Waiting Lounge at Aruba Airport 1982
that is THE question…
How much information do we really need prior to the arrival at our destination? How many blogs do we need to read or videos to watch? Do we need to be well prepared or learn (discover) along the way?
This very question sneaked upon me while searching the Internet for information about my forthcoming trip and the answer isn’t so straightforward as it may seem – at first. However, it made me wonder – “Do I really need to know “all that” about my destination before I have even put my foot there?” Do I really need to know details about all dos and don’t:s and howtos? Do I WANT to know?
Barbados 1981
I am not a stranger to travel, have never been, solo at first but once my children came along, I took them “on the road” with me. Traveling the world with two small kids (still in diapers when we first started) worked just as good (if not better in some aspects) in the late seventies/early eighties as it works today. During those years the kids did not travel. In fact, traveling was pretty new also to the adults. Thus, my children were the only children on the plane – a very appreciated “novelty” by both the staff and other passengers who loved interacting with them. Long-haul flights and no fancy electronics to keep them busy. Yet it worked perfectly well. Kids were happy along with everyone else. There were no sulky passengers mumbling:”Grrr, kids onboard”.
Cyprus 1981
Once we arrived at our destination, the real adventure began. We were curious pioneers on a mission to explore and explore and then explore some more enjoying every minute doing it. It didn’t take more than a couple of days to figure out exactly where to go and where not to, where the landmarks were, how the local transport worked, how much things were, where to buy groceries, where to do the hair, where is the best mac and cheese in town, who the neighbors were, where were the kids my kids could play with. Two days, at the most, and we knew all we needed to know to function and have fun at our destination.
We were explorers, conqueror, everything was new and exciting, such an amazing stimulation for our grey cells and nourishment for our curiosity. We wanted to know more, we wanted to discover what was around the next corner. And then next. And next.
Thailand 1982
The uncertainty of what was hiding around the next corner, the unknown, the positive and negative surprises, the unexpected, the expectations or disappointments, the inevitable (or not) were not only a vital part of discovery but also a necessary component in the learning process. For not only did they spice up the explorations, made them more adventurous and exciting; kept our curiosity burning; made us hungry for more but above all made us more aware of eventual hazards and thereby more careful and watchful. We were one with natural laws.
I guess it is called the instinct of survival.
Puerto Rico 1983
The instinct of survival, adventure, discovery, curiosity, surprises, excitement, novelty seem to be on the decline today. We know all about destinations we travel to before we even get there. As do we know all about the landmarks, customs, people, food. We study google street view maps so nothing that may hide around the corner will ever surprise us. Nothing more to discover. We know it all.
The thrill of discovery, surprise, the unknown is gone. We know places we’re going to visit only too well. All it takes is a few youtube videos and we have already been there and done that. Sights and sounds. Why go then at all?
To taste?
So … to read or not to read? Naturally, reading about the place, or watching detailed video is not quite the same as actually experiencing it. Tasting it. Hence, I should perhaps rephrase my question: not if but how much should we read/watch. Do I need to know it all or will I be happy with just some practical bits and pieces like e.g. ‘Do I need a visa’. And for the rest? I’d rather discover things by myself and let nature take its course. And if I miss something? Oh well, let’s leave it for the next time.
Pingback: The most boring travel destination in the world? : Paradise Search
You know, when I started travelling I would take my Lonely Planet with me wherever I went and I might have missed a lot when my nose was between the pages rather than on the sites before me. I also used to try and read up a lot more about what to do in these guidebooks. The result, I ended up .
Nowadays, my travel style is different. When I was living in China, I hardly referred to the Lonely Planet and in Spain we didn’t even take a guidebook with us. I tend to explore more and, honestly, nowadays if I get stuck, apps like Foursquare can lend a helping hand.
But personally, being a fellow travel writer, I think we have to strike a balance. If I don’t read anything about a place before going, I find I don’t really have the motivation to go out explore much. It’s not that I need to know what’s there, more the stories behind it, the history, so I can see between the facades of the buildings into the past. To take an example, the Lady Chapel in Ely seems so much more haunting when I know why the chapel is empty, who beheaded the statues and threads of history unravel before my eyes. On the contrary, in Chinese temples I often felt dismayed by my lack of knowledge of what the murals on the walls depicted.
But, as you say, the whole practical side of travel: visas, what to pack, exactly which bus / train / ferry to take from X to Y, I’d rather step out of my plane and tackle these in the field. Because that is part of the adventure.
Thanks, once again, for a thought-provoking post.
Of course, you are right, the sites we visit come to live and become so much more meaningful and even justifiable when we know and understand the history behind them. Otherwise, they are not more than buildings or ruins or even ravel. The stories behind (the spookier the better) are major triggers why we want to visit them in the first place.
Exploring the unknown and pioneering is entirely another type of traveling. Each one of them has its own time and place. I like them both, even though I prefer the latter one 😉
But, having lived in 11 countries and visited over 100 I feel today I’d rather discover by myself than let other opinions influence me and wake or kill my curiosity ;)Thank you Chris for your response. Much appreciated.
p.s. the post wasn’t meant to be provoking 😉
I’m definitely a planner, and I tend to pack in a lot of places into my itineraries, so I don’t have a lot of extra ttime to spend a couple of days figuring out how to get places, etc. But I don’t spend a lot of time researching the culture or the food or things like that. I make sure I know the things I need to know before I go on a trip, but then discover everything else once I’m there. I think having a balance between the two is important.
Most probably your time is more limited than mine. This is why all your preps make sense. I travel slow. very slow, and can take the time to see (or not) the sites in my own time frame and on my own premises. Happy travels. Eva
When we started traveling together in the early 2000s, travel was: “let’s pack our clothes, grab a map, and drive/book a flight at the local travel agency”. Now, it’s almost impossible not to read, research and prepare everything in advance. What bugs me most is the fact that most photos and videos are photoshoped in extreme, and once we get to the destination we’re disappointed because it turns out that it’s not “that” beautiful, or less than what we expected. So to keep (and protect) the “wow” effect, we try not to watch videos and photos of the places we want to travel to. And regarding travel posts, we prefer to read only practical posts and travel stories (that’s also why we choose not to write posts like “what you must do in xx” or “the 10 best xx”, because to be honest who are we to tell other travelers what to see and do in a place? Everyone has a different travel rhythm and likes different things when exploring a place. That’s why we prefer to write only travel stories that are more personal, to inspire people to make their own experience. Anyway… thanks for sharing this post! 🙂
Ah, those were the times 😉
re photos; I’ve noticed most of the photos look so much better than the reality. I was so disappointed, time after time when I shot something ugly yet it looked pretty in a photo. Thus, I know now the reality is most probably not as pretty as in the photos.
You girls are smart travelers… I’m sure you are experiencing much more than a ‘regular’ tourist 😉 Good luck
Visiting is always better than reading – I read to plan and learn, and travel to immerse. It’s an amazing way to grow 🙂 Lovely post, and great pictures!!
Thank you. Undoubtedly visiting is always better than reading 😉
I totally agree from word to word and can feel the same. As I go to a new place, exploration starts from there, a strong urge develops in me how people live here, how children are being raised, how is the office or business culture in this new place,. I am also inquisitive of customs and want to know more. Traveling is a learning process to learn about new places and sometimes to know ourselves. We even don’t know how much we can survive or bear but after traveling we know our hidden strengths.
You’re so right. This is definitely a way to travel. Anything else is just…. hmmm… touring
Really interesting way to think about preparing for a trip. It’s delicate balance between preparation and spoiling the surprise.
It is indeed. My pick is . nonetheless, the surprise 😉
What wonderful photographs. I still feel actually visiting a place is so much better than reading about it or seeing a photo. I recently felt annoyed after visiting the terracotta warriors. I loved them and thought they were incredible yet many travellers said how disappointed they were. They thought there would be more of them because of photos they had seen. or that because they had seen so many photos of the warriors that it was no longer as exciting to see them in the flesh. I completely disagree that that is the case yet understand your article because of such comments.
What a pity. Guess this is yet another side of reading (too much). Often photographs do not display the reality the way it is. At the same time our expectations grow. Hence the disappointment.