(not) moving too fast

[mattbell]

A lot of people claim I'm moving too fast. Throughout the trip, Ive only spent a little time in each country. Its true that this approach is more logistics-heavy and more expensive. However, if I don't know when I'll have four months to spare for a trip again, it's worth seeing as much of the world as I can so I'll know what I most want to come back to. I'm basically running around this huge lovely buffet having a taste of everything.

I like contrasts. I like being in Switzerland one day and Italy the next. I like how Cairo can make Athens seem quiet, clean, and peaceful.

I also like seeing themes and trends. I've watched the British Empire, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Alexander The Great, World War II, The Roman Empire, building techniques, aesthetic styles, the desires of Western tourists, and various other forces affect vast swaths of territory.

I do tend to be options-oriented as well. I prefer knowing a little bit about a lot of places as opposed to knowing a lot about a few places.

However, given that packing and unpacking has a fixed time cost, and getting to know a new city's transportation network and a new country's language, money, and basic customs also has a fixed time cost, it seems like an excessive hassle to switch locations more than once every couple of days. I've done it many times, but I seem happiest spending 2-3 days in each location.

Comments

[il-capitano-z.livejournal.com]

Exactly. The way I see it, traveling like that is kind of a scouting mission (as well as everything else). Later in life I know the exact places that I want to go back in visit for longer amounts of time.

It also makes you very skilled at packing/unpacking/navigating :D

[serolynne.livejournal.com]

The more I travel, the move I love it.. and the more I want to see! There's always temptation to try to fit it all in as quickly as possible. But I have to balance that I get overstimulated and need down time too.. and oh, work. After 6 weeks of cross country awesomeness with many one-night stays in a location, we made a vow to stay a minimum of 2 nights in any location for now on.

We'll see how it goes.

I look forward to more global travel like you're experiencing... it'll be interesting to see how that manifests.

I'm so thrilled you've had the opportunity to take the time and enjoy the buffet :) I look forward to catching up with you too.

[doublefeh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that 2-3 days per location was about the minimum is about what I've settled on in my various trips through Europe and Japan. The overhead of getting to and from train stations with your stuff is enough to make it a pretty important design constraint of such trips.

[savorie.livejournal.com]

Glad you addressed this-- I was wondering how you were handling or perceiving your country-switching speed. I'm glad you've optimized for 2-3 days at a time.

I wonder, though, how this will feel when you get back to the Bay Area. Will you be anxious to run down to Aptos or Novato or the Sierras just for a change of pace? ;-)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I am thinking about that -- out here I switch countries as soon as I'm the least bit bored, or often well before I'm bored. At home I will have to put a lot more effort into staying focused.

I do want to build in more weekend travel into my home schedule though.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

You're also working while traveling, and I think that necessitates more downtime and less transportation overhead.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I've definitely found a variety of techniques for keeping packing time down. I now carry a large durable grocery bag for leaving all bulky, cheap, and everyday items in the hotel room so I don't have to pack/unpack/lock them.

My sense of direction is getting better. I'm playing games with myself to see how infrequently I need to look at maps while navigating. I'm also very facile at figuring out new public transit systems in foreign languages.