While we probably don't want to let the CDC know, I think we both brought home a case of the travel bug, especially for international travel. We have already started throwing around ideas of other places we want to go in Europe in the future and have officially added New Zealand to our list after hanging out with some Kiwis in the Dolomites. Prior to this trip I was scared of planning and doing an international trip by ourselves. I have traveled overseas before but always with someone else calling the shots and I was just along for the ride. I am just slightly a control freak and the idea of ensuring all the travel plans and connections work out in places where we have never been or speak the language was intimidating to me.
However, with a good guide book and the internet we had as much insider info as one can have short of being somewhere in person. I really start to feel uncomfortable pretty quickly if I don't know where I am or exactly what to expect. And in case you aren't aware of it international travel is full of being lost and having lots of surprises. Even though Arthur and I take some adventures that may sound a little risky, safety is a major issue for both of us, especially when hiking in the "wilderness".
My toughest part of the trip was the few days we were in the Dolomites since our plans were at the mercy of the weather (in the mountains in October). Also, we had purchased train tickets already for our next leg of the trip so we were on a little bit of a schedule and sometimes hiking doesn't go on schedule. I remember lying in bed one night thinking that planning a trip is fun and the idea of travel is fun but actual travel was just too stressful and I don't think I can sign up to do it again. Then I spent two weeks in Italy and maybe it mellowed me out a little bit. Or I realized that the stress or anxiety I was experiencing melted away standing in the Sistine Chapel or eating a plate of fresh pasta or walking were Julius Caeser walked. There is no substitute for the experience of travel.
A close second in my book to the experiences as a reason to travel is meeting people. Especially our first few days in Italy when we were trying to learn the ropes we received so much kindness from complete strangers. There was the Italian grad student at the bus stop who helped make sure we got on the right bus, the German tourist who made sure we got off the right bus stop after we tried to get off in the wrong town twice, our hotelier who went out of her way to call and check on the weather at the mountain hut (since we don't speak a lick of German or had a phone), the man at the desk at the hotel in Florence who let us stash our bags for the day after we checked out so we didn't have to lug all of our belongings to an art museum, the women who stopped us before we walked too far down the wrong trail and pointed us in the right direction, and the countless Italians who patiently tried to understand my attempts at Italian or Arthur spouting off in Spanish all over the country. Nothing restores hope in humanity like a stranger going out of their way to help out.
We had a few great conversations from people from all over. Truthfully, we didn't have a lot of deep interaction with Italians, however Italy is the place where people from all over the work come so we chatted with people from across the globe. Travel guide Rick Steves has written a book about travel as a political act which was very intriguing to Arthur. The premise is that traveling in the world allows you to interact with people face to face and talk about why they do something or believe something in the context of their culture as opposed to hearing about the world issues only through the lens of American media corporations. We discussed poverty and home health care in Germany while hiking with physical therapists from Germany. We talked about gun laws and immigration with a couple from New Zealand. We heard the concerns and the frustrations people have about the issues from their point of view. We learned that everyone has a good idea about how US politics functions but we had no idea how elections work in New Zealand. (Actually when was the last time we heard any news from New Zealand on TV except to announce the start of filming a new Lord of the Rings on site in the country?)
While I don't enjoy politics like Arthur I love learning about people's lives and cultures. I also think it is important to represent our country well when traveling. I don't want people in other countries to form ideas about Americans based just on the news and celebrities on TV. We tried not to be rude, loud American tourists (except for the time the elevator door closed as people were trying to get on behind us and we didn't know that you have to push a button to keep the door open-- dumb, rude Americans.)
Granted, travel can be expensive. So while our opportunities to gallivant around the globe might be limited I have become more aware of my opportunities here to connect with people around the world. Manhattan has about 2,000 students from around the world show up each year for school which is a great opportunity to meet people. I have become friends with a gal from Ghana who is studying for her PhD in Agricultural Economics. In hanging out together it has been fun to experience "American" experiences again through fresh eyes and with a different cultural perspective. She was so excited to go to an American football game "just like in the movies" and feel the energy that the crowd has for the first time. Or taking her to Wal-Mart and marveling over all the selection in one place just as I marveled at the small local markets on the piazzas of Italy. She was shocked that I had never used trains, buses, or a taxi for transportation until I went to Italy as she is trying to navigate Manhattan and its lack of public transportation.
I was able to help her out the other night as she had been searching for "line pins" each time she was able to take the bus to Wal-Mart but hadn't found them yet and wasn't sure where else in town to look. Luckily I had an extra bag of "clothes pins" I was able to give her to save her from searching all over town. I attended a picnic with her a few weeks ago and also met a woman from Iran working on her doctorate in Economics. I have never met anyone from Ghana or Iran before and here I was speaking to some of the brightest minds in these countries. As they were discussing statistics and supply chains in their fields of expertise my contribution to the conversation was about how chocolate chip cookies are probably the most American cookie-- my field of expertise.
So now it is my turn to pay forward the things I appreciated most when we traveled with those who travel to us-- sharing "American" experiences, helping a "stranger" find clothes pins so she can do laundry, and meeting people and learning about them and their countries when they show up on our doorsteps as guests. Omnia Vincit Amor.
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