Get Lost on a Bus - I Dare Me
Get lost on a bus; I'm always surprised at how much fun it is. It's one of my favorite things to do when traveling.
When I'm tired of museums, when I'm tired of walking everywhere, and I just want to see something unexpected and new, I jump on a bus. I don't care where it goes, because I can always take the return bus back to where I started.
The trick is to always get a hotel's business card
or matchbook (or write down its address in the local language) before I go out to and see the sites. Now I have a quick way to get back to my lodgings, No matter what I do or where I go.
This empowers me and makes me feel great.
After a hard day of sightseeing, I'm tired and all I want to do is to get back to my hotel room. I just show the address to any taxi driver and ZOOM! I'm back in my safe, comfy hotel in no time. It couldn't be simpler. I can't tell you how many wonderful neighborhoods and restaurants I've found this way. They were my discoveries. No one told me about them. I found many festivals with wonderful local bands playing their hearts out. The food, the sounds, the smells, the ambiance, and the people are magic.
Sometimes I go out and find nothing out of the extraordinary. This is okay. Real life is great adventure, no matter what happens.
This brings me to another point that travel should reveal places and people as they really are. Tours tend to show things in a special light and in an artificial way. This keeps visitors from meeting real people and doing real things. Some ways to get the best deals are in Rick Steve's Bus Tour Self-Defense.
So next time I'm bored, I take one of my hotel's business cards and get lost on a bus or taxi or whatever and see what I can see.
I stay safe, take care, and enjoy whatever happens to me.
I can't wait to do it all over again and get lost.
Here is a quick list of Travel Secrets I found out about on my trips. I hope it helps you in your search for better travel:
Go to the Page on My Way to Travel
Slowing Down
Nervous about travel?
Travel is Scary
Learn to Like Yourself as You Are
Time Slows Down when Traveling
Retirement Plans
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Being Stupid
The Power of the Open Question
Ask the Unbusy Police Officer
Ask the Locals - They know
Listening - An Important Skill in Travel
Contrast the Old and the New
Some Unusual Travel Insights
Be a Good Guest
Take a Walk - Relax - Enjoy Good Travel
Get Lost on a Bus - I Dare You
Change Course - Follow Someone Else's Idea of a Good Trip
Good Exercise is a Travel Bonus
Friendship
Interacting with Children in a Foreign Land
Treatment of Americans Abroad
Terrorism
After All - It's Your Vacation