it's nice to be able to take a vacation from myself every once in a while

9. Do you like to try local foods when you go somewhere? Have you ever had something really delicious? 

    I do like to try local foods. Coincidentally, I just caught an update from one of my favorite IG/YouTube accounts, @JoshandJase. Two British guys who travel the US, trying "American stuff" and giving funny commentaries. They will try pretty much anything and are always open to new experiences. One that I saw recently was at a biscuit restaurant in West Virginia. Yep, the sort of place where you can order pretty much anything inside a split biscuit. One had a standard biscuits and gravy platter, and the other had fried chicken + hashbrowns + cheese. Oh, and each had cherry danish as an "appetizer."

    I try to be like them, but realistically that's just not gonna happen all the time. I'm not the pickiest eater ever, but I'm also not going to waste an opportunity to try new interpretations of dishes I know I will love, just to have something new. That's the food version of change-for-the-sake-of-change, maybe my least favorite corporate nonsense.

    I did like most of the Cuban food I tried in Miami. And pretty much everything in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. I had King Ranch Chicken at a family restaurant in Dallas. The ridiculous $30 Umami Burger in LA wasn't worth the hype. Italian Village has pretty good food but is so dark that it's pointless to try and eat there. ...

 

10. Things can go wrong when you travel. Have you had any bad travel experiences? 

    • I was a passenger when, on an unfamiliar interstate about 15 hours from home, a fully-loaded farm truck just ahead lost a hay bale—the rectangular ones wrapped in high-tension wire—going 75 mph, swerving all over creation. There was no way to avoid it and so we nailed it, the wire ripping through one of our tires and the effect shooting us sideways and, luckily, well onto the shoulder. We hobbled off the next exit and proceeded to get towed for a new tire. On a Sunday. In a (relative) emergency. For a massive f'ing premium. I mean, getting that tire cost more than a normal set of tires for that car.

    • I flew to the right coast, just over a month after a terror strike. Mainstream travel had only just reopened and security had never been more extreme. Though some people I knew were terrified at the idea of me traveling, especially to that part of the country, I never felt safer. There was no logical reason to think anybody would try anything, with law enforcement in riot gear and military in civilian areas blanketing the whole region. It was the time where no one even joked about long lines or security measures; we were grateful for them, for the peace of mind. So it's not a 'bad travel experience', really, just a different sort.

    • The Honda Prelude Incident

    • A plane on which I was flying lost an engine and had to land, rather abruptly, in an unexpected location.

 

11. Do you take a lot with you when you travel? Or do you try to pack light? 

    I tend to pack pretty light. It's annoying to schlep too much stuff in an already-awkward location. I often like to buy stuff ('stuff' meaning, almost entirely, 'books'), which requires some packing space for the return trip. And, anyway, I don't require 5 changes of shoes for a 5-day trip. I'm pretty low-maintenance.

    I'm also a fast packer. Maybe it's all my experience with moving household? I know where my stuff is kept, and know what I need from day to day. Once the weather and events are taken into consideration, all that's left is to put it all in a bag.

 

12. Which places in the world do you think are too dangerous to visit? Why are they dangerous? 

    the State Department issues travel advisories for various reasons. If I were the jet-setting type, I'd consult that list to help guide my destination decisions. 

    Why are the areas on the list considered dangerous? There are lots of reasons! First. there are the risk levels. These quantify the degree of danger posed by conditions in a country, in a broad way.

    Then, consider the specific risk indicators—the reasons for the dangerous conditions.

    For instance, at this time The Bahamas is at Level 2, for Crime. This is the level of detail that State's advisory provides.

    I would need to weigh those dangers with my desire to travel there, before I'd commit to the trip.

 

13. What is the best age to travel? Can children appreciate the experience? 

    "best age" made me laugh, as if every travel has the same draw and purpose. Very little kids are essentially luggage on most trips, just another thing to be hauled around. They can't interact with stuff outside their immediate vicinity and experience, so the world is a bewildering blur most of the time. What's the point in taking them to a museum (eyes can't focus), a concert (shudder), a sporting event (foul balls), or rock climbing? They're also susceptible to all sorts of illnesses, much less injury. Why not keep them safe?

    As they get older, kids can appreciate and enjoy and take part in more activities. They can also show the results of socialization and discipline that make some children a pleasure. That is when they should be exposed to a greater world. 

 

14. What are the advantages and disadvantages of traveling alone? 

    for me, traveling alone means never having to say "I'm sorry." No explanations or apologies needed for following the agenda (or not), leaving early or staying late, diverting from the stated purpose, or anything else. It means going where and when the wind takes you. It means eating the same thing two days in a row if you really, really liked it the first time. It means spur of the moment decisions to do, or not do, anything. And it means spending as much time as one likes in the bath!

    It also means doing it all alone, though. Packing, carrying, lifting, moving. Checking in. Driving or walking, dining or sightseeing, shopping or relaxing. There's no sharing, which can ease burdens and multiply joys. It means finding your own way out of a wrong turn, a poor (or uninformed) decision, a sudden dilemma. And definitely shoots the idea of sharing an appetizer or dessert. 

 

15. What kind of accommodation do you like to stay in when you travel? 

    a hotel that's nice enough to cover all my requirements—good HVAC, comfortable bed, clean, shower with some water pressure and temperature control, someplace to sit and read other than the bed, and overall quiet and relaxing—without costing a fortune or being so upscale that I'd feel the need to dress up just to avoid staff sneers.

    I'm not looking for only ocean-front rooms with balconies, sunken tubs, a separate eating area, an in-room massage therapist, and complimentary bathrobes. It's more about being comfortable, clean, and left in peace to relax.

 

16. Do you like to talk to the local people when you travel? Why or why not? 

    I once traveled with someone who was gregarious and open in this way, often striking up conversations with bartenders, fellow customers in shops, and anyone else he managed to corral. I was startled at first, because he's not usually so expansive, and then after I got used to it, found it charming and ingratiating. 

    I am not a naturally forthcoming person, with strangers. When I travel, though, some of that barrier falls, albeit in specific circumstances. I will be more voluble with staff in shops, especially bookstores, or with servers in restaurants. I might mention that I'm "not from around here"; it tends to put people at ease and bring them out of their role and into real human interaction.

 

17. Would you like to go to a big international event, such as the Olympics or an international film festival? What would be good or bad about attending such an event? 

    no, God, not at all, never. Ugh. I don't think it was COVID that made up my mind about this, though the rates of contagion among superspreader events are clearly higher. I think it's more about the possibility, even likelihood, of violence that turns me away. I've been profoundly lucky, and lived a life mostly sheltered from mass violence (Feb. 14, 2008 notwithstanding). However, I don't think that it's all about me, and I do believe that the world is more, and increasingly pointlessly, dangerous. Why court that? Why spend time in places that are hard to get out of, statistically more likely to be targeted, and also loud and visually disturbing (see #8 on this list, if you're still wondering why I don't go to concerts!!)? Why not spend my time doing things that I like to do, instead of trying to force myself into someone else's mode of happy?

    I'd like to see an international film festival, but only if I could be invisible, come and go as I please, and always have an aisle seat.

 

[from here; the title quotation is by Patrick Rothfuss, from The Wise Man's Fear]