All The Same Places

Once upon a time, children, we traveled with travel guides because we did not have mobile devices. If we wanted to know where to stay or eat, we needed to look it all up in this paper contraption called a book.

The series I liked pointed you to the big tourist spots and had little sidebars that told you about lesser-known attractions, such as visiting Palazzo Zuccari when you were done with the Spanish Steps in Rome. I loved those little sidebars because I thought I was seeing something special. Everyone knew about the Spanish Steps, but all the people using those other travel books didn’t know about Palazzo Zuccari, right? Not counting all the other people standing in front of Palazzo Zuccari holding the same book.

Travel isn’t seeing the unknown as much as seeing the known with your own eyes. Except for unplanned interactions with other people or stumbling into a great randomly chosen restaurant, most travel is about going to see and do things you have seen images of or heard about. It’s not discovering insomuch as witnessing.

But how can you travel so far and not see the things the place is famous for?

We’re planning a trip right now, so I’m thinking about that balance between witnessing the known while leaving time for wandering, which may or may not lead us to something interesting, something not in a tour book.