OhM Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Just contemplating travel here. I'd really like to think of myself as a laid back, adventurous, take-it-as it comes travel type - you know, it's all about the Journey. In actuality, I'm an uptight, nervous, Destination type person. Sometimes I get there and look around and think, "OK, now what?" because I missed the best part of the trip fretting about getting there! So I'm wondering - there must be some others like me? And if anyone has suggestions for changing, I'd love to hear them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I voted Destination, but not because I get nervous or edgy. I had to think about it for a minute, and I realized I don't begin 'enjoying the vacation' until we get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It's all about the journey! I packed my little bitty civic this summer, put my 5 year old in his car seat and drove to Montana for a month. From California. With nothing but clothes, computer, and camping gear. We went up through Oregon and Washington over through Idaho to Montana. Then we drove around for weeks. Then we went to Yellowstone and checked out Wyoming. After that we went back to Idaho. Then, I really wanted to go back home and we drove 13 hours straight from Idaho straight down through the bottom of Utah, cut through Nevada and Las Vegas and into California. I was happy to be home. That's the kind of traveler I am. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I am a Destination person, but want to work on enjoying the journey. My 23yo is so a Journey person and I try to learn from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cindie2dds Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Well, it's my job to travel (flight attendant). I voted obligatory other. ;) When I travel for pleasure, I like everything planned out as much as possible. My husband likes to wing it, so we meet in the middle somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSheep Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I'm all about the journey. It takes however long it takes to get there, and if there's an interesting looking sidetrack that won't take all day I'm all for a stop to look around. There's a lot of life between here and there, and I don't want to miss it. Give me a good audiobook and a few nibbles and I'm happy as a clam. However, I am married to a destination guy. Travel makes him antsy. He frets about getting ready (though usually I'm the one that gets everything ready because he wants it just to BE ready, just like he wants to already BE there) and then whole time we're on the way he looks at the clock and grumbles and hunches over the steering wheel (if we're driving) peering out at the horizon for any sign of the destination, even if he knows it'll be at least another 8 hours before we arrive. We've been married and travelling together now for 13 years and he is finally starting to notice (because I keep pointing it out) that there is such a thing as scenery, and that it takes just as much time to get there if you're perched on the edge of your seat fuming at the horizon as it does if you're relaxed, watching the scenery, and enjoying a good story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I voted other because they are both important to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 It's all about the journey! I packed my little bitty civic this summer, put my 5 year old in his car seat and drove to Montana for a month. From California. With nothing but clothes, computer, and camping gear. We went up through Oregon and Washington over through Idaho to Montana. Then we drove around for weeks. Then we went to Yellowstone and checked out Wyoming. After that we went back to Idaho. Then, I really wanted to go back home and we drove 13 hours straight from Idaho straight down through the bottom of Utah, cut through Nevada and Las Vegas and into California. I was happy to be home. That's the kind of traveler I am. :p This is the kind of trip I fantasize about, but dh would probably point out that I would be a nervous wreck not knowing where we'd land next. Maybe I need some un-planned day trips to start stretching my wanderlust! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 This is the kind of trip I fantasize about, but dh would probably point out that I would be a nervous wreck not knowing where we'd land next. Maybe I need some un-planned day trips to start stretching my wanderlust! I have a wanderlust issue. But, hey, it makes for so many great life experiences! I think that's a great idea. We do that all the time. Sometimes we hop in the car for a day and pick a direction and drive. It's so fun! You find all sorts of neat new places to have lunch and see things you didn't even know were there to see! It's great! Our Montana trip didn't even have a destination, other than "Montana". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I voted other because they are both important to me. Same here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Mostly, I'm a destination traveler. Get there as fast and as straight as I can. I've worked a lot in the last few years to enjoy the journey itself more. And it's working...I'm enjoying traveling more and more. I've always enjoyed car drives, but now we purposely try to get off the beaten path from time to time. One of our favorite things is to get on some small roads and wander for a while. Air travel has been harder...but I'm working on it. I take small art supplies to create while waiting or flying. I take lots of photos from the airplane....clouds, mountains, etc. Noticing the details makes a difference. One thing I've taught my children is to stop every so often and truely savor the moment. Just stop. Pay attention to the scents, sounds, weather, flowers, trees, people, languages...just stop and absorb for a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I voted Destination, but not because I get nervous or edgy. I had to think about it for a minute, and I realized I don't begin 'enjoying the vacation' until we get there. I'm an edgy/nervous traveler as well. I really, really want to travel all over and enjoy the journey, but it isn't my natural personality style to go with the flow and embrace the unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It depends. :D If it's a road trip or if I am traveling solo or with only other adults, I try to enjoy both journey and destination. If I'm flying internationally with children--I just grit my teeth and try to get there with all the kids in tow and a minimum of damage. Sanity optional.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Both. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanna Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 ...because I tend to be some what anxious about traveling till I get there. Not about "traveling" itself, but I worry about what I might have forgotten at home (luggage items, turn off appliances, etc.):auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepymommy Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I voted Destination. I love to travel and vacation, but if I could just do it by saying "Beam me up" I would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I'm all about the journey, I love finding things you didn't plan on, adventures along the way. My dh is very much a destination person. Most of the time he lets me enjoy the journey part. We went to Costa Rica several years ago. We took a five hour taxi ride to our hotel from the airport. It was wild. We saw parts of Costa Rica we would have never seen had we flown in to a smaller airport. The driver was cool. He stopped so we could get pics of howler monkeys in the trees, we saw the coffee fields, we experienced the haphazard driving style of another country, it was a wonderful part of the journey. Dh was glad to get to the hotel. He did talk me into getting a local flight back to the international airport. After several dramamine that became another part of the journey too. I still like to get in the car and just drive. I love to explore locally without a destination in mind. Of course this analogy seems to fit more than just our travel patterns. We're kind of that way about life too. I love the journey, dh wants the destination. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I chose destination, because airline travel has become such a headache. But if I were to travel somewhere by car, train, or bus, then that would totally be about the journey, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGin Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I'm definitely a journey girl. I love traveling of every kind and I savor each moment. My big life dream is to go somewhere, far away and interesting, BY MYSELF for a week. I love the whole adventure aspect of this. When I was a kid, we were dirt poor but gas was dirt cheap, so often on Sunday afternoons we'd pile in the car and go for a ramble. We'd beg my mom to get us lost, and she would laughingly oblige. Of course we always "found" our way home again. Sometimes we'd have a picnic lunch in an old cemetery where we'd read "tummy stones" (one of my sisters' mis-pronunciations), or we'd find an abandoned old barn or house to poke around in, or we'd stop along railroad tracks and look for old transformer globes. Whatever we did it was always an adventure accompanied by a lot of singing, laughing and fun. To this day, I still look at getting lost as an adventure. I'm very blessed with a Dh who is completly travel compatible. He loves to drive and is not a "hurry and get there" kind of guy. He loves to look at scenery and will take the scenic route if available and there really is time. He doesn't like to get lost but if we're not on a schedule, he doesn't fret about it too much. We laugh about our difference of opinion on that. He never fusses about stopping for potty or food and he usually stays relaxed unless he's getting tired. Of the two of us he is definately more focused on the destination then I am but one of us needs to be and since he's not tyranical about it, this works for us. He drives, I read or work word puzzles and we listen to music. We've had some wonderful trips together. When flying, he gets more anxious because he feels the responsibility of getting us where we need to be, but even so, we've had some fun and even relaxing lay-overs in airports and are both able to see the humorous side of life even in long delays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I'm not much on traveling, mainly because I am too frightened to fly. That really limits traveling very far. But when I DO travel, the destination is the thing. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I voted other because I hate to travel and try to avoid it whenever I can. I really don't like to leave my house at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn in OH Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 All about the journey. I like road trips. I don't like to travel any other way. Load up the car and drive. Stop and see what's interesting. I'm not big on schedules or timelines. I'm fortunate that my husband also likes to travel this way and doesn't mind the driving. It's been a while since we took a trip, and from the looks of things it will be a while before we can take another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I like to take things slow and easy. The journey is the thing. I neveer try to cram too much in. I have a difficlut time travelling with peole who do this. I don't see the rush. I love long road trips, and I love finind neat places to eat and parks to sit in. I like going to markets...farmer's markets, street fairs etfc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 We'd beg my mom to get us lost, and she would laughingly oblige. Once when I was little my grandma came to town for a visit and volunteered to pick me up from school. She got lost on the way home and I broke down crying. She told me, "If you never get lost, you never have an adventure." I learned later this was a common saying of hers. One time she called my mom and said, "I'm going to visit Texas and then I'm going to turn left and go to Florida." lol! She'd leave for a cross country trip on a whim. I so wish she was still alive instead of dying when I was 12. We'd have had some great adventures. I turned out just like her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 right now the destination, dd is going to be one on Thanksgiving :( and I already know that the 16 hour trip to see her nana and grandma is going to be torture since she doesn't like being in her carseat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Once when I was little my grandma came to town for a visit and volunteered to pick me up from school. She got lost on the way home and I broke down crying. She told me, "If you never get lost, you never have an adventure." I learned later this was a common saying of hers. One time she called my mom and said, "I'm going to visit Texas and then I'm going to turn left and go to Florida." lol! She'd leave for a cross country trip on a whim. I so wish she was still alive instead of dying when I was 12. We'd have had some great adventures. I turned out just like her. I'm so stealing that quote about getting lost. Sounds like she was a wonderful person. I'm getting cabin fever just reading this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Other: With the kids....it is about the destination. The journey is chaos and stress. dd11 gets car sick so she gets bored while we drive. ds15 can't sleep in a car-but is a great traveler. dd3 who needs a lot of physical exercise or she starts getting physical in the car-read this as hitting/punching/kicking her siblings-so traveling with her is not fun. With dh and I alone...it is about the journey. We used to just take off an drive in our camper van. Where ever we were when it was dark, was where we stayed. I know we are still the same way, but haven't got to enjoy it since dd11 was born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It completely depends on the situation. If I'm flying, it's all about the destination and just getting through the flight. Same with driving to a familiar US destination that's many miles away. But once I'm overseas, the journey is the best part. I love riding along, looking out the window and seeing a new country. Riding a bus is the best, because I'm up high and can see a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarawatsonim Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I wish I could be an adventurous, fly by the seat of my pants travel person. But alas, I am a destination planner. I always wanted to do the backpacking thing when I was 20, but I would have ruined it for myself. I need to have a general outline of my trip (at least know where we will be staying and what is in the area) or else I will worry obsessively and will not allow myself to have a good time. Maybe I should talk to someone about that. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachskittles Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It's the journey...I LOVE road trips...I hate being confined to one place...If I had more money and a better car, I'd be out and about much more...My favorite road trip was Virginia to California...It was amazing...We were on a schedule of sorts so I didn't get to see everything but what we did stop and see was cool...The destination is just the cherry on top...:001_smile: Now I've never been in an airplane so I can't comment on that...I'm too chicken to try a plane... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It's about the journey (including the destination)! We've done road trips with the kids cross-country twice (CA to CT and CT to OR on moves) and up and down both coasts a number of times. We've also done some trips to a location (London or Poland) and then explored from there. I love travel... these days I like to have a hotel planned and ideas of what to do, but I'm very flexible to change if something else looks better. We like hostels too! It's wonderful to meet people that way... And camping, of course! And I love fancy hotels and charming bed and breakfasts too... Man, I could travel all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Well, it's my job to travel (flight attendant). I voted obligatory other. ;) :D ditto both. When I travel for pleasure, I like everything planned out as much as possible. My husband likes to wing it, so we meet in the middle somewhere. Same with us, except he's the planner and I'm all about just showing up and figuring out things on the fly. Two kids, one like each of us LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 We very much follow Rick Steve's Philosophy of travel and have enjoyed "traveling through the back door". Our best days have been those where we try to blend in with the locals and not worry about any sort of schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share Posted November 19, 2009 We very much follow Rick Steve's Philosophy of travel and have enjoyed "traveling through the back door". Our best days have been those where we try to blend in with the locals and not worry about any sort of schedule. Dd LOVES Rick Steves. Because of him, the place on earth she would most like to visit is Dingle, Ireland:D And I am inspired by Sputterduck's grandmother! What a great saying. It reminds me of driving around our city with my best friend back in high school when we were first allowed out with our new driver's licenses. I swear that's why I know the city so well now - Stacy and I were lost in just about every corner of it at one time or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpupg Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I hate the travelling process. HATE the travelling process. I travel because the people I want to see can't or won't come see me. We are discussing a big family vacation next year -- to Washington DC, Philly, all the Founding Father type places an American must see at least once in their lifetime. Giving me nausea already, just thinking about the enormous amount of travel involved. Karen the Homebody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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