Do you love where you live? A lot of people don’t, and that is why they travel. They’re trying to find whatever is missing back home. Unfortunately, what is missing isn’t always external. I am now a huge proponent of slow travel, but I haven’t always been. I’ve still got these big goals to see the world, and a scratch off map that sits beside my bed, but I’m no longer in a hurry. Because I love where I live.
One of the first travel goals I set for myself when I decided to move to Spain was to visit every province in the country. There are 50. To date, I have seen 18, but don’t let me fool you. I had a head start. You see, when I studied abroad in Santander in 2009, I had already crammed 7 of them into a 2 month period. The other 11 have been over a year and a half. Which visits do you think have been more meaningful?
But what if you don’t want to live where you do? When I first applied to the auxiliares de conversacion program in February of 2015, I wanted to go to Extremadura. My partner was from Caceres, and I had already fallen in love with the beauty of the landscape. Instead, they sent me to Andalusia – almost everybody’s top choice. But not mine! Then they put me in Huelva. Everyone said that Huelva was ugly. But I went anyway. And you know what? I learned to love where I lived. And in the end, I’ll be the first to tell you that Huelva is beautiful.
The first “trip” that I suggest you take once you arrive to your destination, is one around your city. Go out walking. Alone. Learn your city one glass of wine at a time. For 1-2 euros per glass, you’ll find that it’s a pretty inexpensive trip. But most importantly, you need to learn to love where you live.
One thing I wish I had done before I got on a plane to begin my teaching and traveling adventure is to look at my local surroundings like a traveler might. I was so excited to move forward, that I forgot to look back. Don’t make this mistake.
My hometown, Kinde, Michigan has an annual Polka Festival. I have never attended.
Nearby Caseville, Michigan has an annual Jimmy Buffet inspired Cheeseburger Festival. I went once as a teenager and don’t even have any pictures.
Kalamazoo, Michigan, my university town, where I lived for ten years, has an annual Art Hop. You guessed it. I never went.
Make a list of any possible attractions in your town or nearby. Visit them. Take pictures. Go with people you care about, and ask them how they feel at each stop. You might get some good stories, which you can later pass on to your students, who will be curious about your life and where you’re from, even if you think it has been pretty uninteresting. Your every day normal could be someone else’s interesting. Your first class will likely be an “About Me” presentation. Make it meaningful.
Don’t be in such a hurry. Yes, we love to travel. But slow down, and enjoy where you are. If you’re always just looking forward to the next trip, you’ll forget to enjoy the one you’re in now. In the end, you might have a lot of check marks on your map that don’t mean anything to you at all.
I’m going home this summer, and I’m going to make amends. I’m going to really SEE the places I’ve called home.
What are some of your favorite things about your hometown?
After moving back to my city I came to notice that my neighborhood is famous for the quantity of trees there is taking into consideration Mexico City is one of the most populated in the world. I’m starting to enjoy “being a tourist” in my hometown and I like how moving back has made me see Mexico with a new set of eyes.
I studied in Queretaro back in 2008, and got the chance to visit Mexico City with my program. Such a historical place! I hope I have the chance to go back sometime and really explore it.
Yes! I love the city I live in, so I started blogging to share the love. Then I made it a little more professional, so other expats who were sent here could come looking forward to their adventure, rather then coming with a sense of fear and foreboding.
That’s great, Jill! Mexico will always have a piece of my heart. What city are you in?
Great advice to love where you live. I live in Rome and many people come and go here. They come, they fall in love, then learn the man is more attached to his mother than he is to her. Then they go. Or they come and have a few bad experience with the locals and they go, too. You need to give it time. I’ve talked to a number of Peace Corps workers over the years and they all say you need one year to get adjusted and the next year is the best of your life. One who spent two years in Cameroon said, “The first year I wanted to execute the entire population; the second year I wanted to take everyone back to Texas with me.”
People who move abroad need three things: a local cafe, a local adviser and a local friend. You have so many questions and mazes to negotiate, you need someone who’s been through it for advice. My adviser was one of two friends I had when I arrived here, meaning my transition was pretty smooth.
Good luck on your circling Spain. I’ve been to 17 of Italy’s 20 regions. I’ve been to 47 U.S. States. I think I’ll visit Calabria, Molise and Valle d’Aosta before I visit Connecticut, Arkansas and North Dakota.
John Henderson, Dog-Eared Passport, http://www.johnhendersontravel.com
Fantastic and insightful response, John. Good luck in your travels as well. It looks like you’re close to hitting some important goals.