When we travel, it’s important to balance our desire to stick to a set itinerary with the freedom to embrace spontaneity. It takes discipline to let serendipity trump carefully laid plans.
For me, a fundamental goal in my travels is to have meaningful contact with local people. When an opportunity in this regard presents itself, I jump on it. Driving by a random cheese festival in Sicily? Stop the car. Get out. Eat cheese. Experience it. Hiking through England’s Lake District and popping into a pub for a drink? Don’t sit at a table. Sit at the bar, where people hang out to talk. Dinnertime in Mostar, Bosnia? Don’t go to the touristy riverside places again. Turn away from the cutesy Old Town and head out to “The Boulevard” — the front line of the recent sectarian troubles — and be the first American tourist to eat at a new local eatery. Talk with the owner about how Muslims and Croats are now (tentatively) coexisting in peace. Connecting with people is what enlivens your travel experience.
As both transportation and communication speed up, it’s more important than ever to slow down and smell the roses…or even the people. I was sitting solitary on a bench enjoying the floodlit facade of the cathedral in Reims, France. It was dark, and I was munching on a late dinner — a rustic baguette with cheese. Suddenly the bum on the next bench leaned over and offered me a swig from his crumpled-up plastic bottle of red wine. I didn’t take it…but the gesture and his smile, juxtaposed with that glorious Gothic facade, warmed my meal and helped complete an experience that gave me a memory I’ll enjoy for the rest of my life.
Especially when you get out of your comfort zone, you replace general stereotypes and media-created images with more accurate impressions from firsthand experience. Before going on my recent trip to Iran, I figured people there would be angry at an American they’d meet on the street. What I found reminded me that only by actually going someplace in person can you understand the sentiment of people living there. We were stuck in a traffic jam one day in Tehran. I was just sitting patiently in the back seat of our car when the man in the next car motioned to our driver to roll down the window. He handed over a bouquet of flowers and said, “Please give this to the foreigner in your back seat and apologize for our traffic.” While certainly not what I expected, this was typical of the warmth and friendliness I experienced throughout my adventure in a country that is supposed to be our enemy.
Like skiing with bent knees makes the moguls fun, good travelers enjoy the bumps in the road. They risk making mistakes, get out of their comfort zones, and have a positive attitude. I like to say that if things aren’t to your liking, change your liking.
I know cheese and smelly people are only a metaphor for getting out of your own comfort zone but I can tell you that eating food which clogs your arteries is something we avoid no matter what Rick Steves promotes. As for people, the drunken, smelly guy who was occupying my train compartment in Germany and who only grudgingly departed at police sub-machine gunpoint did not endear him to me. The smell lingered so I moved to second class. Travel has pluses and minuses.
The term “bum” is not the most…PC. Drunk-perhaps? Homeless-who knows? But since he offered you something and didn’t ask you for something, he wasn’t really “bumming”. And who knows what he called you in his blog!
I saw and enjoyed your travel experience in Iran. It helped me see that the media paints a much different story than what actually is truth. Thank you for your continued insight into other cultures.
Do you have updated information on traveling in Belize? Our family is considering it but everything I read says that it is unsafe. Is that true?
Thanks
I think “Meet the people” is one of those travel truths that –no matter how long or much you travel– you have to keep relearning it. Thanks.
Rick, Thanks for bring up this topic. I’m in complete agreement with everything you said. For me, I use your guides as a backbone of my travel, but make sure to fill in the real meat of it by striving to get off the beaten path & dive head first into the area into exploring. You can say I’m a traveler not just a tourist. Too many times I hear from folks that they use your books like their bible, but do not deviate from the main items featured. There comes a time when folks need to get their noses out of the book and just go for it. It makes me sad that they miss so many experiences & don’t really come away with a more vivid picture of the people along with the places. Smells, sounds, sights, tastes, and feel of a particular place burned into the memory is a great souvenier.
While visiting the Cinque Terra town of Vernazza, I had a totally uplanned experience.
I was doing a drawing of the town from the breakwater and a 10 year old came to
look over my shoulder wanted to see what I was doing. Two hours later he returned
with a note book of his school drawings, we talked and laughed–told him he was going
to be a really good artist. Two hours later, someone tapped me on my shoulder and
guess what it was this boy again and he said to me, “Do you want to see something?”
He opened up a large piece of paper and guess what….he had completed a great drawing
of the town and he wanted me to be the first to see it. What a treat. R in Auburn
People who traveled to Iran completely failed to foresee the 2009 attempted revolution. A person reading some good blogs understood the sentiments of the Iranian people much better than those relying on PBS travel videos or books on politics and travel.
I couldn’t agree more. Some of our most memorable tour moments while on RS tours have been during our “free time” while talking with the local people. We met Latvians in Spain, young boys fresh from a math contest and sporting a trophy in the Czech Republic, young boys in Morocco one of which wanted to sell us his little brother and take him to America and on and on. We anticipate more great encounters this summer.
Rick Steves says stuff I wish our lerdeas would say. His interest in the culture of our supposed enemies helps bring American and Iranians closer, unlike what some in Washington do. Great presentation, Mr. Steves.