We have enjoyed traveling for many years, having booked numerous flights, ridden many buses and trains and checked into a plethora of hotels, guest houses and dorms. We’ve gotten lost countless times in cities all across the world and have accumulated a nice collection of immigration stamps and visas in our passports.
While we mostly highlight famous locations, gorgeous scenery or fun activities, we decided to take stock of some of the little things we love about traveling (in no particular order):
1. Heavy hotel curtains that make the room dark
2. Saying something in a foreign language and being understood
3. Arriving at a new place at night and waking up the next morning to see it for the first time
Waking up to see glorious Vang Vieng, Laos
4. Locals pointing when giving directions
5. When airport seating allows us to lie down comfortably
6. Learning that we don’t need an adapter or converter to plug in our electronics
7. Realizing the majority of our bucket list items are close to each other
8. Crossing a street like a local
9. The first time walking into a new hotel room
10. Finding rainbow flags in the most unlikely places
Finding the pride flag
11. Discovering something amazing after getting lost looking for something else
12. Exchanging a knowing smile with fellow lesbian travellers
13. Sheer white guesthouse curtains that billow inward with the breeze
14. Waking up early to hike to a sunrise viewpoint and making it in time
15. Being the only tourists on the bus
16. Making a joke in a foreign language and hearing locals laugh
17. When a country’s traditional dish is vegan
Cendol in Penang, Malaysia
18. After an exhausting travel day, getting a free hotel upgrade
19. Finding the one Western toilet in a row of squat toilets
20. Seeing the landscape of a new place upon landing in a plane
21. Having an outlet at our seat on a long haul flight
22. Spending the last of our foreign currency just before leaving the country
23. Having an ensuite bathroom when we’ve got food poisoning
24. Walking to another country
Let’s walk across!
Jon Brown
#15 is a particular favorite of mine.
Other favorites: Asking an either or question and getting “yes” as a response (hint to fellow travelers, avoid asking yes/no questions… 80% of the time the answer will be yes… and 80% of the time it’ll be wrong).
My number #1 – Random locals being 10000 times more kind, generous and understanding with me than I’ve ever seen, heard or witnessed anyone back home in the US being with a tourist.
Mindy & Ligeia
Hey Jon,
Great point about not asking yes/no questions! And it’s completely true that the kindness we’ve received from strangers in a foreign land makes us want to go above and beyond helpful to travelers in our home countries 🙂
In fact, we wrote an entire blog post about the Kindness of Strangers that we have encountered throughout our travels thus far: http://www.boundingoveroursteps.com/kindness-of-strangers-good-news-around-the-world/
Jon Brown
Awesome, post… inspiration I think for my own similar summary of stories of kindness!
Mindy & Ligeia
We look forward to reading such a summary. 🙂
Helga Leidel
All your points are good and valid to give satisfaction. Thanks for sharing.
No heavy drapes for me! I like an open window towards the ocean, hearing and smelling the water.
I like sleeping on a boat with the soft waves rocking me to sleep.
My favorite is #14 – love to see the world renewed at sunrise. First choice at the ocean or a lake. With the birds awaking and everything coming alive. (However that’s already a big thing!).
After that the smell of a cup of coffee.
First glance at destination while circling above in an airplane.
A little tag on the food reading NSA (no sugar added)
A desert that I can eat also NSA
A sparrow or dove in a strange city can make me feel at home.
Clear air with no smoke or perfume.
The beauty of little things and all the excitement of traveling.
Safe travels to you and enjoy!
Mindy & Ligeia
Great additions to the post! We too like seeing familiar birds when on the road or to hear a familiar bird call. Mindy loves the smell of a cup of coffee as well – it’s one of her favorite little things, whether traveling or not. 🙂
Colleen Brynn
I totally have to agree that arriving somewhere at night and waking up to a new place is one of the sweetest feelings there is. For me, I think this comes with a liberating feeling of not being compelled to get out and see see see right away, especially if it’s been a long travel day. Succumbing to a night of sleep first is nice. Then to start the day fresh with surprises at every turn is such a delight. I went to a town called Werfen in Austria and arrived late at night. The only thing I could sense was the smell of crisp mountain air and scent of the trees, and the mountains shrouded the dark night sky in even darker imposing shoulders. I felt cozy and protected. The next morning, I woke up to see a castle floating around in the clouds. Seriously, google images of Hohenwerfen.
Love this list.
Mindy & Ligeia
Oh my goodness Colleen, Hohenwerfen looks amazing! What a place to arrive at night indeed! The next time we are in Austria, this is definitely making the bucket list!
Happy Travels! 🙂
Taylor
Love this post! Especially #10 🙂 I’ll never forget seeing a massive rainbow in the middle of a deserted field when I was in the Scottish countryside.
Mindy & Ligeia
Hello Taylor,
Not exactly the kind of rainbow we were talking about but gorgeous nonetheless. We came across a beautiful rainbow in the Norwegian countryside and had a similar feeling of awe. No matter how many rainbows we see, seeing one never gets old. 🙂
Alex
Love this list and I was nodding along to so many! Especially #3. Arriving in the dark is so disorienting — love that moment of clarity.
One note about the rainbows to keep in mind if you come to Peru — they are actually a sign of the Inca Empire, not of gay pride! One of my friends had some good stories about misinterpreting that on his own trip 🙂
Mindy & Ligeia
Oh my goodness, thank god you told us, Alex, about the rainbow flags in Peru. That could have been a huge misunderstanding. Might make for a funny blog post though too. 🙂
Jo (The Blond)
Most of these are my favourites as well (maybe, except the gay related ones. I like to exchange smiles with handsome men tho).
Reading the list brought a smile on my face. It’s great to see that not only me enjoy the heavy curtains in the hotel rooms.
Mindy & Ligeia
The best night sleeps we have ever gotten have been in hotel rooms with those heavy curtains that extinguish all hope of sunlight getting through. It’s like wearing an eye mask without the scratchiness. Glad to know we’re not the only ones. 🙂
Kristin @ Camels & Chocolate
#23. Yes, yes, YES.
Mindy & Ligeia
Sorry to hear that you can relate to this. It is a little comforting to know though that we are not the only ones who have had food poisoning. ugh! Thankfully there are great times to balance out the bad ones. 🙂
Diana Edelman
Waking up to a new place is one of my favorites! Actually, this list is chock full of great things!!
Mindy & Ligeia
Definitely! Sometimes we even run to the window to see “our” new place! 🙂
Daidri | Thee Getaway Gal
#19 is definitely on my list and made me laugh when I read it. I also love #4 when locals point to give directions. We still laugh about that from our visit in Italy. Everything was “just down on right” with a strong pointing hand gesture. What a great list.
Ahimsa
I identify with so much of this list. Except that I never knew that Cendol was vegan. What I fool I’ve been!
Mindy & Ligeia
So glad you like our list. 🙂 Be sure to try cendol the next time you get the chance – it’s super yummy and because it has beans in it, it even has protein. 🙂
Erica
One of my favorite is the moment you eat from a fabulous street cart.