I don’t know if my restlessness is a character flaw or a positive trait but we’re heading out of town this afternoon, even though my toddler and I just returned from a two-week work trip in Iceland and Norway.
It seems like a good time to share some travel wisdom.
Travel wisdom 101. Here are 7 things I know:
1. One of the best things about going away is you get to come home. Ironically, traveling helps you appreciate where you live.
2. It’s always easier to do the dishes at someone else’s house! Bring on the home stay.
3. You can travel, easily, with cloth diapers. (Even if you’re going on a plane trip!) Don’t let Pampers tell you otherwise. More on cloth diapering and travel in this interview.
4. Siblings don’t bicker as much in a rental car. Especially when your rental car is so much bigger than the compact you usually drive.
5. Afternoon coffee is not as effective at helping you stay awake while driving as being pinched by your 12-year-old (who then shrieks, “Oh, no! Did I hurt you? Sorry Mommy!!”)
6. Your kids learn as much (or more) on the road they do in school, so if they miss a few days of elementary education, it’s more than worthwhile.
7. It’s good to leave your computer behind when you’re traveling and spend time unplugged. It’s not always easy but it is always good to unplug, traveling or home-bodying.
Are you a travel buff or a homebody? What is the travel wisdom you’ve gleaned from your wanderings?
Related posts:
What Did I Learn From Being Robbed?
Unplugged While Traveling
7 Tips to Make Family Travel Easier
Published: September 29, 2011
Last update: January 22, 2020
Lonnie Smith says
I am definitely afflicted with perpetual wander lust. I love returning home as well but its not long before I’m surfing discount travel sights, reading National Geographic, and deciding how much to pack. Few days go by that I don’t daydream about traveling. I’ve recently visited Israel, Jordan, and Mexico. I am also very excited to visit my fiancé’s homeland of India. However, I am also looking forward to marriage, kids, and a family life soon, having just passed the forty year mark. I realize I’m doing this later than most but I will trust advances in medical technology to carry me through.
There are a few truisms I’ve discovered in my travels as well.
• One is that hotel beds provide the best sleep on the first night but the effect diminishes rapidly thereafter.
• Fun and relaxation are usually mutually exclusive.
• Movie theaters, coffee shops, and petrol stations overseas usually serve beer and spirits at all hours of the day and night (except Muslim countries).
• Donkeys have the right away.
• Used newspapers are perfectly acceptable as dinnerware.
• Day use fees for airport executive lounges are definitely worth it (open bar and free food).
• The more ridiculous a location looks upon arrival the more fun you are bound to have.
For now I am a hopeless travel buff with an eye toward family life. Cheers!
PS. Hi Jennifer