Travel Tips

16 July, 2014

One of the big benefits of living in Spain has been cheap travel to all the cool spots in Europe. Now that we are heading home, we felt the need to cram in as much travel as possible into the final six weeks of our time here. In addition, the Kjellgren family, my in-laws, like to travel every year to a different destination in Europe. This was a perfect storm.

The fruit is almost ripe (Look for the girls)

Firenze

A local belt maker. He cut the belts to size and gave the girls leather bookmarks as well.

Hangin' with Chairman Mao.

Here is our itinerary:

Naples and Amalfi Coast
Athens
Greek Islands cruise
Milan
Lucern
Bern
Florence and Tuscany
Cinque Terre
Rome
Sicily

As of today, we are in the middle of Florence and Tuscany. It ain't easy being me.

Here's my take on traveling, in case you're interested.

• Meet and Greet
• When traveling to any foreign destination, which includes something as mundane as the next town over, try to focus at least part of the trip on actually meeting and interacting with a local. Too often we treat people like they are just part of the scenery. I cannot recount the number of times I have seen and overheard travelers gawking and making disparaging comments about locals. Before I seem to righteous, I must admit to being something of a white-washed sepulchre. Perhaps this is why I am so attuned to the behavior. We always seem to notice our faults in others more than in ourselves.
• Get off Main Street
• If everybody in the restaurant or shop is speaking your language, leave. Today we walked through Florence with a true blue local. He took us to his house for a cooking class. As we walked away from the tourist areas, he began to point out shops run by true artisans--shoes, purses, metal-working, book-binding. We were the only English speakers around. We found better deals and interacted with true craftsmen.
• Eat Treats (or sometimes tricks)
• Ordering in a foreign country is easy. Either order the craziest thing on the menu or whatever is the special of the day. My theory is that restaurants only put things on the menu that taste good, since that is what generates a profit. Therefore, the risk in trying new things is fairly minimal. So go ahead and be a little adventurous. Even better is to shop in a local market and actually cook a meal. My ultimate goal is to meet a stranger and get invited to their house for dinner. It hasn't happened yet, but I just know that I am getting closer all the time.
• Beat feet
• I try to never come home the same way. If I get lost, it's a bonus. Many times I have found a special little restaurant, shop or vista. We tend to be so afraid of traveling off the beaten track, but it is most often without merit. Obviously it is not a good idea to walk down an alley, when you see a pimp or drug dealer hawking their wares.
• Speak
• Speaking the language is a balm. Even just a little phrase can change the attitude of a salesman in a shop or waiter in a restaurant. Really, we have no excuses anymore. With Google Translate, you can speak, or at least write, any language you want. I downloaded Italian, so that I can even speak when offline. 

Traveling is an incredible privilege. We should avail ourselves of every opportunity to interact with other cultures. Be aware, however, that merely visiting another place does not necessarily equate with actually interacting, anymore than visiting McDonald's makes you a Big Mac. Get out there and do something different.