The "Travel Checklist"

It's easy to lose yourself in what I would like to call the "Travel Checklist." It is that helpful, yet terribly unhelpful list of "highlights" provided by Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Forders or whatever guidebook you may be using. It is that list of scribbles your friend wrote down from their trip outlining what you "can't miss" on your trip. It is your preconceived notion of what you should be seeing that keeps you moving when you really should stay put and enjoy where you are.

One thing I've found in my journey is that the places I remember with the greatest fondness are not those one will find condensed into a text box. They often aren't called out on a glossy map. You won't find them in a picture book on a coffee table. The places I will remember with the greatest fondness are those places from which I will receive a letter every once in a while upon my return home, where I have friends...members of my global family. Flores, Perth, Amman, Siwa...

I see so many tourists who see the sights, but miss the country. I don't mean this in a judgmental way, but am apprehensive about returning to this way myself. It is the reality of eventually returning to a job and only 2 weeks of vacation that leaves little room for what I have come to know as travel. The days of adding 1/2 again the amount of time recommended by the Lonely Planet are limited (although not anytime soon "inshallah").