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One of my favorite travel quotes is “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain. I love seeing different parts of the world, including spots I see in pictures or movies. However, the more I travel, I realize the real beauty lies in the lessons of seeing these spots. This includes meeting the natives, experiencing the terrain and eating their food. As the decade draws to a close I was excited to get to partner with Expedia to reflect on 10 travel lessons from this decade. Not only that, but to get excited about the roaring 20’s and the adventures they will hopefully bring!
Before I dive into the lessons I’ve learnt, a bit about Expedia! When it comes to analyzing travel trends, Expedia has a leg up. Being one of the world’s largest online travel brands means being able to uncover themes across air travel, hotel stays, searches and bookings, even experiences – all in the pursuit of arming travelers with everything they need to travel smarter in 2020. Expedia makes planning and booking travel easy by providing travelers the best deals on everything they need to go: flights, hotels, activities, vacation packages, and more. Now, here are my lessons. 🙂
1. Women want Freedom
When my husband and I were in Stockholm we took a boat tour and there were all walks of life on that boat. When the ship began sail many people, including us, were gathered at the front tip of the boat where not only could we see everything, but felt the breeze the strongest. The initial group stayed on for about 10 minutes, in love with the novelty and views. About 15 minutes in, some people began leaving and so on a so forth. Then I realized the majority of people still standing and on the edge of the boat were women including me.
My husband had sat down while I remained and enjoyed the breeze on my dress, on my face and hair. I wish I would’ve taken a picture of all of us women standing on the ledge; young, old, women in burqas, bald ladies, women with canes and wheelchairs. However, no matter where we come from or what we believe in, I sense that all women crave feeling free and we find it in different ways. For me that’s dancing, laughing with my kids and personal style. For others, it might be not getting married, not having children, leaving their country, or changing careers. Perhaps for all of us, it’s feeling the wind in our hair, burqa or bald head.
2. Mothers all over the world are a TRIBE
Summer is the perfect time to observe kids and their moms anywhere because most likely the kids are in limited care or school programs and the fams are on vacation or at the community pool. I was not with my kids that much during my travels this year and naturally my attention turned to moms and their children when we were away as I pictured my kids with me. What struck me the most here is how we (mothers) are all the same in our love and attention, no matter where you are in the world. The fastidious attention to safety and “have they eaten enough?” concerns are mutually inclusive.
Dads are great, but the common denominator of care is the mother. I felt so much less lonely on this motherhood journey to see other moms tending to tantrums, ensuring the kid had the floatation device on properly or had finished their sandwich. That love, and that humanity gave me back a lot of hope! Like my good friend, who is also a psychologist (and my defacto shrink, poor girl) always tells me the same thing when I tell her about my mommy worries: “It’s lonely on top”. She means on top of the caring chain and it doesn’t get higher than mom.
3. Respect for Others
When I went to Tokyo this Summer, it was hot, crowded and beyond clean. How could a city that has more people than even Manhattan be so harmonious? Respect. The levels of respect are high in Tokyo. Everyone is looking out for each other’s comfort level, it’s really strange! I think that there’s a certain reverance and little bow, body language wise, that I associate with Japanese culture and never understood where it came from until I was there. That consideration and politeness is engrained. The little bow is all about, “you go first, and if I’m first, then I’m so sorry”. Which leads us to the Tea Ceremony…..
4. I’m sorry I’m First
To expound on the Japanese consideration, let’s quickly talk about the Tea Ceremony. In an authentic tea ceremony, each person takes turn drinking their tea one by one. Everyone waits for each guest to be served, enjoy and drink their tea, one by one. And if someone is before you, there is literally a gesture that apologizes for going before you. So it’s almost a burden to be first. The whole tea ceremony was one of the most mind-blowing travel lessons from this decade!
5. Pride in your work
Japan is really fresh in my mind because we just went there this summer and a completely different world. One of the things that I noticed was the pride in one’s work. There was no job that was too menial for anyone. Every one was so happy and distinguished to serve or be helpful. The man pictured here was carrying people as a human taxi in 90+ degree weather. We could barely walk much less picture dragging hundreds of pounds across stones and this man just smiled. Whenever, I complain about the work I have to do, I picture this man, smile to myself and get to work.
6. Tolerance for Diversity
One of the things I love about visiting NYC is that people generally have a substantial tolerance for diversity and crowded spaces. I don’t believe you can easily live in big metro areas and not embrace those who are different than you! You won’t survive! Yes, people can be a bit aggressive or not give you much time. But frankly, I believe they’re just trying to get out of your way. They have stuff to do and assume that so do you. 🙂
7. Traveling with kids gives you life
Ok, this title is overtly generous but traveling with kids is it’s own kinda magic! You really do see the world again with fresh eyes. I don’t ever really even notice trolleys anymore but with my boys, suddenly it’s the greatest adventure in the moment. Although it can be really tough, traveling with kids not only expands their mind but yours, far beyond the typical ways. One of my favorite travel lessons from this decade is that kids can “hang” when it comes to travel, it is YOU that needs to say yes! Be brave. 😉
8. Run away with your SO
This is easier said then done and sometimes the resources or reality (nursing or job demands) don’t allow it. Sometimes, the furthest you’re gonna run away is to dinner when the kids are asleep and that’s fine! I think what I really felt more than ever is how important it is to have the environment in which you can coherently share ideas, dreams, fears with your SO. Most of the time we are shouting instructions to one another; “get so and so from school”, “don’t forget the wine!”, “throw me the diaper cream”, “change the wet sheets!”, “where is Henrick?!”
We mean well but when you’re so busy and each person in the relationship has significant career demands and crazy schedules, it’s easy to become dysfunctional, sleep-deprived roommates. I had the chance to run away with my husband a few times this summer and each time it reminded me how important it is to share the little details from the day. The funny, or not that funny observations and daily occurrences that you so much feel like sharing when you’re first in love. So even if you’re not running off on a trip, and you’re just running away downstairs….do it!
9. Breaking bread breaks barriers
You can’t really understand someone until you’ve eaten their food, ideally with them in their country. In Copenhagen, my husband and I, by happenstance, had the chance to eat with a couple that was sitting next to us. It happened also in Tokyo with a local couple. Both times, we just said hi, asked a couple of questions, and it generated into a great conversation. The understanding that we came away with from having eaten a meal with them is beyond any tour we could’ve taken. If you have a chance to meet up with locals or even just start chatting at lunch or dinner, do it! It’s life changing! The worst that can happen is that they pretend or actually don’t understand you and it doesn’t work out.
10. Remembering who you are
Sometimes the everyday grind eats away at who are because we are contantly working at what we have to be. Traveling allows you to break free from that and to return to a certain pulchritude of breaking routine. It doesn’t have to be a long trip to be a meaningful trip! I’m excited for the next travel lessons from this decade to multiply into the next!
Thanks to Expedia, I can explore the trends for 2020 and plan my next trip! So where do you want to go? What were some of your big lessons from traveling this past decade? I’d love to hear! Much love, XO, Z