Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Travel Advice for the Tired, Frustrated Travel Companion

When traveling with friends or family, you will get on each others nerves, so here is some
travel advice on how to manage emotions when they're running high. 

This is travel advice that my mom and I learned the hard way, but it's one of my favorite memories with her. We were in Paris, and after several days of running around we were pretty tired. That morning we were heading to the Musee d'Orsay (a museum I strongly recommend), and we were for some reason (I can't remember now) arguing. When we got to the museum, we both wanted space away from each other, so we split up. We both didn't think the museum was that large compared to the Louvre, but there are multiple levels and we soon lost each other. I searched high and low for her in the museum, but I couldn't find her. We also had tickets for an activity that afternoon, and neither of us wanted to miss that. So I had to decide whether to stay at the museum and keep looking for her, or head back to the hotel where the tour starts, and hope that she heads there too.

I decided to head back to the hotel, but then I had to figure out how to get back. Thankfully, I had paid attention on our way to the museum, so I easily found where we had made turns, but we had also taken the Paris metro system, and I didn't have a clue as to which line I needed to take to get to my final destination. This was before moving to NYC where I would become a pro at reading metro maps. So I stood around and waited until I saw a person that I deemed trustworthy, and I asked him for directions. He led me to the train I needed to take. I finally got back to the hotel room, and lo and behold my mom was waiting for me. She was so worried about me, and she was hoping that I would head back to the hotel as well. We laughed over the morning events and we were back in each other's good graces again. However, we always planned where we would rendezvous if that happened again, which is another good tidbit of travel advice. 

The moral of the story is you will get mad or frustrated with your travel companions; it's only natural when you're around each other 24/7. However, be patient with each other and give your friend or family member the benefit of the doubt. Don't be quick to get frustrated or get upset over everything. And when you do get mad, then talk about what's going on with your travel buddy. However, do it in a place where you won't stomp off and then get lost. That's travel advice my mom and I learned and don't wish to repeat.


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