Cheesy Compendium of Travel Truisms

Hello, friends. Are you natural travellers, homebodies, or somewhere in between? While I love exploring new places and the perspective I gain just by leaving home, I also tend to resent being dislodged from my routine until the big journey actually happens. So today, while I’m visiting far-flung family, I have for you my five best travel tips. Some are truisms (“self-evident truths) in the strictest sense of the word, but they’re also so easy to lose sight of in the mayhem of prolonged travel. Let me know what you think, and what you’d add to the list.

1. Focus on the destination, not the odyssey. I tend to dread the duration, discomfort, and tedium of actually getting where I want to be. Keeping my thoughts on the positive really helps me avoid exaggerating the trip into a monster of inconvenience.

2. Conversely, remain curious and alert about the journey. We took a detour on Monday that could have been tricky – 3 hours of public transit in Toronto, on a public holiday – but made me see anew a city I know well, and triggered an interesting conversation about urban space.

3. Pack light. “Light”, of course, is a relative term – we have 2 little kids to keep clean, fed, rested, and diverted. But we try never to have more stuff than we can cart around while chasing a giddy toddler.

4. Tip well. We’re the ones lucky enough to have time off work and money to travel.

5. Clear enough mental space to see what’s passing before your eyes. I always remember the surprises, the unguarded moments, the happenstance, more than any planned activity.

What are your best travel tips?