Friday’s Favourite | Caught the Travel Bug…and Now What? | Part I

My mom going before me, as always, proving that fears (such as mine of heights) are worth conquering not just for the reward but sometimes because the narrow, freaky path is the only route in…which it was in the case, as we could only reach this village in the Philippines on foot.

 

On one of my recent Friday’s Favourite posts, a reader left a comment posing a question that had been passed on by another: “…how you would even start out travelling – like how to utilize your time and money wisely. What are your tips for the newbie travellers?”

Huh.

I easily could have provided a deluge of answers on the spot pertaining to the latter portion of the question, but the former had me stumped.  I’ve planned trips and adventures from scratch before, but never had to figure out how to start actually traveling.  My parents had always been quite adventurous and we grew up surrounded by a fair amount of fellow travelers.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen my mom’s slides click past on the slide projector as she retold stories of climbing in the Alps and smuggling Bibles into Communist countries (as a result, I will be subjecting my children to the same fate–both the traveling and the slideshows!).   My parents started taking us on trips at quite a young age and I remember being a toddler and standing on the airplane seat chattering to fellow passengers, wild curls bobbing up and down.  It only occurred to me upon marrying my husband that some people don’t think turbulence is fun.

So like I said, Huh.

I did some journaling and some brainstorming about this, and have come up with a few thoughts.  Here goes…

I think ‘travel’ can be broken up into several categories and within those categories, certain aspects of travel can be found and maximized:

• Vacation:  For me, vacations are about relaxing and reconnecting either with a specific place, interest, person or people, God, or myself.  I need periodic vacations in order to VACATE my home, career, and general routine…in essence, an escape from the things that sometimes distract me or wear me down.  My prerequisites for the ideal vacation are the following: easy access to peace and quiet, good food, not too many people that I have to be around, and an aesthetically-pleasing environment (to get my creative juices flowing again).  I don’t care if it’s an all-inclusive on the Mayan Riviera or a cabin in the Sierras or a B+B up the road, so long as it as it provides some opportunities for me to walk away nourished on all fronts.
• Tourism:  In my opinion, tourism equals sightseeing.  Checking off the must-sees in a location be it 45 minutes from home or 4500 kilometers (yeah, yeah I know I just compared time to distance…).  I enjoy ‘being a tourist’ in small doses, but eventually I get bored, find the go-to sites overcrowded, and eventually feel guilty if I don’t dig below the surface and do more than just ‘see things’.  I think stereotypical tourism often happens when there’s not a lot of time to see a specific region or city, or when fear, disinterest, or lack of knowledge leads to avoiding what lies beneath the surface of a place or culture.  Whenever I travel to a new place, of course there are key points of interest that I want to see, but in order to enrich those experiences, I spend a lot of time researching an area, which usually leads me to want to see and understand other aspects of the locale far more than just follow the masses to the main attractions.  Whenever I pick up or purchase a new guidebook, I automatically identify the places I know I want to see and experiences I want to have, but as I read and research, I find that some of those initial attractions are better jumping off points than they are areas of focus, which often fade into the background of my plans in favour of more authentic experiences.
• Travel:  Ah, now here’s where I mentally rub my hands together and get eager about jumping in, because I feel like this is the main course.  The touristy sites are there to whet my appetite, the vacation my indulgent dessert, but the travel….oh this is the pièce de résistance!  And like a perfect meal, I believe that travel should be well-balanced, which is why I realized that I tend to subconsciously piece together my travel with opportunities that provide the following:  1) Understanding  2) Exploration  3) Reflection.

1. I believe that one can enjoy their travel experience so much more and offer those surrounding them a more pleasing experience, if efforts to understand a culture or a place are made.  There are SO many ways to do this, but my favourites include study, (a lot of reading and research before, during, and after a trip) volunteering, (finding opportunities to give of my time and talents while on the road) and immersion (usually this means staying with locals or at least staying in accommodations that allow me to connect with locals and support family-run businesses).  For me, most of my travel incorporates all of these aspects.  Three years ago, my friend Alison and I embarked on a 5-week train journey that would take us from Moscow, Russia all the way to Beijing, China via multiple flights and umpteen hours of chugging across the Eurasian steppe.  Along our Trans-Siberian adventure, we stayed with locals almost the whole way across, volunteered our musical and photographic gifts and immersed ourselves in learning from guidebooks, locals, and expats.  Had we stayed in hostels or hotels the whole time, we may have connected with a few locals here and there, and plenty of other travelers, (which is loads of fun, don’t get me wrong) but we’d have never sipped cognac for breakfast with a generous Muscovite woman, sang/watched Hannah Montana karaoke with a Siberian schoolgirl, photographed/played for a Russian wedding, attended a basement church in Irkutsk with the most amazing group of locals and missionaries, or hit up an Irish pub in Mongolia with our fabulous Russian hostess who insisted we leave our hostel and stay with her (BEST decision EVER!).  Have I proven my point?  I hope so!
2. While sight-seeing takes us over the surface of a place, digging deeper and hanging out with locals will automatically bring you to another level of experience, which is why so many of us hit the road (or want to) in the first place–EXPLORATION!!!  Yes, exploration requires a certain amount of risk, such as leaving your detailed itinerary behind (*gasp*) for a time, trusting strangers, or eating unknown delicacies, but if you plan right, do your research, and travel safely, those risks will more often than not lead to beautiful experiences and adventure.  I have hitched a ride on a Berber woman’s donkey in the Atlas Mountains, had my body scrubbed silly in a Moroccan hammam, been rescued by four lovely British ladies from being stranded at a Spanish port, eaten curdled mare’s milk pancakes in a Mongolian yurt, and been looked after by a Cuban family whom I almost didn’t meet.  All because the desire to explore pushed me beyond my fears.  Fears of being alone, not enjoying myself, getting sick, being taken advantage of, or goodness knows what.  All legitimate fears, but if you’re going to TRAVEL and not just sight-see or vacation, then you need to do your homework, hook up with trusted locals and throw convention (not caution) to the wind.
3. I’m not sure how much I’d have to reflect on if I blasted around a city like a bat of hell for 5 days straight, but if I took the time to understand and explore my surroundings, I’d probably have to factor in some time for reflection.  If it’s a short trip, I usually like to do a bit of journaling at the end of each day, but if I’m traveling for a longer period of time, I often need full days to just relax and reflect.  While I do love quiet cafes and peaceful parks, my preferred times of reflection have been while on ferries or trains.  There’s just something about seeing the world slip past that triggers reflection and sets my mind to rewind and allows it to roll back the tape (yeah, I don’t know if my mind is ever going to ‘skip chapters’ like a DVD.  I’m old-school like that).  I think it’s important to go through the process of studying, learning, and reflecting in order to bring events to completion and to understand how and why one travels, what they’d do differently, and what they’d do again and again.  Reflection is a valuable aspect of travel and a great tool to help wind down from the emotional high as well as plan for your next great adventure.

Whew…I think this is going to be a 2-Part deal.  So next Friday I’ll focus on planning and paying for travel.  I hope this is a help to whomever it was who was wanting to know how to start traveling.  I feel like breaking down the art and act of travel might help you to determine how and why you want to find your place on the open road.  If you’re looking for something more, there’s a book I read a few years ago called Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts.  That should provide some more practical information for you.  But like I said, next week I’ll address the more practical aspects of getting on the road.

Oh, I think last week I mentioned something about fishing photos from mine and Will’s anniversary trip.  Those are gonna have to wait until next week, but I’ll post ’em for you soon enough!

Hope you have a fabulous Friday and a great long weekend!  Come back next week for Part II as well as a sneak peek from Audrey + Ben’s San Francisco wedding at the Flood Mansion!  And if you haven’t had a chance to catch a glimpse of Evelyn + Jon’s Kelowna wedding or Ernie + Lindsay’s SoCal wedding, head here for a sneak peek!

Jaime