I have been in Germany for now 3 years. Far longer than I originally expected. I’m quite happy with my decision, but it still boggles the mind that this is my life. All of the little (and big) choices along the way led me to the situation that I am in right now. And that is actually a pretty cool thing to reflect on.
Penalty of not adhering to my own Slow Travel Ideals
I am a big fan of slow travel. I like being in one place for a while to get it’s feel, to meet locals and see the rhythm of life.. I did not however stick to this ideal while traveling in Greece. And I paid for it, in stress and frustration. I tried to see too much and I did not do as I should have known was right for me and ended up with a few hard days.
Normally when on vacation I will take a week and pick one place to be in; or a guided tour that moves en masse. I love to travel, but the actual moving about is not the fun part for me. It is the people, which almost always means being in a town or with a group. After my boat trip ended in Mykonos I knew I had a week to make it to my boat to Italy in Patras. It was wide open. I could choose to sit on an island or at an Athen’s cafe for a week and just relax. However I had been reading a few guidebooks and got grandiose. Thus began my week of riding the Greek bus system around the country.
Vacation Juice
With only a few weeks off of work a year, when you love travel that time becomes precious. I have seen various studies talking about how little vacation is given (or taken) in the US. I will say, that although I get way more time off here, that time is still valuable to me. I try to use holidays and night trains to make the most of the time that I have away from my job. When the vacation time becomes that precious, there is a sense of trying not to waste it. At which point that desperation comes back in another form, to suck up all the glories of the vacation and store it somehow. If we store up enough “vacation juice” and mete it out slowly over the following months, maybe the daily life is more enjoyable.
Breakfast
I admit, I am not a morning person, despite which I love breakfast. Especially when I find a hot breakfast while traveling. The feeling of night time hunger being take away by a plate of scrambled eggs and the sense of the whole day in front of me.
Breakfast is really one of the meals that travelers should not forget. If you pay attention when booking you can often get buffets included in the price of the room just by picking the right hostels and hotels. Breakfast is my time to slowly get into my day, plan out what I want to do and sometimes just chill and read for an hour. It is a relaxing time and also a great time to meet people.
Weather and First Impressions
I am often very affected by the weather. When I am traveling, this is happens more so. Traveling means more outside time and more connection to place and to nature. When the weather is bad, my vision of the place is changed. Heck I sometimes even remember places solely based on the weather. When you sometimes see a place for just a few days the first impression is often the only one, but even those first few hours can affect how a place is experienced. The first impression of a place, like with people, builds a view of if that is hard to shake one way or another. For me weather plays a large role in this.
In my travels I have left places in hours because I didn’t feel like staying. I have sat happily in cafes for days watching the people in the drizzling rain. I have tried places years later and been unable to shake a bad memory. Even for places that you already like sometimes the weather can get to you. It has been gray and raining here for nearly a week. I’m beginning to get stir crazy.
