Adventure Is Out There!
This post is the first of a pair that I have been wanting to write for quite some time. Like a mini-series, but with only two editions. Or one of those episodes with the TO BE CONTINUED at the bottom of the final scene.
For a *tiny* bit of background {I swear, I'm going to try to keep this brief}, last year on Spring Break, I took a trip to Massachusetts. My grad school break and my 4th-grade-teacher break were the same week. I had always wanted to go to Boston, and when I started doing some random pinning on Pinterest, I found out some interesting things I hadn't known. Lexington and Concord are not that far from Boston {which I think I knew from history class and also a random episode of Liberty's Kids, but the distance between the two locations never clicked until I actually looked at a map}. Salem is not that far from Boston. Plymouth is...a little far, but definitely doable {said the Midwesterner}. I'll dig more into that part in the second post. And on a whim, I got onto Southwest and found a super cheap flight from Midway to Logan. It was like the universe was telling me that I needed to go to Boston.
The only problem with this? I was then and am still at the point in my life where my closest companions are all married and/or have children. "Hey, do you want to go to Boston with me on this week that is totally free for me?" doesn't work so well anymore. I'm not sure it ever did, really, but at least the possibility was there. So I had two choices: go by myself or don't go at all.
For a *teensy* bit more background, before this trip, I had never traveled by myself. I had flown alone before, but I was flying to meet someone. All of my activities in said destination were done with someone. And, in case you have never met me before in person, I have a touch of shyness/social anxiety/am super introverted. I've started doing more things on my own {going to movies, for example}, but when I am around a large group of people I don't know and have to interact with them...let's just say it gets uncomfortable and awkward for everyone involved {I'm assuming for everyone, but I am not a mind reader...maybe it's just me...it's probably just me}.
So! You throw all that together, and it's a perfect recipe for someone travelling to a city where they've never been. But in all actuality, it was a highlight of my year. I mean, of course it was! I got to see and do some amazing things! Which leads me to the meat of this post...
Travelling Alone: The Good, the Bad, and the Awkward
Travelling alone had some really great perks! I got to do literally whatever I wanted. Cute shop on the corner? Pop right in! Have afternoon tea instead of lunch? Check that off the list! I didn't have to appease anyone else's interests. I was able to visit all the museums and spend as much time as I wanted. I got to eat when I was hungry and wherever struck my fancy. I got to listen to whatever I wanted on the radio and watch whatever I wanted in the hotel room. It also forced me to step out of my comfort zone in some different ways, which was a good thing. I couldn't rely on someone else to ask the question or find the information. If I wanted something, I had to get/do it myself.
Travelling alone did have some downsides. There were a few points when I did get a little lonely. You forget how nice it is to have someone to just chat with until you don't have someone to just chat with. Train rides felt longer. Waiting in line felt longer. I'm really bad at taking selfies, so I had to rely on strangers to take my picture {usually after I took a picture for them because I know how to work this part of the system}. I also feel that there were opportunities I missed because my bravery stash ran out. I don't quite know what they were right now, but I feel like there had to be things I skipped because I didn't want to have to figure it out on my own. I also had one *tiny* moment when I was walking on a trail in Minute Man National Historical Park to the bridge where the "Shot Heard Round the World" happened, where I was totally alone and I suddenly wondered what I would do if I were attacked by a wild animal. But it passed pretty quickly...
Travelling alone also had some awkward moments. I don't care what anyone says, dining alone can be really, really uncomfortable. It's one thing when you're in a Panera-style place, where everyone around you is on their phones or computers and you aren't exactly by yourself in a sea full of people. It's also one thing when you're in a not-crowded restaurant in your bed-and-breakfast, and the person next to you says that your dessert looks really good so you strike up a short conversation. Or if you're sitting at the bar in a tavern where SAM ADAMS AND PAUL REVERE USED TO DRINK and the two middle-aged guys next to you start quoting Ferris Bueller and how do you not chime in and become instant best friends?
It's quite another thing when you're in a semi-fancy Italian restaurant and the hostess seats you and then nobody comes to take your order for like fifteen minutes because maybe they forgot about you or maybe the hostess sat you in a section she wasn't supposed to and people keep looking at you because you're sitting by yourself with just a glass of water and a basket of bread and you feel like a girl in a romantic comedy that got stood up except you didn't get stood up because you're a damn independent woman who don't need no man, you just really wanted some Italian food and they really should just mind their own business and eat their Italian food, I wonder what is on that plate, it looks good, and that waiter must not be for your section because he just keeps walking by with trays and stuff and you should just get up and leave and order some room service from the hotel, everyone here would probably thank you and oh thank goodness, here's the waitress...
I'm not saying that did happen, but it definitely could, probably.
And being a nervous driver in places where I'm never driven...well, let's just say that it is probably a good thing my rental car was not bugged.
All in all, I feel the positives outweighed the negatives. 100%. Like, it wasn't even a contest. And I am currently planning another Spring Break trip inspired by this one, even though the weeks do not coincide this year which makes things the tiniest bit trickier because that means I'll have class while I'm on vacation. But that's the beauty of an entirely online program!
Come back next week for the second piece to this travel puzzle: how I plan my adventures. I've had several people ask me how I planned that Massachusetts trip, and what better way to answer the question than with a blog post!
For a *tiny* bit of background {I swear, I'm going to try to keep this brief}, last year on Spring Break, I took a trip to Massachusetts. My grad school break and my 4th-grade-teacher break were the same week. I had always wanted to go to Boston, and when I started doing some random pinning on Pinterest, I found out some interesting things I hadn't known. Lexington and Concord are not that far from Boston {which I think I knew from history class and also a random episode of Liberty's Kids, but the distance between the two locations never clicked until I actually looked at a map}. Salem is not that far from Boston. Plymouth is...a little far, but definitely doable {said the Midwesterner}. I'll dig more into that part in the second post. And on a whim, I got onto Southwest and found a super cheap flight from Midway to Logan. It was like the universe was telling me that I needed to go to Boston.
The only problem with this? I was then and am still at the point in my life where my closest companions are all married and/or have children. "Hey, do you want to go to Boston with me on this week that is totally free for me?" doesn't work so well anymore. I'm not sure it ever did, really, but at least the possibility was there. So I had two choices: go by myself or don't go at all.
For a *teensy* bit more background, before this trip, I had never traveled by myself. I had flown alone before, but I was flying to meet someone. All of my activities in said destination were done with someone. And, in case you have never met me before in person, I have a touch of shyness/social anxiety/am super introverted. I've started doing more things on my own {going to movies, for example}, but when I am around a large group of people I don't know and have to interact with them...let's just say it gets uncomfortable and awkward for everyone involved {I'm assuming for everyone, but I am not a mind reader...maybe it's just me...it's probably just me}.
 |
| One of the only pictures with me in it, standing outside of Old North Church! |
Travelling Alone: The Good, the Bad, and the Awkward
Travelling alone had some really great perks! I got to do literally whatever I wanted. Cute shop on the corner? Pop right in! Have afternoon tea instead of lunch? Check that off the list! I didn't have to appease anyone else's interests. I was able to visit all the museums and spend as much time as I wanted. I got to eat when I was hungry and wherever struck my fancy. I got to listen to whatever I wanted on the radio and watch whatever I wanted in the hotel room. It also forced me to step out of my comfort zone in some different ways, which was a good thing. I couldn't rely on someone else to ask the question or find the information. If I wanted something, I had to get/do it myself.
Travelling alone did have some downsides. There were a few points when I did get a little lonely. You forget how nice it is to have someone to just chat with until you don't have someone to just chat with. Train rides felt longer. Waiting in line felt longer. I'm really bad at taking selfies, so I had to rely on strangers to take my picture {usually after I took a picture for them because I know how to work this part of the system}. I also feel that there were opportunities I missed because my bravery stash ran out. I don't quite know what they were right now, but I feel like there had to be things I skipped because I didn't want to have to figure it out on my own. I also had one *tiny* moment when I was walking on a trail in Minute Man National Historical Park to the bridge where the "Shot Heard Round the World" happened, where I was totally alone and I suddenly wondered what I would do if I were attacked by a wild animal. But it passed pretty quickly...
Travelling alone also had some awkward moments. I don't care what anyone says, dining alone can be really, really uncomfortable. It's one thing when you're in a Panera-style place, where everyone around you is on their phones or computers and you aren't exactly by yourself in a sea full of people. It's also one thing when you're in a not-crowded restaurant in your bed-and-breakfast, and the person next to you says that your dessert looks really good so you strike up a short conversation. Or if you're sitting at the bar in a tavern where SAM ADAMS AND PAUL REVERE USED TO DRINK and the two middle-aged guys next to you start quoting Ferris Bueller and how do you not chime in and become instant best friends?
It's quite another thing when you're in a semi-fancy Italian restaurant and the hostess seats you and then nobody comes to take your order for like fifteen minutes because maybe they forgot about you or maybe the hostess sat you in a section she wasn't supposed to and people keep looking at you because you're sitting by yourself with just a glass of water and a basket of bread and you feel like a girl in a romantic comedy that got stood up except you didn't get stood up because you're a damn independent woman who don't need no man, you just really wanted some Italian food and they really should just mind their own business and eat their Italian food, I wonder what is on that plate, it looks good, and that waiter must not be for your section because he just keeps walking by with trays and stuff and you should just get up and leave and order some room service from the hotel, everyone here would probably thank you and oh thank goodness, here's the waitress...
I'm not saying that did happen, but it definitely could, probably.
And being a nervous driver in places where I'm never driven...well, let's just say that it is probably a good thing my rental car was not bugged.
All in all, I feel the positives outweighed the negatives. 100%. Like, it wasn't even a contest. And I am currently planning another Spring Break trip inspired by this one, even though the weeks do not coincide this year which makes things the tiniest bit trickier because that means I'll have class while I'm on vacation. But that's the beauty of an entirely online program!
Come back next week for the second piece to this travel puzzle: how I plan my adventures. I've had several people ask me how I planned that Massachusetts trip, and what better way to answer the question than with a blog post!
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