What I miss during my travels

We’ve been at this for well over 800 days. It would be completely normal to miss some things during my travels, especially after more than 2 years of being on the road continuously. What I tend to miss, though, are not things from “home,” but from the places that have left their mark on us.

my travels, in Morocco

Culture

No offense to Aussies or Kiwis, but the land down under lacks a lot of diversity in its culture. It’s a lot more noticeable after we’ve spent the last 2+ years in countries very different from our own. While I grew to really enjoy Australia after the initial culture shock wore off, one of the things that has remained with me is how much I miss my nice little foreigner bubble. In countries where I don’t speak the language, there is a sense of peace. I can’t understand the tens of conversations going on around me. I hadn’t realized how much more peaceful that was. Now my ears and brain pick up every stray conversation, and I have to work to block them.

I miss the unique smells and dress, that general feeling that you’re somewhere different and exotic.

And I miss the energy and life of so many other places. Kiwis in particular are incredibly sedate. I still marvel at the woman running along the beach park calmly yelling to fellow beach-goers “Can you please pick up your dog?” as if she was saying “Excuse me, you dropped something” right before her dog attacked a smaller one. After the second attack, they were finally able to keep their canines separated, and there was an unbelievably calm conversation between the adults. Their teenage daughter was the only one who showed any serious emotion when she discovered the trembling pet in her arms was bleeding.

Moroccans are some of the most laidback people I’ve ever met, except when they drive, and yet they would’ve showed much more excitement in this situation. The people on the nearby grass wouldn’t have stayed seated watching from afar. There would’ve been a crowd of people coming to help.

I wasn’t expecting a knock-down fight, but I certainly anticipated some emotion at least.

I also miss speaking Spanish and butchering the French language. Although my French was improving quite a bit by the time we left Morocco and France.

my travels, missing food

Food

I miss all the lovely street food. It’s so much fun to go to a stall or restaurant and have absolutely no clue what a dish is. Usually asking someone doesn’t help demystify it since they often don’t speak enough English to really explain it. It’s rare that I can get beyond the basic knowledge that it’s chicken, fish, or pork. Southeast Asia in particular was a food heaven for me. So much diversity in the food, so many flavors, and so many surprises. It adds so much to the total experience, and finding street food is one of the things that we both love doing together.

Now, I do occasionally miss my bagels, and for some reason I also developed a major craving for Red Vines (red licorice). It’s kind of funny to hear my son say, “I could really go for a New York-style bagel. We should go back to Bangkok.”

I miss real Indian and Thai food. Not the stuff that’s made for the blander palate, but the cuisine that is made for Thai and Indian people. Things I can easily find in southeast Asia.

And it’s so darn cheap!

my travels, Morocco market

Simplicity

I think the place I’ve lived the most simply was on the oasis in Morocco. Tighmert left an indelible mark on me. I greatly miss that simple life. While it was sometimes a bit of a drag to make the trek into town to restock our pantry and refrigerator, I loved interacting with the locals. It was so wonderful to be warmly greeted by our favored vendors. Having our poulterer inquire after Tigger on the occasions he hadn’t joined me made me feel like I was part of the community. The owner of our chicken restaurant knew what we would order and which drinks we wanted. He would try out his very limited English on Steven, and he was always so incredibly patient with my attempts at speaking passable French.

I miss getting my twice weekly brief Arabic lesson from the bread vendor. I knew we had become recognizable when his competitors wouldn’t even bother trying to get us to go to their carts instead. They knew we were his.

It was something special waking up to the sounds of the neighbor’s donkey braying or the bleating of the goats as they were herded past our compound’s wall. I could hear the chickens clucking as I prepared my morning cup of coffee on the stove, the pot’s hissing and eventual spitting sounds letting me know when my brew was ready.

 

My travels make me feel more connected to the world, but along with it I feel like I end up leaving bits and pieces of my heart behind me as well. But it’s nice to have so many things about life to be in love with.

What do you tend to miss when you travel or return home?

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33 Comments

  1. I miss the calls to prayer in Jordan. The sounded touched a deep part of my soul and reminded me to be grateful for my life 5 times a day.

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    • I really enjoyed those in Morocco. Except when we were in Essaouira because we were too close to the minaret.

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  2. I can definitely relate to missing something a bit out of context. One of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever eaten at was in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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  3. Of all the things I miss from my 9 years in Asia, food is number one on the list. And I don’t just miss the flavors, I miss being able to get healthy, delicious meals for very little money, without having to cook them myself. That last part is the key for me. Even in Japan, a country known for being expensive, I did not cook a single meal for the entire three years I spent there, because eating out is far cheaper than in the west. Unless, of course, you eat western food. Or things resembling food, like McDonald’s.

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    • So very true about food in Asia. We’ll be in Japan in Dec, so I’m glad to hear that eating out isn’t too painful.

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  4. I would be very careful about travel of Malaysia right now, especially with a child. This part of the world is not stable, especially for Americans. Just a word of caution and advice.

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    • Malaysia is extremely safe for almost all of the country. We have been there twice so far, and I absolutely have no hesitation about going again.

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  5. Seems like instead of having best-hits lists travelers should have miss lists. I think I’d miss the Arabic lessons from the bread vendor, too.

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    • I think the miss ones come from the heart. That’s kind of how I gauge a country. If I feel nothing when I leave it, I know I probably don’t need to come back. Then there are ones like Morocco that pluck my heart strings months later.

      He was a great guy. Barely spoke any French so at first we used only our hands and pantomiming. I still remember how his face lit up the first time I placed our order in Arabic. Such a simple thing, but it brought him so much joy. And me, too, really.

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    • Did you do the public baths? I told Tigger about them, and he is, shall we say reticent. I’ll probably have to go by myself. LOL

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    • YES! Most definitely! I’ll be back in Malaysia in 2 weeks, and my mouth is already watering at the prospect.

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    • I most definitely do. My heart pines for it. Perhaps when we’re done with Paris this spring, we’ll go back and spend more time there.

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  6. Great post Talon and I couldn’t agree more with your part about having other languages being spoken around you and the feeling of raw emotion you get from travelling in other countries. We are planning on travelling to Morocco sometime in the spring and based on what we’ve heard, you included, it should be awesome! Cheers, Ross.

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  7. Totally agree, the main thing about travel that i miss too is the street food experience ! and the fruit discovery ! puffff let’s travel again !

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    • Man, I love all the fresh fruit! And how you can be walking around and just grab a plastic baggie or 2, or 3, of your favorite fruit all cut up and ready for a snack. Nothing beats street food!

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  8. “Simplicity” indeed, Talon. I’ve lived here in Vietnam now for nearly 2 years and it is precisely the sheer SIMPLICITY of day-to-day life here that I marvel at. Well that, and the incredible friendliness and honesty of the Vietnamese people.

    And yes, I too found Australia a bit too similar to my native land (USA) and I now doubt that I could EVER live in a “Western”, “developed” country again.

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    • I think I could handle Europe just because while it is developed, it has so many other interesting parts about it. But US, Canada, Australia, or NZ. . . I just don’t see myself enjoying that long term. I need my places like Vietnam, Cuba, Morocco, and so on.

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  9. It’s funny, when we were in Canada and the US I felt like it was lacking in diversity and the food … meh! Of course we only explored one section but I do love visiting countries that are culturally similar to where I was born and yet they’re really so different. It’s interesting to see you have the opposite feeling. Kiwis are laid back aren’t they. Aussies are too … unless you step out of a queue and then all $#@$ breaks loose! I was travelling recently with a very ‘unlaid back’ American and the week she spent in Oz and NZ almost made her head implode, especially with all incredibly polite but incredibly strict transits through customs and immigration in each county. By that point there was a lot of tension between us after having travelled together for a few weeks so it was a beautiful thing to watch from my point of view.

    Being stopped in New Zealand for a while I definitely miss the variety and diversity of food, culture and yes how simple life is in other countries. I really wish NZ was somewhere in the Mediterranean so I could catch a ferry every other weekend to all those diverse locations.

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    • I wish NZ was cheaper so we could explore it more. In spite of its lack of cultural diversity, it is a gorgeous country with many worthwhile things to see. But I can’t afford to spend double my daily budget on just lodging for a long period of time. Really stinks.

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  10. I miss the baguettes, sandwiches and pastries of Paris – oh and the thick hot chocolate. When I’m home again I miss the freedom traveling affords us. It may not seem like freedom to everyone because travel can be overwhelming at times – catching trains, not speaking the language, etc., but to me if represents freedom to just be in the moment.

    When I come home from traveling I’m always thrilled to sleep in my own bed and hug my pillow.

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    • To me it’s absolute freedom. Just being able to wake up and move one day is so powerful for me. I love being able to say next week why don’t we go to another country!

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  11. I so need to travel. Completely missing out. Plus I things my children would be all the better for it getting life lessons from around the world. 😉

    Cracks me up, “I could really go for a New York-style bagel. We should go back to Bangkok.”

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    • Children get so much out of travel! It’s amazing. Even when they don’t seem to be paying attention or noticing things.

      We had some REALLY good bagels in Bangkok, and it had been a LONG time without them. So we both miss Bangkok for the bagels. Definitely not something you’d ever expect to hear or say. LOL

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  12. So many beautiful experiences to choose what you miss most in each one!

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  13. It’s weird how we get to miss so very simple and small things while traveling, I like it though because it make me appreciate more what I no longer have.

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    • Most definitely! Even though I’m not looking forward to the heat, I am so excited to be back in Malaysia in a couple of weeks.

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