Relax and travel… originally uploaded by Ferran Jordà
I would bet that there are as many answers to that question as there are people in the security lines at the airport. Why do you travel? To get away, to experience new places and new people. To stretch your knowledge of the world we live in? All of those reasons and many more.
There is some travel that we do out of obligation. Business trips to far flung places, trips to visit family. But the trips that we take because we want to, because we can, because we need to, that’s a whole other story.
For me travel has to do with renewal. The chance to take ourselves out of the routine of our ordinary days. Places where all of the hustle and bustle has no bearing on me, where I can be anonymous and just take in the sights and sounds around me. How nice to be able to shrug off our day to day responsibilities and just go where our whim takes us.
There’s something relaxing, almost magical, about being in a place where I don’t understand the language. All of the voices become a background chorus. A back drop of the exotic that lets you know right away that like Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore.
There are many schools of thought on HOW to travel. There is the organized and agenda’d travelers who can tell you right where they’ll be on any given day of their trip. Planning makes sense but too much of a good thing can back fire. There has to be some forgiveness built into your schedule. If not any missed connection could be catastrophic. There has to be time for the spontaneous side trip. Time to eat lunch at a hidden gem of a restaurant that you’ve stumbled across. Time to just be.
I don’t travel nearly as much as I would like to. Life and work often find a way to limit my wanderlust. When I do travel it’s for relaxation, to recharge my batteries and take myself out of the routine obligations of life. Why do you travel? What one place or places do you secretly yearn to visit? What does your prefect trip look like? What was your favorite trip? Please share your thoughts. I’d love to hear you stories.
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August 17th, 2010 at 11:56 am
I travel because I can’t imagine not traveling. I also adamantly believe you get a richer experience driving than you do flying. I don’t think everyone should drive all the time, but to fly somewhere and sit in one place for a week isn’t really to travel. Visit, maybe, but not really travel.
It’s hard to say which trip is my favorite. My honeymoon in Hawaii is up there. Yosemite National Park is a favorite I keep returning to. Just about anywhere in California or Utah is worth a trip.
My perfect trip has me taking off in a car with no agenda and no return date.
August 17th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Must have been one helluva car ride!
August 17th, 2010 at 11:59 am
I knew some smartass would say that. Should’ve known it would be you! We went to 4 islands and rented a car on each one. I rest my case.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
I think driving trips and flying trips are two different animals. I can really appreciate a good road trip but I also enjoy flying to a far off destination. I’ll be the first to admit that flying is not the experience it once was but it is the best way that I know of to get to many of the places I want to visit.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
I should have clarified. I have no problem with flying, just as long as there’s actually something to do at the destination. All-inclusive resorts don’t really qualify as “travel” in my book. Vacation destination, sure, but not travel. And for most trips within the United States, I get a lot more out of the experience driving there than I would flying.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
After recently driving 3300+ miles I can honestly state that road trips are not for me in any way, shape, or form. They are not relaxing, they are not enjoyable, and they made me so tired and miserable that I’m already dreading doing it again next year.
I cannot wait until The Wife clears The Rooster to fly.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
I just returned from a 6440-mile road trip with 5-month-old twins and it was great. But travel with kids (or even without) definitely isn’t in the cards for everyone.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I mostly travel for business… sometimes to Fargo-Moorhead by car, sometimes by plane to Asia. Flying nowadays is really not enjoyable, between the to/from the airports, the security hassle, the seat-overhead storage-baggage fee games, and of course the reduced flights means nearly every flight except the shuttles to/from Chicago are packed to the gills. I prefer driving if at all possible.
For pleasure I do like to go on trips outside of the USA if I can, flying is the only option if you are leaving North America. I am comfortable renting a car and driving in Europe, or taking trains, depending on the type of trip i take, main cities or countryside/little towns. Of course you can get to know things more intimately in a car, but it does have its price in cost compared to train especially in Europe.
I would like to just take off and drive for a long time, stopping off when and where i please, but right now that isnt an option for me.
I keep having this “About Schmidt” moment though, that just when the time seems right , all hell will break loose and conspire against me in my quest for wanderlust on the byways.
Carpe diem?
August 17th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
one of our best trips ever was to Ireland several years ago. we had reservations at a b+b for our first night and last night, then b+b’d our way west and north. there were four of us, i was the wheelman and my buddy was the map man. we figured out our plans for the day the night before. good weather, wonderful people, and a great time.
bb
August 17th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
That sounds like a really fun trip bb.
August 17th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
I did a similar trip to Italy with my father in 1986. Just found hotels/pensiones every night… we drove around Tuscany and Northern Italy… spent 5 days up in the small town his family came from. In 2006 my brother and I took him back again, he was 91 years old… still stands out as one of the best trips of my life.
August 17th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
I travel for business, and infrequently at that. Otherwise for visiting relatives, though none are more than 200 miles away. My hope is to travel more once my kids move out. For now, if I want to relax, I take a day off here or there when I know the kids and wife will be at work.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I travel to get the hell out of MN (especially in winter) and be off work.
We drove to Lethbridge, Canada a couple times several years ago so my wife could visit her family and friends there. No more road trips for me from now on though, they suck. Now unless I’m going to Milwaukee to visit my family, I’m flying even though that sucks too.
We have been on several cruises over the last couple years. My favorite stop so far was Belize. Just could picture myself living there and English is the primary language (it’s all I can speak). 2nd favorite was Roatan mostly due to the awesome snorkeling. I found I like Mexico as well having visited Cozumel, Cabo, Ixtapa, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Maya and Mazatlan.
Went to Hawaii in April. I liked it but did not fall in love with it. Too Americanized..lol. Oahu I’d skip if I ever went back, too crowded. Maui was nice. We were in Key West in Feb ’09 for a few days and like it there as well. Though it was fun to visit I wouldn’t want to live there.
In Nov will be visiting Cozumel and Key West again as well as some new places, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Curacao and Grand Turk. Hope to do some scuba diving if we pass our cert test in about 2 weeks.
Next Feb takes us back to PV, Cabo and Mazatlan. Need to decide which of those 3 we’d like to go back to for a land vacation at some point.
And next Oct going on an 18 night cruise starting in Venice that will visit several ports in Italy and a few other places before doing a transatlantic crossing. The transatlantic crossing is on my bucket list so I’m looking forward to that and I’ve never been to Europe so we’ll see if I like that or not.
Despite hating winter and using my vacation to go to warm locations my ultimate dream trip would be to go to Antarctica and stand at the south pole. For some reason I just want to go there so I can say I’ve been.
August 18th, 2010 at 8:52 am
I want to see Alaska and I would at least like to try a cruise. (I’ve been on the fence about cruising for the most part). I think we’re going to kill two travel birds with one stone and do an Alaskan cruise. I also want to do a river cruise in Europe. That’s on my list for my next big milestone birthday.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
I love to travel, but it’s not something I get to do very often. It’s been two and a half years since I took a trip of any real length (i.e. more than overnight or a couple of days). That was when I went to Japan for two weeks, and was definitely my favorite trip ever. We would stay two or three nights in one location, then take the bullet train to the next place on our itinerary.
I’m going to Vegas next month for a few days, though (got a very, very reasonable deal online several months ago), and I’m looking forward to it as a chance to get away. Not my first time there, so I know what to expect.
Next year I’m going to shoot for something in late winter/early spring if I can swing it. Maybe Europe if I can do it cheap enough (I’ve never been there and I really want to go), but more likely the Caribbean or New Orleans, both of which would also be the first time for me.
August 20th, 2010 at 7:40 am
We had a really memorable trip to Puerto Rico a few years ago. One of the only things we had planned to do was a trip to Guavate. This is a town famous for its spit roasted pigs. The main road to Guavate is lined with lechoneras (roasted pig restaurants) and the main road through town is locally known as La Ruta de Lechon. What a fabulous place. Most Saturdays and Sundays locals gather in Guavate to eat, dance and just enjoy life. The action really picks up around the holidays as local holiday tradition includes a trip to La Ruta de Lechon for many families.
We were lucky enough to have a local guide who helped us with finding a great lechonera and with ordering some unforgettable food. Although even without the guide the ordering would have been pretty easy, just point and ask. Most of the food available is on display at the lechoneras along with huge picture windows filled with a view of pigs roasting on spits.
If you ever find yourself in Guavate make sure that the server includes the beyond description chicharron with your order. And don’t forget the ice cold local beer, Medalla, to wash it all down.
August 21st, 2010 at 10:26 am
t.u.
have you looked into an alaska cruise?
bb
August 22nd, 2010 at 2:35 pm
Very casually bb. It’s definitely on our list but we haven’t made any hard plans around it yet. Do you have a recommendation?
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:59 am
For many years, I had an opportunity to catch a trip to Seattle and Florida plus the yearly business trip to Florida. – I had my flight system down to a ‘T’. Had all my gate timings, airport pick and drops mastered and everything involved in transportation went off with no issue. I no longer make those trips, but they were fun to see new places, visit friends across the country etc and just have a change of pace.
Now, I don’t travel for business anymore, but did have the chance to get to Florida for 5 days this spring with the gal. While we did fly, we rented a car, and had a two hour drive to the house (which was planned for cost savings on flight/car, and for sightseeing to/from MCO. I’d like to continue that trip when money allows, however I’d really like to get back on a cruise. It was just a great experience all around. Getting to see new places, meet people, and having grown up on a boat and being responsible for some part of the operations, it was nice to sit on a boat the size of a small city and not have to do anything but order another beer.
Those are the nice relaxing trips.
However the one staple trip I take every year is to my beloved Rollag steam show. It’s 7 days of PTO, with a weekend and Labor Day weekend mixed in, making it close to 11 days of not being in the city. Granted, this is no luxury vacation. We reside in a 27′ camper, work 10 hour days in the heat, sun, dirt and elements volunteering to preserve and display history. Why you ask would someone take 7 days away from an air-conditioned desk job to ‘vacation’ in those elements? – Because as the main theme of the previous posts, it’s a CHANGE. Sure I still go up there armed with enough electronics and camera gear to fill a b-grade film studio, it’s a change of pace, great friends and a chance to relax (after dark:30), have a few beverages and just recharge and get away from the normal mundane routine of life.
So I’m split, 1/2 of my travels are for relaxation, sun and fun, and the other half while still out of the daily routine, send me back home sunburned, stiff and sore, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
August 25th, 2010 at 8:57 am
All of this talk about bed bugs is creeping me out. I somewhat expect to have to quarantine my luggage when I get back from Europe. I heard today on the radio that a local pest control company, Plunket’s I think, will heat treat your luggage for bed bugs. I might have to look into it. One of the things in the report that surprised me is that people are brining the bugs to the office. And the fact that they can be found in other commercial places like movie theaters. Who knew? Besides that I think they can also be picked up on the planes themselves when traveling to and from any destination, not just those with known infestations. I’ve checked out http://bedbugregistry.com/ prior to booking a hotel stay but that seems to be only one part of avoiding the problem. I know that bed bugs are harmless for the most part and just a nuisance but man just the thought of it creeps me out.