Travel With Your Eyes Wide Open concludes with this entry. To see the complete series, visit Travel With Your Eyes Wide Open Part 1 and Travel With Your Eyes Wide Open Part II.
UNPLANNED DIVERSIONS—You might experience some eyes-wide-open memories if you:
- Engage in people watching, wherever you might be. Always 100% free and quite entertaining.
- Look for more than a photo op . . . . . look for an opportunity to get involved. If you see something interesting happening, ask a local what is going on and if it is OK for you to join in.
- Take a few moments to just stand or sit and observe. Don’t take pictures, don’t talk. Just listen, watch, and take in everything that is happening around you.
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Crowded Venice
- Move away from the crowds. An example: Many people enthusiastically jockey themselves into the most crowded square of the most crowded city in the most crowded month—St. Mark’s Square in Venice in July—then complain about the masses of people. Walk away from the teeming masses, step into a café, and be greeted by Venetians who act as though they have never seen a tourist.
Oops!
- Turn a really bad travel day into something memorable. You leave your backpack (with passports inside) on a bench in the train station, your camera breaks, your house trailer falls into a sink hole. Unexpected? Negative, perhaps. But think not only about how to solve the problem but how you might turn the experience into something memorable.
- Sit on an already occupied park bench and strike up a conversation. Talking to other folks can make you a much happier traveler.
Engage in conversation with a stranger.
© Deborah Erickson
I left my two travel mates in an art museum and I walked across London’s Hyde Park alone, on my way to Kensington Palace. Needing a bit of a breather, I sat on a bench occupied by a dapper-looking gent and we soon began to chat. His tales, especially the one about his neighbor lady who gardens while wearing only her “knickers,” will certainly never appear in any guidebook.
- Smile. It’s the universal language.
- If your trip is running low on magic moments, kick yourself into gear and find some.
MOVE IN WITH THE NEIGHBORS—What if you were to become a temporary local? Some suggestions:
- Attend celebrations, festivals, and other town events. Google (YOUR DESTINATION) EVENTS and see what comes up. Tourist information centers provide calendars listing all kinds of local events.
Annual Swedish Days in Holdrege, Nebraska
© Deborah Erickson
- The easiest way to meet locals is to go where they are. They are in the park on a sunny day, at the Baptist church’s annual pancake breakfast, or at the local pub.
In Silverton, Colorado, my husband and I spent some time soaking up the sun and town atmosphere while relaxing on a bench. I saw several people carrying bowls and bags of food someplace, so I asked what was going on. It was the annual fire department community appreciation lunch and we were invited to come to the celebration. At noon, we joined what seemed like the entire town of Silverton for burgers and hot dogs, eaten as we sat on the back bumper of the fire truck. This encounter was one of the highlights of the trip.
Eating lunch with the locals at the fire house
© Deborah Erickson
- If you are in a non-English speaking country, learn a few kind words in the local language. It is amazing the doors these words will open.
- Use public transportation. It’s how the locals get around.
London Underground
© Paula Oesterling
Show that you are interested in the people, not just the tourist sites. If you adapt to the tastes and culture of the place you are visiting, whether it be Alabama or Athens, you will be a much happier traveler.
And please remember . . . . . just as you would like to meet local folks when you travel, look kindly on visitors in your home town. They might be looking for the same eyes-wide-open experience as you are when you travel, and you might well be the friendly person they remember fondly for years to come.
EAT WHERE THE LOCALS EAT—This is one of my favorite “rules” to follow when I travel, mainly because I like to eat. Sometimes, out of necessity, we must take a meal at a convenient chain restaurant. But whenever possible, head away from the highway or the town center and look for that small, non-touristy restaurant that is not listed in any guidebook.
- Ask the locals where they like to eat. Prices will often be lower, crowds smaller, the food more authentic and the experience quite unique.
Enjoy off-the-beaten-path local eateries.
© Deborah Erickson
- Look for mom-and-pop places filled with enthusiastic local diners. This type of eatery will be a lot more fun than one loaded with tired tourists who just got off the bus.
- If you are traveling abroad, avoid places that have a “We Speak English” sign stuck on the door. Be brave as you smile and point to something on the menu, even if you have no idea what you are ordering.
- Explore cafeterias, bars, cafés, farmers’ markets, delis, neighborhood grocery stores, and street vendors for offerings of local fare that will delight your palette.
Farmers’ market in Santa Barbara, California
© Deborah Erickson
On a back street in Stratford-upon-Avon, we happened across a small pub where we toasted our trip while sitting on a splintery picnic table, right next to the fellas playing pool in the garage. Our English pub grub tasted so much better in this relaxed setting.
Enjoying pub grub in England
© Deborah Erickson
Eat the local way when you travel. You will come away with a full tummy and an even fuller travel experience.
CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE—We Americans are known around the world for wanting the places we visit to be like home. This is why many small hotels in Europe have stuffed tiny bathrooms into each bedroom . . . . . because Americans who travel expect it.
Small rooms in Europe became even smaller when bathrooms were added.
© Deborah Erickson
Many grouchy travelers find the source of their unhappiness is their own stubborn desire to find “home” where ever they travel. If you want everything to be like home, you might be well-advised to just stay there.
Again, to quote travel expert Rick Steves . . . . .”Certain truths that we Americans find ‘God-given’ or ‘self-evident,’ such as cold beer, ice in drinks, bottomless cups of coffee, hot showers, and bigger being better, are suddenly not so true. One of the benefits of travel is the eye-opening realization that there are logical, civilized, and even better alternatives.”
Steves also said, very wisely, “If something isn’t to your liking, change your liking.”
TRAVEL IS ALL ABOUT MEMORIES—Eyes-wide-open travel can change us, if we will let it happen. It broadens perspectives and teaches new ways to measure the quality of our journeys.
You can immerse yourself in every place you visit. Or you can be a traveler who wants to look but not touch, and certainly not be touched.
You can choose to see only the well-documented sights, following the pathways set out by your guidebook or tour guide or . . . . .
You can come home with a treasure-trove of lasting memories because you now know how to travel with your eyes wide open!
Happy trails!
