BootsnAll's Travel Typepad

Traveling and Learning to Let Go

For some of us, a trip is the perfect time to relax and unwind, to let the stress of every day life melt away, to forget our cares, to let go.

But for others, a trip only adds to the stress. We worry about speaking the language. We get frustrated when things aren't as we expect or as they would be at home, and we work ourselves into a tizzy running around trying to cram it all into a short stay. It's exhausting, and by the time we come home from our trip, well it seems like we need a vacation from our vacation!

But travel doesn't have to be so stressful. We've put together some travel tips for control freak travelers to help those Type A travelers avoid some of the stress of a trip. Rule #1: don't try to pack so much in! Not all of us have time for a round the world trip, so we try to see as much as possible in a short week or two. The problem is that in trying to see it all, we end up experiencing very little of what life is actually like in that place. Slow down and let yourself wander, let yourself get lost. Pick one or two major things to see and do each day and then let the rest figure itself out as you go along. When it comes to planning vs spontaneity, you need to have a balance.

Recognize that you will never see and do it all, even if you stayed for double the time. Choose the things that are the most important to you and let the rest go. When you look back on your trip, the experience you remember most fondly will probably not be rushing around the city from monument to monument, or crying into your map as you struggle to find the one last obscure museum you just had to see before it closed today. It's more likely that the moments you remember fondly when you are back at your cubicle will be the afternoon you spent simply wandering and getting lost, or the lazy morning where you sat at a cafe, slowly sipped your coffee, and watched daily life in the unfold before you.

It's in the simple things and unplanned moments that we often find the greatest joys of traveling. And to get there, you need to put down the schedule, ignore your watch and simply let go.

Photo by: malias

Safe Travel After the Arab Spring

When my mother first told me many years ago she was going to spend a few weeks in Egypt traveling by herself, I want to think that the news gave me pause. The truth is, however, I don't recall batting an eye. My mother is one of the most intrepid travelers I know, and she routinely makes me feel as if our roles are reversed, me telling her to be careful as she makes plans to go skydiving for her birthday or hitch a motorcycle ride with a stranger into the African desert.

My mother's penchant for adventure draws her to Africa repeatedly, and though there's plenty of unnecessary fear about a continent most people in the U.S. know little about, there are also more recent reasons why traveling safely in Egypt isn't as much of a given as it was the last time my mother was there. Outside the region, many are cheering on the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East as positive signs for the future, but however soft those revolutions might be in some places there's still reason to pause before venturing in as a foreigner.

More confident travelers will no doubt jump at the chance to get back into places like Egypt as soon as things even start to look like they're calming a bit. There's no doubt that there will be deals galore, with airfare to Cairo at bargain prices and even high-end rooms offering rates like the budget hotels in Cairo. While she isn't likely to be among the first holidaymakers to jet back to Egypt, I have little doubt that my mother will be chomping at the bit to return as soon as she hears about others doing so.

Will I worry about her? I wouldn't be a very good daughter if I didn't. But beyond her ability to think on her feet and her strength of character, there's something else that makes me more confident than I might otherwise be every time she announces where she's off to next - her age. In some ways, the fact that she's nearly 70 is the very reason that I'd be worried about her traveling alone, but because she chooses to travel in places where old people are revered rather than reviled I know she'll be well taken care of.

Now, to reply to her latest email asking for information on Madagascar...

Travel with Kids: Learning from the Pros

Anyone who's child-free has probably grumbled at the sight of a baby boarding their flight. It's natural, and understandable - but if you're the parent tarveling with that infant, it's not all fun and games. New parents find out quickly that while babies don't come with an instruction manual, there's all sorts of wisdom to be gained from those who have gone before.

This guide to traveling with a baby may not come with the baby, but it probably should. If you're a new parent (or about to be one) and you like to travel, this guide will help you get past the idea that your traveling days are over (at least until Junior's a little older) or that you need a nanny or you'll never be able to make it work. Sure, having an extra set of hands is helpful, but it's not required. And given all the reasons to travel with young kids, the idea of waiting isn't always the right option, either.

Traveling with young kids is a challenge, to be sure, but there's so much to be gained that it's definitely not something to dismiss outright. If the parents are up for it, just think of what the children can get out of it. They're veritble sponges when they're young, able to soak up new languages easily, and those skills will always serve them well later in life. Introducing kid to new environments, different-looking people, and unfamiliar foods can make them more adaptable, more tolerant, and more adventurous. Travel does all of these things for adults, too, but we come into it with all sorts of baggage - which is something young kids are blissfully unburdened by.

There are precautions you can take to make sure that you aren't worrying about what might go wrong, too, and that alone can provide peace of mind for both the parents and their relatives back home. Get a quote on travel insurance for families - you'll be surprised at how inexpensive it can be.