We'll take a break from the busy work of documenting our adventures to wax philosophic about the travel experience itself and more specifically why I like traveling and like traveling the way I do.
First, I think there is a wonderful aspect of getting out of one's daily routine. I've found that as I've gotten more and more into the retired mind set that it is so easy to get trapped into the comfortable bondage of routine. There is no doubt that for me anyway traveling is a major means of breaking that rut.
Second, I love the aspect of figuring things out. Each time Wife and I go to a new place, it is all about how do we figure out how we get around, how we find what we want, how we take the unfamiliar and make it familiar. There is a degree of stress that goes with that but there is also this great feeling of satisfaction as you meet each challenge and make things your own.
Third is related to the Second. Because it is all about the process of discovery and challenge, of figuring things out and making them your own, I think that is one of the reasons why cruises and such are not attractive to me. One of the major aspects of a cruise is they make it easy for you. I totally understand why that attracts so many people, but it definitely goes counter to the the desire to discover and make something one's own
Fourth, smaller is better. We were in Vienna and it was enjoyable but it was huge and we could have spent much more time there and not gotten to feel like we knew the city. A city like Graz is lovely and has an area around it. It is all very approachable and we within a fairly short time can feel like we can make it 'our place."
Fifth, you got have space. I've related this before. Having a nice big place to call your base takes all kinds of pressure off of the process. You don't have to worry about housekeeping coming to your room. You have space to spread out. A nice place (especially with a view!) is fun to be at. It means you're happy to do less during the day and go at a more sustainable pace (important if you're older and taking longer trips) because there is the pleasure of the place you stay at.
1 comment:
Amen to all or most of that! I'd not thought about it but I think that's also why I like travelling though I have to say seeing different things and being pushed out of my comfort zone is sort of a masochistic pleasure. I've even come to like traveling with the kids because you have a completely different experience than traveling as an adult. Kids get totally different reactions from people, small ones anyways. I imagine it changes as they get older and more annoying :)
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