When people use to ask what my hobbies were I use to always write; travelling, snowboarding, reading, yoga, etc. however in retrospect, at that point in my life, I didn't understand what the term "travelling" really meant.
Prior to this 'around the world trip' my travel experience consisted of backpacking in Australia for three weeks, various vacations to hot spots like Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, and a brief stint of nine weeks living in Acapulco, Mexico for yoga teacher training. This so called travelling consisting of staying in fancy resorts were all my needs were easily catered for and all meals were provided. Even for yoga teacher training we lived in a beautiful, five star Fairmont Hotel on the ocean, with one meal a day provided by the executive chefs, and maids cleaning our rooms daily. Yoga teacher training was, and most likely will remain, as one of the most challenging things I have ever done but it cannot be classified as 'travelling'. Therefore, my travel experience consists of family vacations to Mexico and booze cruise get-aways with friends. Don't get me wrong I am extremely thankful for all the opportunities I have had to travel, outside and, inside Canada, but I am merely attempting to emphasize that these sun kissed weeks away cannot fall under the term 'travelling'.
The word 'travelling' now holds so much more meaning and describes not only an action but a specific set of experiences and challenges that accompany it. Travelling to me now means learning, exploring, and understanding a country from the street up. The simple means of trial and error or as some like to call it a scavenger hunt exploration! Let me explain...
When one lands in a new country (lets call the person "the traveller") he or she usually has an extremely limited ability to speak the local language. The traveller usually has no idea how the local currency works, what the exchange rate is or what the money even looks like. Forget even having any of the local currency! And if you do well then, your one step ahead of the game my friend. 'The traveller' usually has no idea where they are going to stay, how they are going to get there or what area of the city/town/community they should head to. Eating? Well perhaps the traveller has an idea of popular local dishes or maybe this will be another interesting experience of trail and error, while the traveller figures out whats good and whats not by simply tasting everything! Finally, 'the traveller' may be completely alone in this new country without any friends, family or acquaintances, or maybe 'the travellers' has a friend by their side. If not, well once all the above are figured out the next task is to make some friends.
So, here you are, walking off the plane into a new country, with all the above questions bouncing around in your head completely swarming your mind. Within the first ten minutes one is able (if resourceful) to answer many of the above questions with a few simple tasks.
First, you find an ATM and pull out some local cash (your new funny money) hopefully not too much or too little. Then you find a security guard, information desk or any random person and enquire about how to get into town. Whats the cheapest way? Whats the fastest? Then you buy yourself a ticket for your chosen method of transportation and attempt to find the port in which it leaves from hopefully before it leaves. Upon boarding this new vessel of transportion maybe you pull out your lonely planet and research a good area of this new city to stay or simply take a gamble and pick a stop. During all this its usually pretty easy to figure out how much English is spoken in this foreign land, which immediately determines how challenging the rest will be (that's considering you haven't already determined that the amount of English here is limited and your already pulling on your hair).
As you head into the madness of this new unknown city you quickly survey your surrounding new home picking up useful information. Once you arrive at your desired destination, considering you didn't miss it because of language barriers, you start scanning the streets for somewhere to sleep. Perhaps a clean bed will be easy to find or perhaps you'll look at various rooms all sub par, while being followed and harassed by locals who all want to make a buck. After making a decision, you have now arrived at your new temporary home. Along your journey you definitely had the opportunity to see street vendors, side cafes, and restaurants, quickly determining popular local foods. After a quick shower, change and shave, (or maybe none of the above depending on the demands of your stomach) you stuff your new funny money into your pocket and head out the door to satisfy your growling belly. If you are lucky, you had a partner in crime to take on this new country with and share the burden of mastering all of the above. Otherwise you head out the door with your new funny money in your pocket, a smile on your face and the hope that today you make a new friend to explore your new temporary home with.
That my friends is what is classified as 'travelling'.
Prior to this 'around the world trip' my travel experience consisted of backpacking in Australia for three weeks, various vacations to hot spots like Mexico, Cuba, Hawaii, and a brief stint of nine weeks living in Acapulco, Mexico for yoga teacher training. This so called travelling consisting of staying in fancy resorts were all my needs were easily catered for and all meals were provided. Even for yoga teacher training we lived in a beautiful, five star Fairmont Hotel on the ocean, with one meal a day provided by the executive chefs, and maids cleaning our rooms daily. Yoga teacher training was, and most likely will remain, as one of the most challenging things I have ever done but it cannot be classified as 'travelling'. Therefore, my travel experience consists of family vacations to Mexico and booze cruise get-aways with friends. Don't get me wrong I am extremely thankful for all the opportunities I have had to travel, outside and, inside Canada, but I am merely attempting to emphasize that these sun kissed weeks away cannot fall under the term 'travelling'.
The word 'travelling' now holds so much more meaning and describes not only an action but a specific set of experiences and challenges that accompany it. Travelling to me now means learning, exploring, and understanding a country from the street up. The simple means of trial and error or as some like to call it a scavenger hunt exploration! Let me explain...
When one lands in a new country (lets call the person "the traveller") he or she usually has an extremely limited ability to speak the local language. The traveller usually has no idea how the local currency works, what the exchange rate is or what the money even looks like. Forget even having any of the local currency! And if you do well then, your one step ahead of the game my friend. 'The traveller' usually has no idea where they are going to stay, how they are going to get there or what area of the city/town/community they should head to. Eating? Well perhaps the traveller has an idea of popular local dishes or maybe this will be another interesting experience of trail and error, while the traveller figures out whats good and whats not by simply tasting everything! Finally, 'the traveller' may be completely alone in this new country without any friends, family or acquaintances, or maybe 'the travellers' has a friend by their side. If not, well once all the above are figured out the next task is to make some friends.
So, here you are, walking off the plane into a new country, with all the above questions bouncing around in your head completely swarming your mind. Within the first ten minutes one is able (if resourceful) to answer many of the above questions with a few simple tasks.
First, you find an ATM and pull out some local cash (your new funny money) hopefully not too much or too little. Then you find a security guard, information desk or any random person and enquire about how to get into town. Whats the cheapest way? Whats the fastest? Then you buy yourself a ticket for your chosen method of transportation and attempt to find the port in which it leaves from hopefully before it leaves. Upon boarding this new vessel of transportion maybe you pull out your lonely planet and research a good area of this new city to stay or simply take a gamble and pick a stop. During all this its usually pretty easy to figure out how much English is spoken in this foreign land, which immediately determines how challenging the rest will be (that's considering you haven't already determined that the amount of English here is limited and your already pulling on your hair).
As you head into the madness of this new unknown city you quickly survey your surrounding new home picking up useful information. Once you arrive at your desired destination, considering you didn't miss it because of language barriers, you start scanning the streets for somewhere to sleep. Perhaps a clean bed will be easy to find or perhaps you'll look at various rooms all sub par, while being followed and harassed by locals who all want to make a buck. After making a decision, you have now arrived at your new temporary home. Along your journey you definitely had the opportunity to see street vendors, side cafes, and restaurants, quickly determining popular local foods. After a quick shower, change and shave, (or maybe none of the above depending on the demands of your stomach) you stuff your new funny money into your pocket and head out the door to satisfy your growling belly. If you are lucky, you had a partner in crime to take on this new country with and share the burden of mastering all of the above. Otherwise you head out the door with your new funny money in your pocket, a smile on your face and the hope that today you make a new friend to explore your new temporary home with.
That my friends is what is classified as 'travelling'.
