I wrote this blog while walking through the streets of Paris earlier this year. The blog was in its first version, as a voice memo – which is one of my favorite ways to get the content creation ball rolling. And even better when you have this view:
During my walk, after enjoying a fresh baked chocolate croissant, I was musing on the importance of being a tourist in 2022.
As more and more travel restrictions are lifted, it’s natural to be a little apprehensive about buying a flight across the world or even across the country. You might even have a little leftover “travel trauma” if you attempted to travel over the past two years, only to have a trip canceled due to last-minute changes in travel restrictions.
We all have to find what our personal comfort zone is when it comes to traveling in 2022, but here are a few things I found through my experience:
1. Preparation is everything – Preparation is a necessary skill to have as a traveler at any time. Not only do you need to be on top of reservations (flights, hotels, cars, etc.) but now we’ve also got to be on top of travel requirements and test requirements – especially as those can change at any moment.
When it comes to the budget, preparation can help there too. If you’d like to manage how much time you spend in restaurants (and how much you spend on eating out), you can go to a local grocery store, make your own food, and pack a lunch, depending on lodging arrangements. Maybe you could even get fresh ingredients from a local farmers market.
2. Different places have different masking policies. In France, they were all 100% masked everywhere I went. Even as restrictions ease up in a lot of places, we all have the responsibility to be safe and respectful of our own health and the health of others.
3. There are definite benefits to traveling now! While exploring France, it was interesting to see that there were no lines at museums and not a lot of people were out and about. Not only did this feel safer, it gave us the opportunity to see so much because we weren’t overwhelmed by the crowds. We enjoyed being one of the first people to venture out, and we got great service as a result too.
4. At the end of the day, traveling supports real people, communities, and economies. Being a tourist is a great help to another community. And, there are human beings behind every job that need to get paid – and your patronage is a part of that.
We definitely embraced all things “local” – like getting a bus/train pass to ride around Paris, or visiting local businesses like restaurants, cafes, and gift shops. We also embraced the big businesses because at the end of the day, real people have their livelihood at those places too.
So, go ahead… start looking at those flights and dreaming up travel again!
Can’t wait to see your travel photos. 🙂
‘Til next time,
Sandy
