A Vacation to Remember - Taking the Cultural Backstreets

Hey travel gurus!

Vacations are a great opportunity to make life lasting memories and enjoy an experience unlike your normal scheduled life. The whole point of a vacation to experience something new, expand your horizon, and of course, have a great time. The recent establishment of hundreds of travel agencies has attracted many travelers who find appeal in the idea of having someone else do all the trip planning. The problem with these commercial establishments is that they are trying to make as much profit from your trip which may decrease from your experience. These companies, while convenient, are selling pre-packaged and impersonalized trips that thousands of others have been on.

            As I’ve said before, traveling is your chance to get a sense of the diversity on our planet and broaden our minds. Our Earth is inhabited by amazing people, cultures, and people and to not take advantage of it all in while you can is a shame.
            How do I achieve this? you might be wondering. How can I travel and successfully experience something different that will stick with me for the rest of my life? It’s pretty simple: don’t pick the easiest choice. Don’t pick the most popular hotel to stay at. Don’t eat at the restaurant that offers the same food as home. Instead of going to the crowded pristine beach, try cliff jumping in a more secluded area of the shore. Try zip lining rather than tanning and remember that you probably won’t be able to go parasailing back home.  Rely on public transportation rather than bringing your car with you. Take a taxi and talk with the driver rather than just driving yourself. Go shopping at the local market rather than the big grocery store chain.  Go to the true cultural areas of the city rather than living inside your touristic bubble. Talk with the natives, even if you have to use a dictionary every other word. Roll along with things that didn’t go according to plan and try to get a laugh and good story out of it. Don’t over plan everything and make the most of every moment. There are no specific rules on how to have a “good” time because the best experiences happen as a result of spontaneity and don’t follow a replicable equation.

I guess what I’m trying to say is to take risks, because our lives aren’t long enough to always take the plain, boring, and mainstream path. Who cares if you didn’t fully enjoy a certain trip? At least you’ve gained knowledge on what you don’t like and you can sleep happy at night knowing you tried something different. Just have fun and live your life. You’ve heard it so many time but actually make the most of your time alive and take things easy. Nothing enjoyable came out of being uptight.

May your life be filled with adventures in the cultural backstreets. Until next time gurus.

Taz