For those of you who have followed my travels and ideas for the last decade or more, you know that I don't always go where hordes of people go. I don't frequent Paris, make a yearly pilgrimage to a Disney park, or try to cram myself into Times Square at New Year's. It's not my style. It's more my style to go with my parents to Los Algodones, Mexico to refill their expensive prescriptions. I tend to go my own way, and I've often encouraged others to do the same.
A guided tour or a cruise with options that the staff on board can help you with is a good way to get started. I say that because the few tours I've taken I've noticed that while the information was good; they do take you to where they get kickbacks. Long story short; you never get to have your own adventure with someone else in charge. This is why I encourage folks who want to have an adventure to actually have one. Guided tours are easy, but are they really the things you want to see?
The time I took my family on a four country trip to primarily Switzerland, I had a lot to organize. We spent a little time in Helsinki, because we got a great price for our flight. Finnair was having a huge sale to celebrate their anniversary. I didn't look to visit Finland, but we had a great time there. Helsinki was a beautiful city with a lot of things to do and great history.
We spent the bulk of that trip in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. This is a fabulous location, and as we discovered, it was full of tour buses and vacationers. We watched as the tour groups were herded from attraction to attraction on a schedule that barely allowed them to enjoy the sights. I was happy we didn't take that trip that way.
There were two requests that I had from my family for that trip and neither one of them had to do with Lauterbrunnen. Therefore, if I'd booked a tour, it might have been a disaster. My husband wanted to tour the supercollider at CERN. My son wanted to make a brief visit to Italy. Both requests were last minute. Both requests were granted. Thank God we weren't on a tour.
One year, my son and I took a drive to Vermont to look at the foliage, and once again, we encountered tours. There were buses everywhere, and they tended to really get in the way. Once again, the leaf peepers were herded from location to location on a very strict schedule. My son and I ended up staying overnight in Brattleboro, because the traffic was so awful with all those buses. The truly sad part of the event was that we enjoyed a lot of places that the tours didn't go, and all those paying customers missed some of the best stuff.
I've had many such experiences over the years. I have friends who go to Disney every year. I have friends who like to take cruises. I get it. It can be a lot of work and a little scary to plan your own itinerary to a destination of your choosing to see and do what you wish to see and do. But, it's so worth it. If you take the time, do the research and planning, and take that scary plunge into actual travel; you'll love it. You'll feel accomplished. You'll feel far less like you've missed something. You'll have great stories to tell when you get home. You'll have powerful memories that will last a lifetime.
The beauty of traveling at your own pace is that you can see the same attractions as everyone else, but in St. Lucia for example, you won't have to put up with your tour guide tapping his watch because you have to go to the next stop. You can rent that apartment and car, see things at your own pace, and have time to do whatever silly thing you want; even kayaking. You can eat at local restaurants with real food, real people and learn so much about the location you're visiting. I promise you, I saw what the tour customers went through in St. Lucia and was happy I didn't have to deal with it.
Taking the plunge actually means taking control. It frees you up so see and do what you want. You'll have more time to talk to locals and see what life in your travel location is really like. You'll have a chance to try more local food. You'll have more time to understand what it is you're seeing. In my experience, tours left me with a lot of questions. When I guide myself, I answer all my questions. It's a huge difference.
The bottom line is, if you want to do something; just do it. You know, like Nike says. I recently decided that I wanted to see the northern lights. My decision based on where I live was that Iceland was the easiest and best place to go to see this natural phenomenon in action. People thought I was insane because I was going to Iceland in January. Then the fissure at Grindavik started to act up and I got more messages, calls, texts and so on, asking me if I was still going because of the volcano. I'd never had friends and family so concerned about an independent trip I'd planned.
I went. I saw the northern lights. It was cold, because it was the North Atlantic in winter. The sun rose at 11 and set just after 4, because it's January. It snowed. The wind blew. It was everything everyone worried so much about for me. What did I think? I loved every minute of it. I enjoyed the long sunrises and sunsets which were a good two hours long each every day. I enjoyed the people. I enjoyed the view. I enjoyed the Northern Lights very much. Do I have any regrets? Maybe that I didn't plan to stay longer. It was a wonderful trip, and I do not regret going.
Just remember, you only regret the things you didn't do. I believe that. Do I regret the time I went to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for Valentine's Day to stay in a super mall? Had the time of my life and got a little sunburnt at an indoor water park when it was below zero outside. It was cool. Do I regret going to Greenville, Maine to watch cars race on Moosehead Lake? Nope, it was cool. I do what I want, I experience what I want, I do things in my own time, and I enjoy my own bucket list.
So, remember; do some work. Decide what you truly want to do. Don't dance to anyone else's tune. If you want to do something, do it. If you don't, that's the thing you'll regret. I'd rather have a list of fabulous memories that other people think is insane than a list of things that were normal, but not what I really wanted to do.
Don't take the easy way out. Don't settle for a cruise that only let's you see the tip of the iceberg in a location. Don't take the guided tour and see what someone else wants you to see. Do it yourself. travel, don't be a tourist. Enjoy experiencing what life is like in a place you visit. Go to find the unusual. Go to see the beauty. Go to learn what a place is like. Experience is something you can't buy. You have to live it to get it.
So, take the advice of someone who's toured and who's traveled. I learned. Do it your way and enjoy!
https://www.tripit.com/web/free
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning
https://www.routeperfect.com/trip-planner
https://www.purewow.com/travel/best-off-season-winter-travel
https://www.projects-abroad.org/blog/why-travel-off-season/
https://www.explore.com/1102831/destinations-that-are-even-better-during-the-off-season/
https://www.visiticeland.com/things-to-do/?category=5ec7d096a90548233654d4ba&page=0
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