Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Summer Travails--Travels, Rather
Post card today from Seattle friend in Rome. She's traveling Europe with her stepdaughter and two step-granddaughters.
My friend is 69. Stepdaughter in her 40's. The stepdaughter's two girls are 13 and 19. I gather everyone's age is showing.
"It's been a cross between 'Sex and the City' and 'All in the Family,' " writes my pal. "I'd forgotten how 13 is a perpetual bounce between 30 and 8, and how miserable AND ecstatic you can be at 19--all in one hour!"
Had I written a post card to Seattle two summers ago, I would have said, "I'd forgotten how miserable it can be to travel with an ill-suited, incompatible companion. A real nightmare!" Especially on a two-week road trip out West and across Canada. Thank god for scenery; it was our only salvation.
Fortunately, the group in Rome is compatible enough to work the glitches out. The adults have about 30 years of practice as a family. I, by contrast, had a lunches-only history for less than a year with my fellow traveler. By no stretch was it enough to prepare us to work things out, so we visited national parks and stared at lakes, glaciers and mountains in sulking silence. Not exactly happy campers!
Summer Travels over Summer Travails, please. In short, check your partner before you check your luggage. You'll pay in more ways than one without it.
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1 comment:
NR, I got a kick out of the humor and good advice in this post. I can certainly relate to the awkwardness of finding oneself trapped with a disagreeable companion on a trip. I reflect back to a week-long boat trip on the famous River Kwai in Thailand up to the border of Burma with a "king of jerks" fellow Peace Corps volunteer who whined and complained the entire time and ruined the experience for all of us. We wanted to throw him overboard to the crocodiles!
Jon on 7-12-08
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