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So what has been keeping me sidetracked from finishing that YA novel you ask? The siren call of travel. As much reading as I do for my own love of books and to learn more about the craft of writing, I also have a penchant for reading travel guides. Ok, it’s more than a penchant; it’s a drive that some in my life say borders on obsession. I love reading travel guides. The more maps and pictures the better. Historical facts make the book my new favorite read.
Why do I do this? I love to read about other places and other cultures, to imagine myself immersed in another place and trying out the cuisine or attending some cultural event. But if I am to be completely honest, it truly all comes down to my deep desire to not appear like the tourist that I really am when I am traveling.
Once I have decided on a place to travel (and it doesn’t matter if it’s within the U.S. or another country), I immediately head to my city’s library and begin the systematic process of checking out all of the guide books ever made on that particular location. And by all of the books I really do mean ALL. If you happen to be traveling to the same place at the same time that I am and you want to do a little research on the place, well, I’m sorry but you’ll be out of luck for as long as I can renew those puppies at the library. You might as well resign yourself to the fact that you’ll be doing all of your research for your trip to Guam on your computer because I will have all 63 copies of the guide books checked out for as long as I can get ’em.
Once I have these gems in my little hands, I pour over them like it’s the handwritten word of God on parchment. Each section is scoured for any information that will not only make me knowledgable of the place I am visiting, but will also keep me from looking like a tourist. You know the kind of tourist I’m talking about – it goes way beyond the camera around the neck and Bermuda shorts. I’m talking about the uninformed, out-of-place person who never took the time to check out the 17 versions of their library’s foreign language CD’s on Swahili to study while driving back and forth to work. (I may not have the best pronunciation, but no one can accuse me of not trying.) I want to know what makes a place tick, where the locals go for good food, and how to strike a deal, respectfully so, in a marketplace. I want to be respectful of the culture I am setting myself down in because I am a guest and a guest should be courteous and kind and above all, interested in what is going on around them, not judgmental or surly because it’s “not done like this at home”.
Once I’ve cracked the first guide book, I then get out the Notebook. The Notebook is not a bittersweet tale of how two lovers met; rather, it is my handwritten, very detailed notes on all the information from each of the guide books that I think I will need while traveling. I also like to include my own commentary in the margins and, in the case of foreign travel, the exchange rate (which is also bookmarked on my computer) and time difference from my own city. I even have tiny post it tabs to mark the different cities or parts of a city that I will be visiting (color coded, of course).
Also in the Notebook are the many maps that I’ve copied from the guide books because, as I’ve said before, I don’t want to LOOK like a tourist by whipping out a giant map of Rome while standing in the middle of the crowded sidewalk trying to find the gelateria that was recommended by Rick Steves. So what do I do? I copy the smaller, more manageable maps in the guide books and write directly on there where the gelateria is. If I do need to get the map out, I can discreetly open it from where it’s hiding inside the novel I carry with me everywhere. I can do this while I am sitting at the cafe drinking my morning cappuccino and no one is the wiser. The Notebook also contains information from the travel movies that I check out from the library. And yes, I do watch all of the movies that my library has, even the really, really, really bad ones by obnoxious twenty-somethings paid to travel the world and offer not-so-witty commentary on what they are seeing. Oh why did I decide to major in psychology? I should have become a travel writer!
Previous Notebooks are filled with the thoroughly fascinating and helpful information on Italy, Morocco, Germany, London, Paris, Madrid, and NYC. Copious notes about all of the sights are laid out in a daily schedule that isn’t too rigid – it’s more like a general guide so I don’t try to go to a museum on a day it’s closed. Because that would make me look like a tourist.
I haven’t decided where my next adventure will be – Prague? Costa Rica? Hawaii? Tanzania? – but I’ll be sure to crack open a shiny, new notebook and head back to the library to check out more books and dvd’s. I am nothing if not thorough in my travel planning. You might be tempted to think that I am too well planned, that my travels lack spontaneity. But for me, it’s quite the opposite: the better planned I am and the more informed I am, the more I can relax and roll with things as they come. And, it doesn’t hurt to know where you can get a good glass of wine with the most amazing view.
What are your travel preparations like? Are you a meticulous planner? Or are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of person? I’d love to hear!
Tami Clayton 
I usually start with a fascination of a place. Then as I read about it, if the fascination intensifies, I usually want to go. The going is with minimal planning; more by the seat of my pants. Kind of like I write. I sorta have an idea and it opens as I travel forward.
If I decide on a drive, then I like to let fate take me where it will. Most of the time it ends up being extroadinary, but not always.
Oddly, I am a fly by the seat of my pants writer, but a planfully curious traveler. Hmmm…
great post, Tami! great photos, too!
Thanks, Laird!
I’m exhausted just reading that! I tend to do minimal planning, but I do like to know where I’m sleeping the first night at least. Having said that, I’ve been cheating a bit in recent years and signing up for intrepid groups, which are essentially assisted backpacking. Means I make new friends, get the backpacking experience with all the stress taken out!
Oh no! I’m afraid that I’ve come across as being overly planned and structured vs super interested in where I’m going! I don’t plan every second of my time when traveling; rather I like to know when certain sights are open/closed, what off the beaten path things there are to do, and good restaurants to go to. That’s the majority of what’s in my Notebook.
Your backpacking trips sound interesting – traveling in a group definitely appeals to me.
I LOVE, LOVE to travel and have a perfect situation in that hubby is a meticulous planner (think maps, schedules, research, tickets…), which means I’m free keep my focus on planing the REALLY important stuff like what shoes, outfits, and books to bring.
You do indeed have a great set up going. In my circle of friends and in my family, I am obviously the planner. Most of the time I’m happy to do it, though once in a while I’d be glad to leave the planning to someone else. (I think I would still read up on a place, though.)
I like to know a little and plan a little but I also like to fly by the seat of my pants. You never know what you discover while you’re there.
By the way, Patricia Sands posts about living in Southern France every Friday. You might be interested in checking out her blog: http://patriciasands.wordpress.com/.
Thanks for the suggestion on the blog. I will definitely check it out!
Fun to read and allow my mind to drift to travel after working all day. We don’t plan much – having been moved about at a moments notice in my professional life – we still do the same now that we can do it ‘our way.’
Thanks! So far it sounds like I am definitely in the minority as far as being in the more planful category. Glad I could help your mind drift a little. 🙂
I am the same way–I hate looking like a tourist!! I think it because I worked in the hospitality field for so long. I research everything I can, an do my best to find the local favorites, rather than those classic tourist hangouts. 🙂
I’m not quite as meticulous as you, Tami, but I think we have the same philosophy behind our reading. I’m sure I miss some things that the guidebooks talk about, but in the planning stages I like to read enough of them simply to decide on a general agenda (I’d like to hike the Morvan or Gee, St-Martin-in-the-Fields has afternoon concerts). I go to that area of interest and then see what turns up. I’m jealous of your travel guide feature. We were supposed to go to Tunisia last summer for my husband’s research, but the unrest made it seem like not a great idea. Hope for the chance again soon.
I had no idea you were such a traveller. We’ll have to share stories sometime.
I’d love to swap stories with you sometime! I hope you get to go to Tunisia sometime soon. (BTW – that photo of the travel books was one I got off the internet. I’ve never been to Tunisia but would love to go some day!)
oh sweet bejeezus, I need to travel with you! That sounds awesome! =)
Meg – Yes, we should travel together someday! I’m glad you can appreciate my neurotic note taking. Kristin got to take advantage of the Notebook’s features when we went to Italy last summer. I can’t speak for her, but I found it quite handy. 🙂