When I traveled to Costa Rica earlier this year, I specifically brought tennis shoes that were very old, and trust me they had seen better days. I had planned to hike through the rainforest and up mountains, leaving my shoes in Central America to rest in peace. At the end of our trip we were in Arenal kayaking with Hugo, a local from the area. I had my shoes with me and mentioned off-hand how beaten up they were and the plan I had to not return to the U.S. with them. He gave me a look that I won’t ever forget and simply asked, “do they not work anymore?”
Archives for November 2011
Festivals: Cultural Experience or Tourist Trap?
Throughout our travels we have attended a lot of big events and festivals in many countries. We watched the peloton on the Champs-Élysées as the Tour de France ended, Josh was in the corral of people running alongside bulls at San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain and we attended the Zurich festival celebrating the local arts. Each event was special and held a place in our travel story, but with the hordes of people and the multitude of activities, I don’t feel like we got to truly learn more about the local culture
First Travel Fears
Our first travel outside of the US involved flying to Brussels, finding a place to stash our luggage, then taking a bus to another airport in Brussels and flying Ryanair down to Rome. We hadn’t evolved into carry-on only travelers at that time, so we both had checked bags for our study abroad that we left in a locker in the Brussels train station.
Kindness From Strangers
We have been lucky enough to have help from a number of random people along the way while traveling. There are those who have helped us with understanding languages or cultural differences or have helped us overcome getting around on local transportation. For all of this we are very thankful, but one of our greatest memories is from our honeymoon—when we were trying to hide out from everyone—a wonderful couple was right next door whom we ended up forming a friendship with.
Mistakes or Memories?
I hope to never have a great answer to answer this question. Although I make mistakes daily when it comes to traveling, I havent yet considered any of them BIG. Even being left in Spain with no train and having to chase a bus down didnt factor as a mistake, just part of the journey. Every mistake is a lesson and an experience to be absorb and revisited when another situation occurs.
My Around The World Soundtrack
You won’t hear any of these songs on the radio, but if you’ve traveled to any of these places, you’ve probably heard these songs before.
Embracing the Idea of Change
Why change if you have a good thing going? If it works…why fix it?
What Are Your Goals For 2012?
We have big things happening in the next 365 days and our goals seem to be broad and overwhelming. It is easy for us to say we want to change our worldview in the next year, but what specifically does it mean? What do we want it to change to? I like my goals to be defined and attainable, but outlining goals for my first round the world experience is hard since I have no idea what to expect.