Tell me about….TRAVEL!
My blogger writing group prompt this month is Travel, which is a) one of my favorite things b) one of the main subjects of this blog and c) particularly timely, as I just got back from a 2-week trip to Europe. I have several blog posts on that trip already planned, but I’ll include a few tidbits from that trip in this post.
I’ve been a travel addict from a young age. My family and I took a trip to the beach every other year. It took us 2 years to save up for that week. Growing up in a land-locked state (Kentucky), the ocean was utterly magical, and I pined for it the rest of the year. (I still do, but not enough to want to actually LIVE on the coast – hurricanes and flood insurance being major drawbacks). I now spend some part of every year either on it and/or in it.
My first big trip was 3 weeks in France the summer of my junior year in high school. We stayed in lycees (high school dormitories), and went from Paris to Normandy, the Loire, the Dordogne, and Provence. I was HOOKED!
After college, I was lucky enough to live abroad for several years and indulge my wanderlust, which I wrote about here. As my ethnic heritage is 100% European, I feel most at home there and it has been the focus of most of my travels, but I have been lucky enough to visit a couple of other continents.
My husband was recruited to work with horses in Japan 2 different years, and I went to visit him. That was probably the most unusual and out-of-my-comfort-zone trip of all. While I’ve always been able to rely on recognizing words with either Latin or Germanic roots in other countries, I’d never been anywhere I didn’t even recognize the alphabet, much less the meanings. I’d been warned to expect the Tokyo main train station to be the most frenetic place I’d ever seen, and they were not wrong! The location my husband actually worked, by the sea on the northern edge of Honshu, was far different – more like something out of the previous century, and I saw why he loved it so.
The most glamorous trip of my life was to sprinkle the ashes of a dearly departed soul. Her husband took us to all their favorite places on the Amalfi coast and left a little of her “fairy dust” at each of them.
Miscellaneous things I have learned while travelling: 1)a flaming torch will melt nylon ski gloves 2) pepperoni is not what you think it is in Italy 3) never pass up an opportunity to use the toilet, especially if it’s a clean one 4) nothing is as waterproof as an English waxed jacket 5) no one values cold beverages as much as Americans 6) bathrooms are not always free, nor is there always toilet paper 6) riding a camel is nothing like riding a horse.
On a work trip, I met up with my Instagram & blogger idol Jodie Filogomo. She invited me to stay at her house, even though we’d never met IRL! We’ve been bosom buddies ever since…
Some places are especially significant. While on a work trip to England a couple of years ago, I was able to visit the Yorkshire village where my 6th great-grandfather was born. He later emigrated to Virginia in the 1620’s, the earliest of my ancestors that I can find travelling to the New World. On the same trip, I was able to visit the house where I lived while stationed in England in the 1990’s.
Finally, here are important things I have learned while travelling: Respect other people’s customers – it’s their country, not yours. Learn to say at least hello, goodbye, please and thank you in whatever language they speak where you are. Leave the people you interact with thinking “wow, the folks from your country are really nice”! Don’t expect anything to be like it is “back home” – that’s not why you’re here. And some parting shots to make you smile:
As with all of the Tell Me About series, I’m joined by Gail from Is This Mutton (UK) Deb from Deb’sWorld (Australia), , Michelle from Following my Muse, Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper (UK), Jill from Grownup Glamour (Australia), Leslie Clingan from Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After and Marsha from Marsha In The Middle. Check them out to see what they have to say about travel!
18 Comments
Penny
What a great post, Mary and you are absolutely a very well travelled woman indeed! And, wow, that ancestor of yours was a very early emmigrant – 1620s just wow! I love the list of things you’ve learnt. And that one about the ice, when I was in the States (you’ll hear about that in Part 2) I kept shocking people and particularly bar tenders when I asked them to take out the ice from my glass! Love the photos – I never took one when on my first trip to France!
Really enjoyed your post 🙂
mkmiller
Thanks, Penny! Isn’t amazing how we were able to live our lives back then without documenting every single moment? I was pretty smug about my photography skills with my massive 35mm SLR, but now I look back at them and they’re awful! We are so spoiled with the quality of phone cameras. I’m REALLY looking forward to Part 2 of your travel post (and hoping there will be more)
Cheers, MK
Suzanne
I love this. Your advice to travelers is spot on. Embrace the culture and recognize that things are going to be different from what we are used to. This is probably TMI, but I had to use the facilities in the countryside of France recently and let’s just say not only was there no paper, there really wasn’t a toilet – just an open pipe in the floor with a foot pad on the left and right!! That was a first. You do what you gotta do, right! You sound like you have a great attitude and a wanderlust spirit. Looking forward to reading more about you.
mkmiller
Hey thanks, Suzanne! Those “squat and drop” toilets were standard where I lived in northern Italy for 6 months, even in fancy restaurants. I always wondered what arthritic old ladies did – and I will soon be in that boat myself! Welcome to my blog and I look forward to your comments.
Jodie Filogomo
Your miscellaneous things that you’ve learned cracked me up!
And what a fabulous surprise to see a couple of familiar faces!!
You really have an in-depth knowledge of so many different places that you could probably somehow profit off that knowledge… Now there’s food for thought!!
Xoxo
Jodie
PS. We need to hear about the miscellaneous #1
mkmiller
I think the Miscellaneous #1 should be regaled in person when you come to visit. As far as profiting from the knowledge, I do think I need to write more and photograph less, but that’s IG’s influence, probably…
Marsha Banks
Wow! Japan sounds pretty intense. One of my friends went there on Spring Break just on a whim and came back with quite a few stories. I wish I’d traveled more when I was younger before kids, a husband, and responsibilities. I think you have a different perspective on everything then. But, your tips are really good. I don’t know how much more foreign travel I can talk my husband into, but Italy, France, and Germany are on the list! I know a cruise is out of the question…every time I have him just about talked into one, he reads about a flu outbreak on one! I love that you supported your friend as she deposited her husband’s “fairy dust” all around. And, how fun to meet Jodie! Such a fun and interesting post!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
mkmiller
Thanks, Marsha!Keep working on a cruise with your husband. A river cruise might make him feel safer – a lot less crowding…
Gail
You’ve had some amazing travel experiences. Love the photos, good reminder to take some amusing shots as well as scenery!
mkmiller
Thanks, Gail! Looking forward to reading everyone else’s posts today…
Debbie Harris
What a fun post Mary, you’ve certainly ahd some great travels. Japan is an amazing place and I agree the language is not an easy one to master, we once had a few days stopver there and it was a very different experience. I love how you met up with fellow blogger Jodie, that’s always a good thing to do!
mkmiller
Thanks, Debbie! One of the best things about the internet is the friendships we form with people we’ve never met!
Connie Wright Stanley
M.K. Loved your post. Your many tips helped me get ready for Paris and a Viking River cruise to the South of France. Reluctant hubbie who did like the idea of traveling to France did NOT WANT TO LEAVE FRANCE. He quickly said he was so glad I planned the trip and that he decided to come. Being kind, polite, and cleaning up after yourself makes friends everywhere you go. We did our best with our limited greetings in French. We were treated kindly and with abundant help when we needed it on the entire trip. My other advice is the same one Bob Hope gave to Tony Bennett (R.I.P.) before his first performance. Always SMILE as you walk on the stage, in the doorway, on the plane, train, or ship. We did that it France. It earned me a hug and a kiss on the cheeks from a delightful mature frenchman and almost always a smile in return. Best always. With Great Love, Connie
mkmiller
It really does make all the difference, Connie. I get very tired of people griping about the French being rude. That was not my experience either, and with the way I’ve seen some of our countrymen behave, they were probably justified! I hope we can travel someplace with you and Mike soon.
Leslie Susan Clingan
So enjoyed this post. You are wise and well traveled. I agree that learning a few phrases in the language of the country you are visiting. I have counted on my meager background in Latin to help me figure out words, too. And would have been equally lost in Japan. When I lived in Panama, a very old grandfather there asked me to write the numbers in English so he could see what they looked like. Thought that was so sweet.
Absolutely love that you and Jodie are real pals in real life. The photo of the two of you is very special. And loved seeing you, Jodie and Lesley together in a fashion shoot. Rob takes such fabulous pictures.
mkmiller
Thanks so much, Leslie! Jodie is the only online friend I’ve ever met in real life, and certainly the only one who’d invite me to be her very first houseguest in her new home, but I would love to meet some of my Insta- and blog-friends in real life too!
Kym
Such a fun and inspiring post! Having a job that includes travel is a great way to see more of the world – How I wish I’d had more opportunities to travel outside of North America!
mkmiller
It’s not too late, Kym! I’m retiring in a couple of years and plan to hit the ground RUNNING…….