The End of Checklist Travel

Slowing down may help me enjoy travel more, not less

I used to travel like I was being graded.  Powering through jetlag, time-blocking every morning, afternoon and evening, to squeeze the maximum experience out of every city or port.  All the must-sees checked off my list.  No one could say they did Paris better in 2 days than I did.  Or so I thought.   Those trips became exercises in optimization as much as opportunities to experience another culture.  Every trip required a couple of recovery days once I got home.

Retirement has given me more time to travel. Now age is teaching me to slow down while doing it.  My next cruise is taking me to some familiar ports, a 7-night Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona.  I’m taking this opportunity to build in some down time on a very port-intensive cruise, as well as forego some of the must-see spots in favor of more leisurely town visits.

Long flights and jetlag aren’t enjoyable for anyone, but as I’ve gotten older they take more and more out of me.  So I have zero plans for arrival day.  While my friends are touring the city, I’ll get outside and let sunshine and people-watching on the Ramblas help me start to feel human again.  I can catch up with my friends over a drink or dinner.  I even begged off an invitation to join them at a Flamenco show that evening.  Committing to anything that first day just feels wrong. 

Whatever the cruise ports have to offer, I intend to enjoy them at a more leisurely pace.  I don’t need to squeeze out every drop of scenery, photo ops or shopping.  I have no list to check off.  While others are taking the train from Villefranche port to visit Nice and Monte Carlo, I plan to taxi up to Eze village for some spectacular views and maybe a salad Nicoise at a cliff-side restaurant, followed by some in-town sightseeing and a little beach time before catching the tender back to the ship.

Coastal towns are a big part of this itinerary, and I want to enjoy the atmosphere and the coastal views without fighting the hordes at Cinque Terre or the Amalfi Coast.   Beautiful views and slow afternoons by the water are abundant throughout the Mediterranean.  And an aperitivo at a harbor-side café is my idea of heaven – it doesn’t matter which town it’s in.

It’s worth noting that late June in the Mediterranean is hot – brutally, even dangerously hot.  Every traveler’s plan should include rest and hydration, and I’ve learned that an early return to the ship is not cheating me out of local experience so much as it’s reinvigorating me after a long day (and yes, 6 hours is a long day in the heat, on the cobblestones, in an unfamiliar place).   Wherever possible I want to be back on the ship well before the all-aboard call, and if there’s time for a dip in the pool before dinner, so much the better.

All of these tactics support one overarching strategy – to approach travel for my own enjoyment, not as something to report back on.  Some of my fondest memories of recent trips are the informal chats in a café, conversations on a train, or looking for the most unusual doorway in the winding village streets.  Not how many Michelangelo statues I saw.

It can still be hard to slow down – FOMO is real, and we’re all susceptible to it, especially when we’ve spent a lot of money to get there.  But experiencing less in a day doesn’t necessarily mean getting less from the trip.

I’m no longer trying to conquer each destination. I’m trying to delight in the experience of being there.