How People Travel

[Parigi]

I can't even begin to list what's wrong with this trip.

I think the big picture is that some people don't like to plan. They seem to prefer all the travel problems big and small, to planning.

A couple, good friends of mine, were going to Thailand and did not want to make hotel reservations. I tried to get them to book at least their first night in Bkk, and recommended different hôtels with different prices/attributes.
No, they arrived in Bangkok airport at 5am and took a taxi and tried to convey to the non-English speaker that they had no hotel destination and wanted the driver to give them a tour of Vangkok, to find a hotel in a nice neighborhood.

After their 11-hour flight from Paris, it took them nearly 3 hours to find a hotel far from ideal, far from everything.

I can't bear to list the mishaps for the rest of their trip, the missed trains, missed festivals, the missed everything, all because it's against their religion to plan.

And what can I say? they come say afterwards: Eveyrthing worked out, and even if they didn't, it was ok in the end.
OK? How do you define OK? As in still alive, if barely ?

Then there are those who plan differently, and there is no talking them out of it.

How many times have we seen new travelers planning to drive about 10 hours a day? When we tell them that's too much driving, they have the perfect answer that shuts us up: It's nothing. They drive that much all the time in Nevada/Utah/Wyoming just to get cat food, and besides, they love driving.
I always wanted to tell them: stay home and drive. The freeways look alike anyway.

Maybe we have to accept that people have a different concept about travel, and we can't change them. In our life there is a part of chaos which we love and cherish. In theirs too.

My traveler-from-hell oscar still goes to my cousin, who loves loves loves to hop on a train/flight atthe last minute. Once we hopped on a train Antwerp-Rome, and the train departed at very second, as though our feet had activated it.

He doesn't always make it. He has missed plenty of trains and flights, and made his traveling companions miss them too. Then he always says: "it's ok. It worked out."
NO IT DIDN4T WORK OUT !
Sorriest for yelling.

 

[Parigi]

"in Goult we stayed 2 weeks."

I remember you, Michelle. You even asked us where you should park in Goult. (Answer: in front of your rental.) I remember you were a great traveler and enjoyed yorself and even found a way to communicated with your landlady who spoke no Engish.

 

[Parigi]

"trip proved a disaster for many reasons, but among them the total unwillingness to take any sort of advice of any sort from people who live in the UK, but if her next door neighbour's Aunt Jemima had ever said anything travel related it was to be treated as gospel."
Some people are compulsory second-guessers. That is a trait that we don't notice much among friends, even good friends. On a trip together, that is a deal-breaker.

 

[Cameron]

I really have an agonizing gut reaction to hearing some travel plans! I call it "museum chasing."

But -- let's back up and be empathetic.

I get where many are coming from -- travel is expensive. Time away from work can be expensive, too.

When my son was little (Morocco at age 4 was his first trip abroad), airlines discounted fares for children. Because of that, I was able to afford to take him to many places, especially during my years as a single mom from the time he was ten. I was renting apartments long before I heard of Slow Travel, because I found it better, and less expensive, for traveling with a child.

I hear of friends struggling to save for a trip to Europe, and because of the cost, they try to cram as much "sightseeing" into a trip as possible. While we're always talking about our next trip, they may be lucky to have 1-2 trips in their lives.

I sometimes hesitate to post about my trips because the majority of my friends and extended family (my kids can afford to go anywhere), I feel like I might, to them, come across as bragging.

Add up how much you're going to spend on travel this year. How many people do you know who can afford to do the same? Not that many.

Back to my gut reaction---if I know the person can afford to slow down and see more, I'll ask a few questions to see if they're open to my suggestions.

If I know the person is struggling to find the money for the trip, I'll bite my tongue.

 

[JustTravel]

One of my work acquaintances went to Italy some years ago. When she returned, I asked her how her trip was.

Me: How was your trip?
Her: Great!
Me: Where did you go?
Her: We went everywhere. Saw everything!

The end.

Note: She was gone a week with an overnight stay in New York from SFO.

 

[itarana]

I understand the frustration.

Personally, when I travel, I like to choose just one city, or a small collection of smaller cities. I also like to travel mostly by foot. That's how you experience the most and immerse yourself the most, if you ask me. No rent a cars, no subways, occasional taxi if the weather is really bad or if I'm too hungry or tired to go on.

My last travel was Tbilisi, Georgia. I spent almost two weeks there and wasn't able to see as much as I wanted to. Compared to a greater and more historical city such as Barcelona, I think I would need a month or two to be satisfied!

 

[freakTraveller45]

I think that if they come back all smiles and with a feeling of having had a good time, that's what counts. Travelers like these would probably get stressed if they were to travel in "slow" fashion : "What, we aren't going to see that (xxx famous landmark) today? Then why did we come?"
We're not all the same, c'est la vie.

Yeah, I agree!

 

[DragansDen]

I prefer solo backpacking and staying in hostels. On the way, you can meet travel friend or even love.

 

[freakTraveller45]

Yeah, people don't plan wisely and that's the reason they don't get to completely enjoy their vacations.

 

[artnbarb]

Yeah, people don't plan wisely and that's the reason they don't get to completely enjoy their vacations.

I have a hard time balancing what to organize and what to leave to chance! Even when I do leave a day/afternoon unscheduled, I tend to have at least 3 good options, something to do if the weather is terrible, etc. That's about as much as I can let go! Time is my most valuable commodity when I'm on vacation.

 

[Pauline]

I have a hard time balancing what to organize and what to leave to chance! Even when I do leave a day/afternoon unscheduled, I tend to have at least 3 good options, something to do if the weather is terrible, etc. That's about as much as I can let go! Time is my most valuable commodity when I'm on vacation.

If you don't organize things before you go, you just end up spending vacation time reading maps, guides, researching IMO. But I always feel like I have not done enough research when on a trip. We leave in a week for Italy and only now am I reading about the towns in the Cilento where we are on week 2!!