Tourism Sites and Numbers Guide – FREE download! – More Information
Travel traditions
For many of us, travel kicks in behaviors operative only when we hit the road. Long or short, big or little, back on the road again is likely to mean back in the groove again—with habits grown comfortable with many repetitions.
Such things started for me when I was a kid. At the first overheard word of a trip “up north,” I would swing into action packing a little black satchel I had.
Into it would go all manner of kid stuff I thought I’d need for the adventure. Once packed, I’d park it beside the door, often days ahead of the weekend departure. And yes, my sisters laughed at me. But it didn’t matter.
Nowadays . . .
Today, things are only slightly different. I don’t stack bags by the door anymore. But in my head, they’re already there. As leaving day approaches, a special excitement grips everybody. Even the cat knows something’s up.
First there is the travel-only gear. There’s a special insulated water bottle I use when I’m driving. Then there’s Mr. Purple, named by the kids years ago. He’s a medium-sized backpack that we conscript every trip as a catch-all.
Snacks, sweatshirts, water bottles, small plastic bags, bandaids. All of these and more—as well as the stuff we accumulate during a day’s exploration—are entrusted to Mr. P. for safekeeping.
Recently I started a new tradition by adding a pin to the backpack for every location we visit. These make it colorful, and they’re great for starting conversations while standing in line.
Mmmm, the taste of tradition
Since faith plays a big part in our family, every trip begins with prayer. It is our most enduring travel tradition. Once rolling, though, we have an excuse to sample our tastiest tradition—gorp. It’s not original with us, but it’s been a mainstay of our travels for many a year.
Our version of gorp consists of raisins, mixed nuts, M&Ms (peanut and plain), sunflower seeds and chocolate chips sealed in a coffee can. The ingredients may vary from trip to trip, but the stuff never loses its appeal. A hint: Little plastic bathroom cups make for easier eating on the road.
We’re usually not big on souvenirs. But we do try to buy at least one Christmas ornament on every trip. Usually it’s more than one. That’s how I got so interested in Christmas stores and made it a mission to locate them.
Ending positively
While the end of any trip is always a little bittersweet, it does trigger one of our favorite travel traditions. It’s what we call debriefing. Basically it’s taking turns recounting our “favorites” of the trip.
First we pick our categories—favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner. Favorite attraction. Favorite hotel. Most memorable character met. Favorite waiter/waitress. Best shopping. And so on.
It’s great fun and serves as a way for us to wrap the trip up and draw it to a close. When we’re done, we’ve sort of worked ourselves out of the excitement and back into the reality of the workaday world.