So What's it Like To Travel? Planning and Logistics

Despite my penchant for lists, I was remarkably unready for this trip. Oh, I had figured on every contingency (and packed for it!), but I had done little reading about where I was going and had made few plans about what I wanted to see there. Thus, I've been making my plans as I go. Obviously, this is a luxury I have due to the longevity of this journey.

Generally, I have a rough plan of what I'm doing, but I usually don't project more than five days forward, and even then that is rare. I do know what direction I am going in, but am willing to go off that path for the right reason. I'm even willing to change plane tickets -- repeatedly, if necessary. Lately, I make the decision of whether or not I'm staying in a place when I get up that morning!

Here's a little more about the is of travel:

1. Travel is making a plan, ditching it five minutes later, making a second plan, ditching that one, too, arriving at a third hybrid plan, which is then derailed when someone offers you a fourth, previously unknown, option. And feeling no apologies for such changes.

2. Travel is necessarily mundane. There is life maintenance to deal with and it always has a level of complication attached to it – getting to and from a grocery store without a car, doing laundry without a washing machine or a clothesline (or being worried that your clothes will be stolen off of one), balancing your checkbook or viewing your credit card statements online means finding a computer at a rate you’re willing to pay. Add to this life maintenance not of concern at home – like where will I sleep tonight? (In busy seasons, this may take some effort if you haven’t booked ahead.) How will I get to where I’m going tomorrow? And when I get there, how do I get to my lodging? And, as I'm discovering in Asia, how will I make sure I don't get ripped off in the process?

3. Travel is getting yourself acclimated to the rhythm of the place you're visiting. When I arrive in a place, I like to scope it out to figure out what is where so that I can make the best use of it. I look for the nearest supermarket, at the menus of the restaurants nearby, determine where the ATM is, the internet cafes (and compare prices), and the location of any type of business my maintenance functioning needs that day: post office, drug store, photo finishing shop. I like to read Bulletin boards wherever I go (only applicable in NZ and Australia!), especially in small towns. Bulletin boards give you a feel for what is happening in a community and what they care about. In one Australian town, I saw a notice asking “Is Our Water Safe?” In most places you might think that this has to do with water pollution, but the next line said “What does a composting toilet look like and how does it work?” Sometimes bulletin boards can be more confusing than enlightening if you don’t know the country’s slang well. For example, in one lakeside community, someone put up a notice seeking a “crib” that would sleep six. Huh?! Apparently a crib is another word for cabin.

4. Travel is yielding to the forces of the culture in which you're traveling. In Asia, logistics are far more difficult than in NZ and Australia. Getting good information is nearly impossible due to language barriers and sometimes malicious intentions. It is a favorite ploy of Bangkok tuk-tuk drivers, for example, to ask you where you are going and then to tell you that it is closed, but this other thing is open and they can take you there! I often ask several people the same question before I determine my next action. In a country where you can't even read the alphabet, rides on the public busses can be a real adventure because you can't read street signs!

The most important thing to keep in mind when traveling is an acceptance that things will not go as planned and that that's OK. In fact, sometimes it's great. I think, too, that traveling with someone is a very quick way to take measure of them. Years ago, I was going to write an article called "Does He Travel Well?" The idea being that if you are trying to make a decision about whether or not to be with someone long-term, travel with him or her. (Unfortunately, this occured to me after I took a cross-country trip with the to-be-first husband and learned all kinds of unpleasant things.) And then notice, can they make a plan? But are they flexible at the same time? Are they spontaneous? How do they make decisons? How do they handle unplanned detours? How do they handle emergencies? How easily do they get mad? And how do they show it?

As a result of the truths of travel, I think I have become far more at ease with no plan than I have ever been in my life. Whaddya know.