Epic Arguments Over Epic Travel
For anyone that knows of me, they are aware that my sister and I are known for our legendary arguments on every subject and they also know that they rarely end with us on speaking terms. Well, that is until we muster the strength for another argument on something else mundane that we are polar opposites on.
The other day we had lunch at a mutually agreeable restaurant and began to discuss travel. I prefer the method of travel where you spend very little money, stay in hostels and take the bus. I believe this is the best way to experience the culture of the people and it also involves little impact on the environment.
My sister on the other hand, prefers the idea of finding a chain hotel in a tourist hot spot and dropping bundles of money for comfort. Her perspective is that traveling should be relaxing and comfortable at all times allowing you to return to the "real world" of jobs.
The argument boils down to who gets the better experience? Is experience found in just visiting a place or is there a method to to actually getting the most out of your travel. Can we really say we have been to Cuba if we stay at a resort that we cannot leave? Do we have any better understanding of Cuba? Can we honestly say "I have been to Cuba and the country seems to be doing quite well?"
For example, I adhere to a bit of advice I once heard on the Outdoor Network where one of the host of some show that I cannot recall stated that most people travel in what he termed were "prisons." By this it was meant that people book tours, spend there days in a luxury motor coach, get out with all the other tourists at designated stops, get back on the bus and then stay at a hotel chain that is exactly the same in every other country. For me this is simply taking a bubble of western culture with you while you travel and keeping a safety net around you at all times. Is that an experience?
Over the past Summer I attempted to actually experience great things and put myself into situations and places that I had never been in, in order to make myself a better and dare I say wiser person (I don't think the wisdom thing happened... but anyway). So I went on an adventure, bought a Greyhound bus pass and traveled through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada and then back east to Mississippi (by the way from Arizona it is a 48 ride on the Greyhound to Mississippi). I believe I saw more of the United States and had a better all around experience by actually traveling through instead of over, by meeting people by staying in campgrounds and hostels instead of hotels.
I will not say that I did not have some scary experiences on my travels, such as finding myself literally on the wrong side of the tracks in Biloxi, Mississippi and some shall I say interesting experiences in South Western Greyhound stations in the middle of the night. But overall the dangerous experiences were out weighed by the good experiences. By staying in hostels, tenting, working in a Habitat for Humanity camp and riding the Greyhound, I was able to meet some people that I never would have come into contact with. I would not have been given a great shirt from a Vietnam veteran in Flagstaff, Arizona, gone to the Grand Canyon with a group of Aussies, or have been inspired by some of the most incredible people.
Thankfully the love of my life sees traveling as an experience and enjoys putting the ole backpack on and traveling on the cheap. I guess the point of this meandering blog has been to advocate a new way of traveling, a way of travel that removes oneself from their bubble and the bubble of our culture and experience new things and meet new people.
