> Where would you normally talk to people in your home city or area?
Wanna know why I don't speak German after four years of living here? ;)
Without going out of your way for a language course, the interaction with German in Germany is limited to "by card please", "have a good evening/weekend", "a ticket to Aachen please", and forms/contracts like municipal registration, tax returns, and rental contract. Which are way too complex so you use a translator. Similar for a job in German: without first learning it, you can't get one, so you take an English job and the cycle continues.
Yes, I really need to be taking a language course like yesterday already. I'm aware, but that still would not get me chatting with locals; rather, other immigrants and a teacher or so.
> Or would you try more sociable places like cafés and bars?
When we go to cafés, I'd find it super weird if someone came up to our table to make small talk. Worse than at a bus stop. Bars are afaik for people (mainly teenagers) to get drunk together at but I don't drink so I've not been to one, rather walked past outside and can't say that what comes out of that entrance looks appealing to interact with.
My primary motivation was this was something I wanted to do in that specific car. When I checked prices, I discovered that shipping a vehicle was actually cheaper than renting. One way across the Atlantic was about $1,500. Good luck renting a car for 10+ weeks for $3k.
The car was a 1998 Citroën Xantia Activa V6. So my tour of North America primarily involved visiting Citroën enthusiasts across the country, of which - apparently - there are plenty, even though Citroën hasn't sold a car in North American since 1974.
Of course, I had no spare parts there, so I brought an oil filter and a drive belt with me. So amongst the car's history is a bill for an oil change in California. I had no problems with the car, except a brief bit in Louisiana during a heavy rainfall, that the left windscreen wiper leapt and landed on my side mirror. Fortunately, there was an exit almost immediately, and I was able to pull over to a fuel station to fix it (I obviously kept a toolkit in the boot).
So yeah, part of the motivation was also having Citroën fans in the US see a car they rarely see. And - perhaps something only I appreciate - the look on people's faces when they see a car on European plates (and not just fake front plates).
> The “magic” seems little more than not having to compromise, allowing you to be selfish without the guilt of hurting others.
You say that like it's a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, I completely agree on the value of shared memories from traveling with friends. But as you said, by definition the memories will be of experiences that were shaped by compromise. When traveling alone, the experience is yours alone and defined by the memories you want to make.
Is the value of shared memories worth the tradeoff of potentially missing out on some memories you were looking to have? I think it depends a lot on the person, the trip, and the group, but it seems silly to suggest there's an obvious right answer that's universally applicable.
The point of articles like this isn't that solo travel is the only valid way to do things either. But it offers an alternative for consideration in a world where group travel is the default. And the worst travel experience is one you don't have at all because you didn't have anyone to go with.
i started reading some of paul therouxs books and its given me a refreshed idea of what travel can be and how much some people are ok with opening up about. travel is so hard and expensive to do, were basically all beginners at it. even if you think your well traveled. visit 20 countries sounds like a lot and you start to feel like you know what your doing, but if you did 20 drawings your still clearly learning the basics.
Traveling alone through Europe during college as an American was one of the most amazing and life changing experiences of my life.
It was what yanked me firmly out of my US-centric world view and I realized how profound it was on my return trip back seeing all the people in line and being able to so easily spot "obvious Americans" (or at least that's what my brain at that age thought).
I also surprised myself with how confident it made me in myself and socially with some of the random connections I made that led to once in a lifetime adventures like meeting a woman on a bus in Italy, dining with her and her brother+wife at the oldest restaurant in Rome ordering all off menu+house wine, then getting a personal insider tour of Rome by night in their convertible.
Or getting lost in the Vatican, missing a museum tour, then realizing the crowd I was watching was listening to the Pope on his balcony.
Or wandering through the Lanes in Brighton at night with a pint on the street while visiting my college roommate who was doing a semester abroad there.
Or visiting our other roommate who was from Vienna and at home who gave me a guided tour of the mountains and then made me terrified for my life driving down them in a torrential downpour in his tiny smart car.
Or happening to be in Siena during the Palio horse race, completely unplanned.
It wasn't quite as extreme as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but about as close as I've come. It has the potential to change you in ways you cannot expect.
When It wasn't intuitive to me or for the other side, I used some sneaky ways/tricks:
Asking them if they're from here? if yes - ask a favor. and then ask some other questions about related stuff... if no - "then where are you from?" "and what are you fucking doing here?"
complementing them - on anything.
Don't care. you'll never meet them again (if something goes wrong) so if you want something, ask for it. if you have something stupid to say, say it, it's better than nothing.
I did it at the train, bus, street, hostel.
it seems that everyone in their headphones and doesn't want to talk, but people actually like to discover, to learn, to joke. It's just a mask.
Yes but also many hostels are rank. The last one I booked into in South America I just had to assume the bedding had been changed. And it was a good job I was waking up early because the piece of paper for a curtain was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
15 comments
[ 4.8 ms ] story [ 52.2 ms ] threadWanna know why I don't speak German after four years of living here? ;)
Without going out of your way for a language course, the interaction with German in Germany is limited to "by card please", "have a good evening/weekend", "a ticket to Aachen please", and forms/contracts like municipal registration, tax returns, and rental contract. Which are way too complex so you use a translator. Similar for a job in German: without first learning it, you can't get one, so you take an English job and the cycle continues.
Yes, I really need to be taking a language course like yesterday already. I'm aware, but that still would not get me chatting with locals; rather, other immigrants and a teacher or so.
> Or would you try more sociable places like cafés and bars?
When we go to cafés, I'd find it super weird if someone came up to our table to make small talk. Worse than at a bus stop. Bars are afaik for people (mainly teenagers) to get drunk together at but I don't drink so I've not been to one, rather walked past outside and can't say that what comes out of that entrance looks appealing to interact with.
My primary motivation was this was something I wanted to do in that specific car. When I checked prices, I discovered that shipping a vehicle was actually cheaper than renting. One way across the Atlantic was about $1,500. Good luck renting a car for 10+ weeks for $3k.
The car was a 1998 Citroën Xantia Activa V6. So my tour of North America primarily involved visiting Citroën enthusiasts across the country, of which - apparently - there are plenty, even though Citroën hasn't sold a car in North American since 1974.
Of course, I had no spare parts there, so I brought an oil filter and a drive belt with me. So amongst the car's history is a bill for an oil change in California. I had no problems with the car, except a brief bit in Louisiana during a heavy rainfall, that the left windscreen wiper leapt and landed on my side mirror. Fortunately, there was an exit almost immediately, and I was able to pull over to a fuel station to fix it (I obviously kept a toolkit in the boot).
So yeah, part of the motivation was also having Citroën fans in the US see a car they rarely see. And - perhaps something only I appreciate - the look on people's faces when they see a car on European plates (and not just fake front plates).
You say that like it's a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, I completely agree on the value of shared memories from traveling with friends. But as you said, by definition the memories will be of experiences that were shaped by compromise. When traveling alone, the experience is yours alone and defined by the memories you want to make.
Is the value of shared memories worth the tradeoff of potentially missing out on some memories you were looking to have? I think it depends a lot on the person, the trip, and the group, but it seems silly to suggest there's an obvious right answer that's universally applicable.
The point of articles like this isn't that solo travel is the only valid way to do things either. But it offers an alternative for consideration in a world where group travel is the default. And the worst travel experience is one you don't have at all because you didn't have anyone to go with.
It was what yanked me firmly out of my US-centric world view and I realized how profound it was on my return trip back seeing all the people in line and being able to so easily spot "obvious Americans" (or at least that's what my brain at that age thought).
I also surprised myself with how confident it made me in myself and socially with some of the random connections I made that led to once in a lifetime adventures like meeting a woman on a bus in Italy, dining with her and her brother+wife at the oldest restaurant in Rome ordering all off menu+house wine, then getting a personal insider tour of Rome by night in their convertible.
Or getting lost in the Vatican, missing a museum tour, then realizing the crowd I was watching was listening to the Pope on his balcony.
Or wandering through the Lanes in Brighton at night with a pint on the street while visiting my college roommate who was doing a semester abroad there.
Or visiting our other roommate who was from Vienna and at home who gave me a guided tour of the mountains and then made me terrified for my life driving down them in a torrential downpour in his tiny smart car.
Or happening to be in Siena during the Palio horse race, completely unplanned.
It wasn't quite as extreme as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but about as close as I've come. It has the potential to change you in ways you cannot expect.
complementing them - on anything.
Don't care. you'll never meet them again (if something goes wrong) so if you want something, ask for it. if you have something stupid to say, say it, it's better than nothing.
I did it at the train, bus, street, hostel.
it seems that everyone in their headphones and doesn't want to talk, but people actually like to discover, to learn, to joke. It's just a mask.