Lodging vs. Being Settled

Even though we usually each had our own sleeping space during the last few years of travel, there were still times when we had to share a room. During our short trips, we’ve ended up in hotels so have had to sleep in the same room. Upon our arrival to Vancouver, Tigger noticed that our hotel room had a separate living room and bedroom. She decided she’d rather sleep on the couch (she didn’t know it was a sleeper) than share a bedroom with me. “I just really value my own sleeping space.”

After years of constantly changing pillows—types, size, number—I have really become used to my pillows. My bottom one is medium and the top one is firm. I like a certain height, feel, and consistency to my pillows now. While the hotels we’ve been to have had very comfortable beds and nice pillows, I’ve had a hard time finding my . . . zone of perfection.

Our hotel bed in Vancouver had 4 pillows plus a roll. I just couldn’t find the right combo. As we discussed the cruise we’re taking in July, I announced I’m probably going to bring my own pillows.

And, frankly, I don’t feel the slightest bit ridiculous for contemplating that.

I was also really excited to get home, change into my fluffy robe, and to sit on my very comfortable living room furniture. When we did get back, sitting down in my favorite seat was like experiencing pure luxury. Even better that our cat joined me.

Boy we missed her greatly, too! Especially our morning routine where I open my bedroom door and she rushes in, jumps onto my bed, climbs onto my chest and purrs loudly as I scratch her head, cheeks, under her chin, etc. Then she falls asleep for a bit before moving down to my feet while I finish my morning reading.

That’s a hard routine to replace at a hotel or Airbnb place.

Big City?

We’ve spent a lot of time in various big cities all over the world. The town we currently live in is on the small to medium size. The population is only around 50K. We have a nice blend of amenities and open space. It’s fairly easy to get around. Compared to downtown Vancouver? Oh my.

The constant movement and commotion, sirens going day and night, etc., was a bit of a shocker. We usually don’t stay in downtown areas, and I can definitely see why that’s a good plan to follow for future travel. We were wore out pretty quickly and within a couple of days had hit the point where we just didn’t enjoy leaving the hotel to find a place to eat.

Exploring and getting out was always a big part of our travels. It’s the part I’ve missed greatly. I loved that there were so many new things to see and experience, but dealing with all the people, crowds, so much movement, etc., was just too much for us now.

Food

I consider myself a foodie, and one of the reason I have such a cushioned body habitus is because of how much I adore food. This has always been a big part of travel for me as well. I love trying local cuisine, exploring new foods, etc. There were plenty of restaurants to try, but we didn’t really feel comfortable until the day we hit the food trucks. Sitting outside on the steps of a museum building while eating our paper-wrapped lunches and wondering just how close that seagull was going to get had us in our right place.

While we loved the food at the fancy and expensive (for us) restaurant where we went to celebrate Chrismakah, eating grilled cheese sandwiches at the food truck was what made us the happiest.

Traveling

Train travel really isn’t a viable option for much of the US, and the more I look at traveling the more disturbed I find I am at the thought of a long flight, long travel day, etc. Hours in a car for a road trip? Sure, that works just fine. Five hours in a plane? Oh gawd no.

Especially when that also means travel to the airport, arriving early to get through security, delays, getting out of the airport at the destination, and it just goes on.

For our last trip, it just meant hopping in the car and hitting the road. We arrived at the border in super fast time. The wait there wasn’t too long. Traffic from that point to downtown was utter hell, but at least we were in our own space, could drink beverages we wanted, had music playing on the radio, could stop at a gas station to use the facilities if needed, etc.

I’ll take that over a flight any day thank you very much! Even if that does limit where we can travel.

Our cruise will be leaving and returning to Seattle which is pretty close, so that will be nice. I have some concerns about how I’m going to preserve my sanity on the boat for a couple of days, but hopefully the activities are interesting enough that they consume enough time.

It’s been interesting for me to see how much things have changed simply because we have a regular home now.

How has your travel style changed?

Technically, I’m not sure my biggest one could really be considered a “mistake.” It was more like I neglected refused to take some things as seriously as I should.

For the last couple of decades, I’ve had some chronic medical conditions. These were all stable before leaving the US and were well managed by medicines. I knew at least a couple of them should be monitored regularly, but it’s harder to do that when you’re doing nomadic travel.

When we’ve been in a place longer, like Brasov, San Miguel, and Budapest, I should’ve had them followed up since we would be around long enough to do followup doctor visits if needed.

One of my issues is familial hypertension. I hadn’t really been having any symptoms, but that isn’t surprising. Hypertension is often referred to as a silent killer because of this. I know this. But for whatever reason I didn’t want to accept mine had gone out of control.

During one of our stays in the UK when I ended up needing a dental extraction, my blood pressure (BP) was through the roof. I chalked it up to having to take lots of ibuprofen and the pain I was having, accompanied with sleep disturbance. The dentist insisted that even with factoring those things in my BP was way too high.

Like a dummy I ignored it.

He also informed me that my x-rays showed bone loss that was typical in “uncontrolled glucose levels.” Before leaving the US, my doc suggested I bring a glucometer with me or ask someone to use theirs since I was in the prediabetic levels. Being a medical professional and having a strong family history of diabetes, I know the symptoms of diabetes very well. Despite having at least one of the incredibly classic symptoms and the aforementioned x-ray evidence, I chose to shove this out of my mind.

I also have thyroid issues, and one of the common signs that my medication needs to be adjusted is regular sleep problems, which I was having plenty of. Did I go ahead and get that checked?

Of course not!

So fast forward a few years to now. Since we’re settling down, I’ve established care with a doctor again. I was pretty sure my thyroid levels were out of whack. This can cause elevated blood glucose levels as well as raise blood pressure.

During my first visit with the new doctor, I knew there was a bit of a problem when I saw the medical assistant’s expression as she took my blood pressure. “How bad is it?” I asked. “Um, it’s really high.” When I asked for the number she asked if I was sure I wanted to know.

Not a good sign.

It’s also not a good sign when your nurse coworkers are checking your BP for you and say, “Oh, Talon, that’s not good.”

Yes, I know.

Blood work did indeed confirm my thyroid is out of whack, but it’s higher than it should be if it was just the thyroid causing problems. And it isn’t coming down despite a few weeks of additional medications.

In addition, my blood work showed my glucose is rather high. Some additional studies have confirmed I’m no longer prediabetic. I’m definitely solidly in the diabetic club now. And likely I have been for a few years at least.

Trying to deal with the diabetes and hypertension issues while the thyroid slowly comes back into a healthy state has not been fun.

With my family history of diabetes, my docs have really just been waiting for the day when I converted, but I’m still kind of angry about it.

I think we all know how I feel about carbs.

More so, though, I’m pretty ticked off at myself. I know better, and I’m at a loss as to why I didn’t follow these conditions better while we traveled. Yes, being constantly on the move does pose a challenge, but there were plenty of times when we were based somewhere long enough for me to get my BP checked and to have blood work done.

I feel especially stupid for my choice to be in denial about diabetes. I’ve had family members lose their vision (a HUGE fear of mine) and parts of extremities. I know how important it is to keep those glucose levels controlled, and I remember thinking more than once: “Hmm, these symptoms are classic for diabetes.”

Why didn’t I get them checked out? I have no clue. Before long-term travel I never ignored weird or persistent symptoms. It’s one reason my cancer was detected early.

I certainly can’t blame it on healthcare costs since most countries we visited were cheap by American standards (remember my $230 USD trip to the ER in Australia?). In some of those places, I could’ve even walked into a lab and had blood work done without a doctor’s order.

Thankfully, my “mistake” didn’t lead to anything super serious. Yeah, we’re battling to get my BP and diabetes under control, but it could’ve been much worse.

So, if you decide to travel long term at some point, please do yourself a favor and get regular medical checkups. There’s really no good reason not to, and it just isn’t worth avoiding.

Work and the Nomadic Life

Once the decision was made to return to the US, I began considering what I would do for work. Would I continue doing freelance work and/or medical transcription? There are definitely some pros to working from home, but the more I thought about it the stronger the cons seemed.

For starters, while I’m mostly an ambivert, I tend to lean more toward the extrovert side. Working from home doesn’t really provide the interaction I need.

I’m also the type of person who likes to feel like at the end of the day they’ve made a difference, that somehow they’ve helped lighten someone’s burden, etc. While I thoroughly enjoy writing, it doesn’t give me the sense of purpose that working in hospice did.

Doing freelance work can also be a royal pain in the tush. You’re constantly pitching, trying to find new clients, drumming up more business, etc. You don’t always know when you’ll be paid, and quite often you have to nag people to get paid.

With medical transcription (MT), I know when I’m going to get paid and how much, but since I’m paid by production that figure is always changing. If there’s no work in the pool when I sign on, I don’t get paid. There have been many times where we had an extended dry spell (often seasonal) at the MT job and I was earning only a fraction of my usual income.

As an independent contractor, it also means I don’t get holiday or sick pay, and if I take a day off, I don’t get paid. When I participated in a press trip to Thailand, I had to set money aside since I wouldn’t be able to transcribe during that week. I also wouldn’t have time to pitch, search for new clients, and so on. And the press trip was a lot of work, so it definitely didn’t count as a vacation or time off.

Sure, I’ve been traveling the world for the last 5-1/2 years and having a lot of fun, but I haven’t had more than a day or two off from working in all that time. So one big perk I’m looking forward to with full-time employment is being able to enjoy a holiday or take a vacation without having to save up even more money so that I still get “paid” while I’m not working.

It was tough leaving a job, company, and coworkers I loved. It was especially scary because jobs in my field are not easy to find. But I clung to the “Leap and the net will appear” philosophy and trusted that things would work out.

Shortly after returning to Washington, I decided to start looking for a job. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do, but I knew I wanted to work on-site somewhere. Within two weeks of applying for the job I wanted (which was also in my preferred field of work), I was hired.

I leapt, and the net did indeed appear.

I was overjoyed when I was recently hired by a hospice to manage their bereavement program. Hospice is a passion of mine, and I really enjoy working with people as they go through the roller coaster that is grief and mourning.

Life in the US

There are definitely things I wish would change in the US, but for the most part it’s been great to be back home. While traveling long term is a great adventure and a constant challenge, there are a lot of perks to being able to shop online, get things delivered to my door, to being able to fully understand the language, to not have to deal with visas and visit restrictions, to be able to find my favorite foods, etc.

While I have really enjoyed being in places with good to great public transportation, and I’ve enjoyed not having to have a car, there is also a lot of freedom in having an automobile. I really love being able to decide I want to go somewhere and not having to check public transportation routes, hours of operation, etc.

And I just enjoy going for drives. There’s something wonderful about simply getting in the car and admiring the scenery, the music playing, and so on. It’s probably one of the few things about me that is very “American.” I was able to buy a car, and it’s amazing to me just how liberating and just how “right” it feels.

I love the convenience of life in the US. I do most of my shopping online and have things shipped to my door. For the most part, I can trust our postal service and shipping providers unlike other countries where I’ve lived.

I can readily get almost any food I’m craving. And if I can’t find it, chances are the local supermarket will have the ingredients I need to make it myself.

We’ve been back for over a month, and I’ve been to an ATM machine once. So far it just hasn’t been an issue to pay with my debit card. Even the local food truck accepts cards.

It’s also hard to beat US customer service. The other day we decided to go to McDonald’s and take advantage of their all-day breakfast menu (we love their Egg McMuffin, and I’m not ashamed of that). For some odd reason, it took an unusual amount of time to get our food. When I went to pick up our order when it was finally done, the manager handed me a card for a free meal “for the long wait.” I hadn’t even said anything!

When something isn’t functioning correctly, you generally get an apology instead of an obviously unconcerned shrug and a look that communicates “Not my problem.”

I’ve also missed central heating.  I don’t have to wear a hoodie while I’m in the kitchen or freeze while using the bathroom.

Long-term travel has made me much more laid-back, so when staff are apologizing for slight delays/issues, I just shrug, smile and say “No worries.” And I actually mean it. The look of astonishment and relief on their face surprises me, but then I remember not all my fellow Americans are as understanding.

Having dealt with weird red tape and often confusing (to me) processes in other countries has increased my ability to just shrug off idiosyncrasies here.

It’s so nice being able to handle much of my business, etc., online.

I love that when I’m shopping in a store, a mall, in a public place, etc., if I need to use the toilet, chances are there is a free one for me to use. I don’t have to search high and low only to be disappointed and left wondering if I’ll get in trouble if I use the alley for . . . my now-urgent need.

If I get thirsty, chances are there is a water fountain nearby. I don’t always have to carry a reusable water bottle with me just in case.

I’ve greatly missed having evergreens, the ocean, and mountains all within one view. There really aren’t a lot of places in the world where you can find this kind of combination.

Powerful Lessons

Perhaps one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from nomadic travel is that no place is perfect. We have lived in so many wonderful places all over the world, and many have captured a piece of my heart. But none of them is perfect. Some places talk to your soul more than others, and some are perfect “for this moment.”

It’s also been a reminder for me that happiness truly comes from within. I can be happy while swinging in a hammock and looking out over gorgeous Caribbean waters, but I’m sitting here smiling just as broadly as I watch the rain fall on the deck and brown leaves get tossed from the maple in the yard.

When we left the US, I never really imagined that my search for home would lead me back to Washington and the US. Sometimes you really do need to leave something to realize just how much you really loved it.

What are your thoughts? Have you had a similar experience?

Immersion Courses

When trying to learn a foreign language, there is no argument that one of the best ways to increase your proficiency is by immersion. When you’re learning a new language and can actively practice it, it’ so much more effective. Using sites like Linguago.com, you can find courses in various countries so that you can learn and practice every day.

Doing this type of language program is also really good to help you avoid having to unlearn mistakes later on. You get immediate feedback on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and so on. For some languages, like Hungarian and tonal languages like Vietnamese, it’s really important to hear how native speakers say something.

There is also a lot of value in learning conversational language more than “textbook” grammar. It makes things more fluid when you are trying to communicate and pick up new words.

Online Instruction

Even if you’re planning on doing an immersion course, which I highly recommend, using online resources can be super helpful in preparing for travel.

Apps and webpages can be useful for learning key words, pleasantries, etc. Before traveling to a new place, we usually try to learn the words for thank you, hello, goodbye, excuse me/pardon me, water, exit, and a few numbers. Even when a local can speak some English, they almost always express a lot of joy when they hear us using a term in the local language.

They especially gush when my child does it. It’s worth the effort just to get those expressions.

Practice Makes Perfect

The more you use the target language, the more confidence you’ll have, and it will be easier to pronounce new vocabulary. The big key is to not be afraid of making a mistake. People may laugh at you, but it’s actually a great ice breaker, and generally speaking locals are happy you’re making an effort, even if it feels like you’re “butchering their language.”

Some of those mistakes may end up being some of your favorite stories. Years later we still laugh about the time I accidentally asked for train tickets for “1 adult and 1 penises” when trying to speak Romanian. I have a feeling it’s one of her favorite stories, too. She literally almost fell out of her chair while laughing.

When I first starting learn French in preparation for a trip to Paris, my house was covered with Post-It notes to help me remember the names of objects. While putting dishes away, I would practice naming them: “This is a plate. This is a glass. I’d like a glass of water.”

I got weird looks from the dog, but it made it a lot easier for when I arrived in France.

Which language would you like to learn?

I reached out to some other families and bloggers who have gone through re-entry and asked for their tips and experiences to not only assist me but to help others who will be dealing with this at some point.

Alisa

We’ve known Alisa for years. We initially met online in a Facebook group for families doing long-term travel. We ended up being in the same area of Spain for a bit, and so we were able to meet up and spend the day together. She has some really great insights that often get shared on their blog Living Outside of the Box.

Shortly after our meeting in Spain, they announced they were settling down in the US and buying a house.  They’ve been home for a few years now, and she offered some great advice:

“I think the single most determining factor of success with re-entry is a person’s willingness to commit. When you packed up and/or sold everything to start a life of travel, you had to commit yourself fully in order to not second-guess your decision. If you were unwilling to fully commit to the travel lifestyle, it would have led to fear and doubt and a general uncertainty and discomfort!

“When traveling, you learned immediately how important it was to not judge different cultures but instead embraced the changes and grinned through the things that you didn’t love. The same is true when committing to re-entry into a Western/Home society. In order to adapt well to anything new, you must commit and embrace the changes instead of fighting against them. ‘What? They don’t do ______, like they did in ______?  Oh, well, that’s different, but not wrong.’”

“More than anything, I believe our success at re-entry has to do with the fact that we have accepted that no place in the world has 100% everything we want, but we are going to embrace what our new location does have. We didn’t move here and look over our shoulders wondering if there was somewhere else we should be. We did our research, decided it was best, and then leapt in with our eyes open and our attention focused here, and here only! This allowed us to not hesitate in doing all the things that help make our new home our home.”

I saw a lot of value with the commitment part she mentions. In looking at our last foray into life in the US we were definitely not that committed. Like I said, it was more exploratory. It took us a while to readjust to life there, which was to be expected, but instead of focusing on the parts we enjoyed, it was more of a question “Can we handle the parts we don’t like?”

There are definite perks to living in the US. Right now I find myself trying to not dwell on the cons. Mostly because those are the scary parts. I’m definitely working on reinforcing that feeling of commitment, though. I think it makes a huge difference.

She had some additional helpful advice: “Don’t expect things to be the same, and don’t compare them for your own sanity. Don’t feel pressured to incorporate yourself completely into a typical Western lifestyle immediately. You will do things differently from others (or from your former life before you originally left), and that’s okay. Eventually, you may find that some of those differences start disappearing, and you’ll look back at what/who you were when you returned and laugh at some of the things that you were slow to adjust to. You’ll never ever be the same, but you’ll have gained an immense amount of experience that will forever shape your perspective on life and what really matters!”

Gemma

Gemma and Craig left their native Scotland and spent the next 17 months doing long-term travel. It’s a little different when you know for sure you’re coming back, but it’s still a challenge. Here’s what she had to say about their experience with re-entry:

”Craig and I went through various adjustments over the past 17 months moving from South America to North
America. Remembering to flush paper down the toilet made me giggle more than once and telling myself not
say gracias after leaving a shop (in Vancouver anyway) was a frequent occurrence! However, the biggest
adjustments came after the 17-month long-term travel trip was over and we touched down back in Scotland to
a house, dog, and bills. I was, and still am, anxious about the bills part. Have I set them up? Will the direct debit
come out of my account? Do I have enough money in that account? Such a mundane aspect of life to worry about but it’s not something you deal with when you are living from a backpack, contract phone-less, without a
TV bundle, and with no long-term rent to pay!”

I had to laugh when I read this. When thinking about renting a place in the US, I remembered I will probably have to set up and pay monthly for internet. I haven’t had to pay for internet in over five years. It’s been included every place we’ve lived while on the road. In Honduras, we had to prepay for electricity. You just kept an eye on your meter to know when you needed to go put more money on your account. In Mexico, the property manager came by with the bill which was every two months.

Otherwise, we haven’t had to pay for utilities in a long time.

Paul Fournier

Paul had an interesting experience in that he lived on Boracay in the Philippines for 6 months, returned to the US, and because of his experiences being home he quickly returned to Boracay and stayed for three years. He writes about Boracay on his blog Boracay Compass.

“The first thing I did was meet up with my family who aren’t exactly a positive bunch I’m sorry to say.
There was the usual family fight, and I rode back home in my car, crying. I’m not ashamed to say that I
had lived in peace for six months with just positive people around me, so having a fight as my first
experience back home was a big blow to me. I decided then and there to go back to Boracay, and one month later I was back.

“Then after three more years of living in Boracay, I returned home again. This time my experience was very
different, though. I met up with positive friends and started living in a positive environment. Even though I missed Boracay, it felt good to be back. I was in a positive environment with positive people. I didn’t get a big
shock of negativity like the first time around.

“So in a nutshell, my experience is that your environment can have a huge impact on how you experience
your re-entry.”

I can really relate to Paul’s experience. I didn’t have the negativity to deal with, but during our return we moved around quite a bit. We were in the US for about 3 months, but we were in 7 different places between house sits and staying with friends. By the time we arrived in our final state, we had already pretty much decided we wouldn’t be staying.

It was the first time I had gone to Washington state and didn’t feel like I was coming home.

It’s kind of hard to adjust to being “home” when you’re moving around every week or two. This time when we go back we begin with a house sit for 2-1/2 months. It is in the state we’ve decided to live in. A friend is picking us up from the airport, and another longtime friend lives a very short drive away from our sit. Another friend and her daughter, who live in the city we’re considering moving to, will be joining us for Thanksgiving. We will probably spend Christmas (and perhaps New Year’s Eve) with good friends who recently moved a couple of hours away. She also works in the city we are considering moving to.

One reason we decided to return there is because we have so many friends and family-by-choice living in the same state. We also have a nice mix of people who have done long-term travel and settled down to people who haven’t done the nomadic lifestyle. It’s nice to have a balance as well as to have people close by who get what it’s like to be making the big change.

Duke Stewart

Duke and his wife lived in South Korea for four years. Their first few months after returning home were a bit tough.

“For as many as three months after coming back, I wanted to get out of this place and return to that expat life I knew and loved. One year later, I’m much more satisfied and might even give this ‘normal’ life of living in the US a shot. My advice to anyone returning after a lengthy stint away is this: Embrace the strangeness of coming back and prepare for the reverse culture shock. It’s real and won’t immediately hit you and not all at once.

“People and places have their quirks no matter where you go or end up. Life is really just a series of navigating those strange bits and trying to make sense of it all. Accept it and you’ll be better for it, I say.”

I loved his comment about embracing the strangeness. That definitely describes our last experience. We returned to the US after spending many months in Mexico, so the switch embodied a lot of adjustments. This time we’re returning after a few months in the UK. I think having less of a cultural difference will help.

At least I won’t scare people by accidentally speaking Spanish in the grocery store in the very yuppie area this time.

Other Tips for Re-Entry

One piece of advice I’ve seen from a lot of people over the years is to begin planning your next trip. We really won’t be in a position to do that right away. However, local travel is still travel and, as Ainlay advised, you can also explore your home city like a tourist.

Fortunately, our next home city is also new to us. So, while we’re settling in we can be tourists in our own town. Exploring new areas is always fun for me, so I can capture that travel feeling easily. Also, Vancouver (in Canada) is a short trip away, so we can explore there as well until we’re in a place where a bigger trip is more feasible.

Even a weekend getaway can be exciting.

Other people have mentioned cooking favorite dishes from places you’ve visited when you’re feeling nostalgic. This is one reason I love taking cooking classes when we travel. When I’m missing Mexico, I can usually make something that reminds us of being there. Making green curry takes me back to Thailand.

Food is such a powerful reminder.

I don’t know if it will help, but I also think that putting some favorite photos on the walls might be a good idea. Sure, seeing memories may instill a bit of feeling homesick for travel and those areas, but I think having visual reminders of adventures we experienced together could help us as we settle in.

If not, I can take them down.

Do you have any tips on how to make the re-entry process. . . less painful?

This is especially true for many of the world’s most popular cuisines, such as Mexican. Most people who have had Mexican food but have not actually eaten in a nontourist locale in the wonderfully diverse country have never really had the delicious traditional stuff.

I know this may shock some people, but items like nachos and burritos are not very Mexican. Just like french fries aren’t French.

My favorite street food is usually sold by people in portable carts. It typically is fresh, flavorful, fast, cheap, and surrounded by locals.

Street Food Safety

I know a lot of people get a bit nervous about food hygiene when it comes to these carts of culinary delight. There are some general things you can do to help prevent getting the local, creatively named origin of diarrhea (Delhi belly, Montezuma’s revenge, etc.)

• Do they use a separate tub for washing & rinsing dishes? Hang by and watch them for a bit. If they’re simply taking the used plates and dunking them in a bin of dirty water, you’ll probably want to avoid this particular cart. Most places use disposable dishes now, but they still have to wash their grill, etc.
• Are there tons of locals visiting other carts but this one is practically empty? Skip it. If the locals won’t eat there, you probably shouldn’t either.
• A cramped working area can still be kept relatively clean. If surfaces and equipment all look messy and dirty, I’d probably pass. If they show attention to presentation, organization, etc., chances are better they’re being a bit more careful with hygiene.
• Give a higher priority to carts selling food that is made to order or premade in small batches. It’s usually pretty easy to identify which items have been sitting around for a long time. If pots are kept over a flame or items are packed in ice, it’s less of a concern.

Don’t stress, though. Generally, most of the time you’ll be fine. I’ve been traveling for decades, including full-time travel for over five years. I’ve only had food poisoning twice, and both times were in the States after eating in a regular, brick-and-mortar restaurant, one of which was part of a popular chain. My son eats at the same places I do, and he’s never become ill from the food either.

Also, keep in mind that food rules in developed nations are based around their style of food transportation and storage. When weeks can go by between slaughter or harvest and use in your kitchen, you need much more stringent precautions (like in the UK and US). In most undeveloped or developing nations, however, the time from harvest to your hands is around four hours.

This is part of the reason why you can find meat hanging unrefrigerated for hours in a wet market, and you still won’t get ill from it. Fresh is simply healthier in many regards.

So, it isn’t necessarily important to ignore the tasty chicken that’s sitting in a bowl without ice or a flame beneath it.

One of our favorite choices is “meat on a stick.” That’s what we call any meat that’s served on a skewer or stick. These are usually safe bets as they tend to be cooked quite thoroughly.

Greater Selection

One of the coolest things about street food is the varied selection. Buffets can be wonderful because you can sample so many different items. Night and walking markets offer similar opportunities but with fresher and tastier food.

The challenge may be having enough room in your tummy to handle it all, though. I always want far more food than I can reasonably consume in one sitting.

Culture

Food vendors have a tendency to congregate in an area popular with locals, which gives you greater access to mingling. You can get insights into daily life that you won’t observe while staying in your hotel’s restaurant or by going to a typical eatery.

It also can really enhance your travel experience. While in a medium-sized town in Thailand, we frequented the night market for dinner. Unaccustomed to large amounts of tourists, there is a big language barrier since many of the people don’t speak English. It was so much fun to interact and laugh together at our communication struggles.

You also have a great vantage point to see how people are with each other, which items are the most popular, and to see differences in various groups.

Broadening the Palate

I’m sure it can be tough for people who aren’t very “food brave.” The night markets and other street food areas are great for helping give you the push to try new things, especially if you are limited in communication. Some things look good, but you have no idea what they are. I’ve been incredibly pleasantly surprised by trying things that mystified me by their appearance. Since no one could tell me what they were, I figured I had nothing to lose. $1 is a small price to pay for a nibble of food that perhaps I didn’t enjoy in the end (like the time I thought I was getting grilled chicken but it was grilled chicken skin), but I have found some real winners with this method. It’s rare that I sample something that I absolutely can’t stand.

Beetles and grasshoppers would be two definite exceptions. And lampredotto wasn’t a great joy either.

Have you sampled street food? What’s your favorite?

I love learning to cook local dishes as we travel. So far my favorite cooking classes have been in Penang where I learned how to prepare some Nyonya dishes (and loved them so much I bought a recipe book) and in Thailand. In Bangkok, I had the opportunity to learn how to prepare some of my favorite Thai dishes, which is my favorite cuisine, and fell in love with some others.

What is a class like?

Most cooking classes begin with a trip to the local market where food is the freshest. Not only do you learn about fruits and vegetables you may have never seen before, but you learn the culture and history behind the food. This is my next favorite part of culinary travel, second only to actually eating.

In Penang, as we went through the market we were treated to samples of Nyonya foods to whet our appetite. Once the tour is accomplished, it’s time for the real fun—cooking!

You will learn how to prepare, clean, and cut all the ingredients you’ll need for your dishes. Instead of simply following a recipe, you are walked through the various steps (now I know the secret to making crispy shallot rings!), including explanations as to why you’re doing a step in a certain way.

Some of these classes have also enhanced my cooking skills by teaching me new techniques and refining them.

After learning all these wonderful things, you get to do the best part which is actually eating your creations.

Finding a class

There are several ways to find a good cooking class. Obviously, personal recommendations are highly valued, which is how I found out about Pearly in Malaysia. Another solid method is to use social media to your advantage. Twitter is most likely your best friend with this type of search. Before heading to Vietnam I found a cooking school to attend by doing research on Twitter.

Of course, there are always searches through engines like Google and TripAdvisor, where you can also read reviews from people who have attended a class.

Picking a cooking class

• As far as I’m concerned, a trip to the local food market is essential. If the class isn’t doing this, I usually won’t sign up. This is where you learn more about the foods you’ll be preparing, and you get invaluable insights into the culture. They’re also where some of the best street food can be found during the daytime.
• Do they provide transportation? It can be hard to get from the meeting area to the market and from there to the location where the class will be offered. Generally, they’ll take care of this part for you, and that’s a really beneficial service.
• Will you be able to replicate the foods when you leave? It’s kind of pointless to learn how to prepare a specific dish and never be able to reproduce it at home. If the dishes they teach are too specialized, it may not be worth your time and money in the end. Most schools seem to grasp this, but if you find one that doesn’t, that’s probably a sign to look elsewhere. A class I took in Iceland was great with this. We were given a conversion sheet so we could easily change the cooking information to the system used back home. As she introduced ingredients, she would also tell us what we could use at home as a replacement. The class in Thailand was good about this well.
• When evaluating the cost, consider all the above factors, but also remember you’ll be eating all this wonderful food you’re preparing. A $50 (per person) class might seem a bit pricey, but when you factor everything in, including that you’ll probably be eating at least 3 different dishes, you’re really getting a good bargain.
• How long is the class? Most of the schools I’ve researched offer half-day classes, and some offer a longer full-day class for those who are interested. If you only have 4 days in an area, a full-day class may be too long for you. Once again, it’s important to factor in what you’ll be learning. For me spending a day learning how to create my favorite Thai and Vietnamese dishes so that I can have them everywhere I go (practically) is worth a whole day.

Learning to cook some of the foods from your travels are great ways of not only sharing the cultures you’ve experienced but also bringing those memories back to life. Nothing can evoke memories like smells and tastes. A cooking class is the souvenir that keeps on giving without taking up any valuable space in your suitcase.

Have you ever taken a cooking class while traveling? Which dish did you enjoy learning to cook the most, and what made it so special?

On the day of our flight to Cancun, I was a bit nervous. Their web check-in system was being redone, so no one could check in before the flight. We already were having to wake up earlier than normal so getting up even earlier was not appealing. When we arrived at the airport terminal, sure enough the line was huge. I began to worry that we hadn’t arrived early enough.

As the check-in progress began, the number of ticket agents more than doubled. They even took over computers from another airline who didn’t have a current flight. When it was our turn at the next available window, only about 20 minutes had passed. I’ve been in a line like that before that took almost 2 hours!

What was also nice was that I didn’t feel like we were being rushed through. Questions were answered, the agent was cool, calm, and friendly. I gave them my kudos as we headed toward security.

We’ve flown with Thomson Airways before, and the last plane was pretty comfortable. This one was newer and even better.

As usual, the staff were great and friendly. For example, I hadn’t brought extra cash since my new US-based bank card had a chip. However, I didn’t realize that their card terminal only works with chip+PIN cards, and ours was unfortunately a chip+signature. We ordered some drinks and a snack, and my card wouldn’t work. I had used up all my pounds in the airport. They were kind enough to let us have them anyway.

The backrest entertainment devices are quite handy, especially on such a long haul.

The meals are pretty decent, too, especially for airplane food.

Here are a couple of things you’ll need to know when traveling to Mexico from the UK:

• Make sure to bring along a pen in your carryon. Mexico requires some basic paperwork at the border control area, and you won’t be able to leave the jetway without showing completed paperwork. The cabin crew do have pens to loan out, but as you can imagine they don’t have one for every passenger.
• Upon your return, the Cancun Airport has a departure tax that is usually not included in your ticket. The fee was 900 MXN per person last year. You can also pay in USD, EUR, or GBP. Cash only regardless of the currency. They will post prices in the various currencies, but their nonpeso rate is usually higher. So, you may want to get pesos ahead of time to save a few pounds (which can really add up if you’re a family).
• As mentioned above, if your card isn’t chip+pin, make sure to bring pounds if you plan on buying any drinks or snacks on board.

If you were pondering whether or not to fly with Thomson Airways, don’t hesitate. Hit that purchase button and get ready to have a great time on your holiday.

What does “too touristy” mean? For me it means a place will be full of large crowds, inflated prices, fewer experiences of typical local culture and cuisine, and often a lackluster experience. Many popular locations start to become too cheesy, try too hard to entertain visitors, become too heavy with touts, and add in “big brands” that are familiar with tourists, i.e., Starbucks, McDonald’s, and so on. It really can take away from the experience.

However, what has been my experience is that:

• A place is usually touristy for a reason. Aside from a great marketing campaign. Paris and London are both very touristy, but they’re also wonderful places to visit.
• The focus of visits from tourists tends to be certain contained areas. Walk away from the immediate tourist zone, and you have a very different experience of a city.
• And just because a place is extremely touristy doesn’t necessarily mean it should be missed.

I was once again reminded of these things as I tried to decide whether or not I’d visit Bruges while we’re in Belgium. Like most people who are even vaguely familiar with this small city, I first was exposed to its charms in the movie In Bruges. It looked like such an amazing place.

Over the last couple of years, though, I’ve had friends visit the city and in seeing their photos and reading their comments, I became concerned it was now “disneyfied.” I had to decide if I was ready to get there and have my movie-induced fairy tale vision completely squashed.

In the end, I decided to go in with extremely low expectations and just hope for the best. I heard from recent visitors that afternoons seemed to be the best chance of having a diminished horde of tourists. I wanted to go on a weekday, too, but in Belgium rail fares are 50% off and I decided saving 30€ would be worth chancing it on a Sunday afternoon.

I ended up being very pleasantly surprised. There were definitely areas that were more crowded (annoyingly so), and it was a bit irritating having the intrusion of the voice of the boat guides on their loudspeakers while you were trying to enjoy the quaint view of the medieval buildings backed against the canal.

And, yes, there is a Starbucks, McDonald’s, H&M (a popular European department store), etc., and you can watch restaurant prices double (or more) the closer you get to the main square.

But for the most part, Bruges was still incredibly charming. Especially when you were in side streets. Even Tigger enjoyed it!

Since we like to look in corners and places that appear hidden, we also ended up at the Basilica of the Holy Blood, a 12th-century church that houses a crystal vial containing a cloth with, supposedly, Jesus’ blood on it. The inside of the church was absolutely stunning, and hardly anyone was in it.

Prague was another place that we had almost avoided because of the number of times I’ve heard that it’s “expensive” and “too touristy.” Still, it was a place I was intrigued by, so we went. We planned on a being there for a week and stayed for about 2-1/2 months.

I found it to be neither expensive nor overly touristy. Yes, there are some spots where you’ll run into a tourist throng, but many places were surprisingly free of visitors.

During our travels, we’ve learned some things about enjoying these touristy places despite their popularity. I figured I’d share some of them.

Tips for Visiting Touristy Places

This is another time when Airbnb, Wimdu, etc., can be your friend. Hotels are often located in and/or very close to heavily trafficked areas which makes it harder to find the more local-frequented sights and spots. If you get a rental, you will often have a place in a mostly locals neighborhood. You can usually get a room or flat that isn’t too far from the popular areas, so you can have the best of both worlds.

We typically avoid any restaurant that advertises a tourist menu. This usually means higher prices and lower quality food. Eating in a square filled with tourists is a guaranteed way to spend a lot more money. And you don’t have to walk far away usually. Near the “hotspots” in Bruges, we saw dishes at around 30€. When we walked only a few blocks away, similar dishes were as low as 7€.

We generally will also skip a place that is advertising in English (obviously, this doesn’t apply if that’s the primary language of the location). The places that aren’t specifically trying to attract tourists tend to be less expensive and far more tasty. You’ll also be more likely to find the cuisine that is more typical of a place instead of one altered to be “more appealing” to foreigners.

Occasionally, it isn’t always easy to escape the tourist area. For example, we were in Rouen during the summer, and at least half of the businesses were closed in July (the French take a month off for their annual holiday), except for the tourist zone. In this situation, we just moved farther away from the main square toward the edge of the zone, and we found places that were open, more reasonably priced, and surprisingly pleasant.

Think twice before getting those popular city tourism cards. Sometimes they definitely are worth it (we saved well over 20€ on transportation costs alone in Berlin), but in some cities they are way more expensive than what you get out of them. It pays to take a little extra time to research transportation costs, admission fees of the places you’re likely to visit, etc., and compare them to the cost of the card, especially if the card can only be used by 1 person.

The first time I went to Paris, I got the carte orange which gave me unlimited public transportation, free/discounted admission to museums, and I didn’t have to wait in the incredibly long queues at the more popular places. I used the heck out of the metro and trains and went to a lot of the memorials and museums (and the card got me into one museum when the cashier was closed because of a private event), so I had an excellent return on my investment. In subsequent visits, though, I found it was cheaper to just buy the 10-pack carnet of transportation tickets since I wasn’t keeping the same pace as my previous visit and had already seen the “big ticket” items.

If you can visit a site closer to their closing hours, you’ll generally have fewer crowds to deal with, and many places offer a discount during this time period as well. We did this at Versailles, and there was no one in line and only about 50 people inside, if that.

Adjust your expectations. I have found it much better to visit somewhere while having very low expectations, especially when it involves well-hyped destinations. Chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If not, like Bali for us, well, at least you won’t find yourself too disappointed.

It’s also very helpful to travel in the off season. Not only will prices be lower, but you will have far fewer crowds to deal with, and that make can make a huge difference. I’ve been to Paris multiple times and loved it, but this last time I went in summer (to celebrate my birthday). If that had been my first experience of Paris, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to recommend it as a destination, and I certainly wouldn’t have been so enamored. I also would’ve never seen as much of the city, and others nearby, because of the crowds and lines.

There are some places, like the Albanian and Bulgarian coast, that essentially completely close down for the low season, and some activities may not be available year round, but for the most part high season is not your friend.

Have you been to a very touristy location that ended up pleasantly surprising you? Do you have any extra tips to share?

I noticed an email from the homeowners for our sit in Brussels in 2 days’ time. She was letting us know that they were okay from the terror attacks and wanted to let us know that if we wanted to cancel the sit they would understand.

When I switched back to Facebook, I now understood why I had so many notifications. Friends knew we were going to be in Brussels soon but weren’t sure of the timing. I had a lot of concerned people checking in on me. Another friend had also private messaged me with a link to a news article about the tragic events.

I had been awake for at least 24 hours by this point, so my concentration wasn’t the best, and this just felt so surreal. I tried to get updated on the situation in the short time we had before our next journey which would take us to the airport we were actually supposed to have landed at. Can you tell I’m still a bit bitter?

But for me there wasn’t a question about whether or not to go to Brussels. I updated Tigger and we both agreed we were still going to Brussels.

Later when updating our friends, some of them were surprised we were still heading to Brussels 2 days after the terror attacks, especially considering the main airport and a busy metro station had been bombed.

 Why go to Brussels 2 days after the terror attacks?

We tend to not get too spooked about these types of situations for a few reasons:

• You can get killed/injured anywhere. A person has a much higher chance of being killed while riding in a car than being victimized in a terrorist attack.  In India, a man was allegedly killed when an object, possibly from space, landed and exploded near him.Then there’s the young man who has been present at 3 separate incidences of terror attacks as a victim (Boston, Paris, and now Brussels). He’s survived all of them, but I can guarantee if I was his friend I would never travel with him. Too much excitement for me.
• After an attack, security is drastically increased and people tend to be more alert. This dramatically reduces the likelihood of a recurrent incident happening in the same city. In Brussels, the main airport was shut down immediately as was the metro. A week later and almost half of the underground system still is not in operation out of extra caution.
• We refuse to live in a culture of fear, especially since it gives these scum exactly what they want.

What is Brussels like after the terror attacks?

I’ve actually been surprised. I expected there to be palpable tension in the air, for most people to be staying indoors as much as possible, for the metro lines to be completely empty, and for there to be a large police and/or military presence everywhere.

None of this has been true.

I recently read a news article about the situation, and I was very irritated by their claim that “Soldiers and military vehicles are parked on nearly every corner.”

This is absolutely and patently false.

We have been here for almost a week so far. We live around the corner from the European Union (EU) Commission headquarters, the office of the EU presidency, the EU personnel building, and several embassies. There is one military vehicle in the region, and that is for the 2 soldiers who stand guard outside the presidency office (and they’re only posted during business hours).

For all I know, they’re staged there normally.

You will find 2 more trucks parked outside the main metro station used commonly by employees and visitors to the various EU offices and buildings in the area.

I’ve walked all over a big portion of the city, and we recently visited the main tourist zone for Brussels as well as a very busy shopping district. We saw 2 military trucks there as well, and they were parked, once again, by the metro.

When we rode the metro, it had only been 3 days since the attacks. I imagine the cars are used to more passengers, but there were definitely plenty of people riding.

There was no tension, no obvious fear. When a man who appeared to be Muslim boarded the train, I briefly held my breath. I expected him to be taunted, jeered at, even threatened, but people barely gave him a glance. When he sat down, no one moved away from him. Unlike recent scenes in the US, no one insisted he open his bag.

He was just like every other passenger that day.

We also live across the street from the grand mosque. We walked by the mosque on Friday, the first big day of worship since the terror attacks. There were no protesters, no one yelling at people entering or exiting the mosque, and no police. The only thing that indicated that day might be a bit different was the presence of a few TV crews.

The mosque is in the corner of a large park. Since the day we got here, the park has been full of people. Children play, runners go by, dogs chase each other. It’s like any other day.

If it wasn’t for a few makeshift memorials by the still-closed bombed metro station, an otherwise uninformed person would have no idea something so horrible had happened here.

Belgian flags fly everywhere in solidarity, including from the mosque.

There has been a slight inconvenience in terms of the metro system not being fully functional, and it has affected national and international trains causing some delays, but the city has employed buses to follow (above ground) the routes the subway would normally provide. The system does shut down earlier than usual at night.

I know it’s scary when we see these events on the news, and the media often drastically overdramatizes the after effects, but I encourage people to still visit the places that have experienced these types of terror attacks. Not only is it probably even more safe now, but it’s a great way to give the terrorists the middle finger. Let the bastards know they won’t win.

Have you visited a destination after a terrorist attack? What was your experience?