Untraveling

If you read my blog, you know by now that I have been threatening to reduce my international travel for a number of years and I have continued to wrestle with the issue because every time I try to find my way to a reduction plan, I end up doing what I’ve done this year, which is to plan three international trips during the year which is somewhere between one and three too many. My reasons for wanting to reduce my international travel is that Kim and I have both spent a lifetime traveling internationally. For me it was 75% work and 25% pleasure. For Kim it was probably 95% pleasure and 5% work (I know that at least once she went to Morocco as a chaperone as part of her teaching duties at a New York girls school and she went to Spain and Italy to film a movie). I have felt that there are fewer and fewer places that I feel I must go and see and have concluded that those few places, like the “Stans” in middle Asia, where I would like to go, are just too difficult given the current geopolitical climate. This year we’ve ticked off two major items on whatever would constitute a bucket list for us in taking a cruise around Cape Horn and seeing both Patagonia and the Drake Passage and also our recent trip to Malta, which is not so remote or exotic, but also a place that gets more overlooked than not in people‘s travel agenda.

We have all read the articles about the increasing frustration of the locals in major European tourist hubs like Barcelona, Paris, and Venice. Using tactics like squirting tourist at cafés with squirt guns and holding protests that generally make tourists feel uncomfortable are now a routine occurrence. Growing up in Latin America in the 1950s, I am well acquainted with the concept of the ugly American and while tourists today are only partially Americans, I really don’t want to be the ugly global tourist that destroys the peace and harmony, and perhaps even the beauty of the world‘s great places just for the sake of saying I’ve been there and I’ve done that. I reported recently that Kim expressed an interest for 2026 in going to Amsterdam and Provence, two places that she has missed going to along the way. I have been to both many times but I am all about pleasing Kim so I said fine, go ahead and tell me what you would like to do. Today she told me she had just read an article about how Amsterdam was joining the other cities in Europe where tourists have overwhelmed the locals.

Kim also had a phone call with her friend Joni who lives in Salt Lake City and who, because she is of Greek origin, has decided to spend time every summer on a small island in the Aegean that is not one of the popular tourist destinations. Joni told Kim that they are tired of the tourist rat race in certain places in Greece, but that they love spending time in Greece otherwise. They have found this island which is probably not so obscure to Greeks, but it’s not on many people‘s bucket list either. They find that renting a house and spending time doing things like walking on the beach and eating at local small restaurants is a very pleasing way to take their vacation time. Meanwhile, I picked up on yet another article about the ancient Japanese city of Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto is a beautiful historic city in Japan and the former imperial capital. It’s renowned for its thousands of temples and shrines, traditional wooden houses, formal gardens, and well-preserved geisha districts like Gion. The city seamlessly blends ancient Japanese culture with modern life. Some of Kyoto’s most famous attractions include the golden Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), the vermillion torii gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine, the bamboo groves of Arashiyama, and the historic Kiyomizu-dera temple. The city is also known for its traditional cuisine, tea ceremonies, and as a center for traditional Japanese arts and crafts. It is probably the most sacred city in Japan with its temples and the famous Philosopher’s Path (Tetsugaku-no-michi), which is often referred to as a “scholar’s walk”. This scenic walking path runs along a canal lined with hundreds of cherry trees, connecting several temples and shrines in the Higashiyama district. Kim and I had the opportunity to go there 15 years ago before it became so much of a bucket list destination. Now it seems that Kyoto is joining the ranks of Barcelona and Venice as a place where the commercial benefits of tourism are getting outweighed by the local quality of life concerns. Supposedly it’s gone so far that some tourists are offending the Japanese locals by donning inexpensive kimonos and walking around pretending that they are Japanese. All of this put Kim and I into a state of mind where we said to one another, perhaps it’s better if we just don’t plan any international travel for 2026.

We feel that if we tried to do what Joni and her family do on that remote island in Greece, we would feel pretty silly since there are few places on earth that are nicer than our hilltop. Around here one can find lots of pleasant walks on the beach or through the gardens and there are lots and lots of nice local cafes and restaurants within 30 miles of here, all with a wider range of themes and atmosphere’s than you would find on an Aegean island. So, today we made a command decision to declare 2026 an untraveling year. To be precise, we have really only said that it will be an international untraveling year since we may well use it as an opportunity to drive or fly around North America. We have people to see in San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Jackson and possibly Montana. That should keep us busy for one or two nice trips. I know I am still interested in doing a motorcycle ride to some interesting place or other. We have also decided that despite our deep disdain for the state of Florida, we have lots of friends down there to see and neither of us has ever ventured all the way down to Key West… and that might be a fun thing to do as well during the winter months. Just for fun, I may toss Maine’s hat in the ring for old time sake to go see some of my middle school and prep school haunts. There really is quite a bit to see and do on this continent and I don’t think anyone will squirt water in our faces to discourage us from spending our modest tourist dollars in their towns. I think we have more talking to do about whether we are in the mood for a roadtrip or just a series of quick flight jaunts, but those are details. We will leave the international bucket list exploits to those who have never done it or those who still have the bug to do more. At the moment I feel very good about the decision. Now we’ll see if I start to get the untraveling heebie jeebies.