I'm not much of a traveller. I mean, I have travelled. In fact I've been lucky enough to have lived in several different countries in my lifetime so far, but I wouldn't consider myself a traveller.
I used to spend hours sitting on Pinterest scrolling through travel boards wondering why my life wasn't as fun and as adventurous as the lives of those in the pictures I was looking at; Pictures of people climbing mountains, swimming in lagoons, lying on white sand beaches, scuba diving and visiting beautiful historic monuments. "Why can't I do that?" I'd often ask. The truth was that I could do that and much more if I truly wanted to, but I knew myself better, and knew that I found travel to be terrifying and stressful. I knew that it wasn't my idea of fun, and I knew that my kind of travel was very different from the kind of travel often portrayed on Pinterest boards. I sat there feeling like my life wasn't good enough because it didn't match the pictures I was seeing on social media but I didn't consider that that's all they were: pictures. Pictures that do not portray the entirety of the trip that person was on, and they certainly do not portray the hard stuff: getting lost, trying to find lost luggage, trying to speak a foreign language, using foreign currency, catching the right flight, missing your flight, getting sick and other things that often happen whilst travelling afar. They were simply a highlight, a snapshot of a moment that was presumably a good one.
Big, long distance, hop-on-a-few-planes kind of travel isn't something I find appealing, and it doesn't line up with me wanting to live a more minimalistic and simplistic lifestyle. Minimalism is different for everyone and what seems minimalistic or stress free to one person, may not be for another. I don't want to have to take a vacation from my vacation...
"Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from" - Seth Godin
In 2016, slowly but surely I began to embrace my kind of travel. If you are interested in reading about one of mine and Ry's little trips to a beautiful tree house in Ontario then you can read that here. We were there for 2 nights and 3 days, and I came back a completely different person. Talk about some much needed fresh air, alone time, rest and relaxation, and enjoying the little things that really are the big things.
In 2017 I plan to continue to embrace my kind of travel; Travel that is simple, and for the most part, stress free. Day trips, and weekend getaways that offer a small break but not a departure. Getting your toes wet with adventure, but not being flung into the deep end. Travel that feels safe, and relaxing. That is my kind of travel. Luckily for me that is also Ry's kind of travel too. We live in Ontario, and this year plan on exploring more of the South Western end of it. Here is where we plan on going:
Day Trips:
- Hamilton
- Paris
- Scarborough Bluffs
- Elora
- Niagara on the Lake
- Burlington
- Goderich
- Toronto
- Stratford
- Turkey Point
- Port Huron
Overnight Trips:
- Langdon Hall in Cambridge
- The Little Inn in Bayfield
- Music Festival in Guelph
And there you have it! All the little, fun, simple, relatively stress free day trips and overnight trips we want to make in 2017!
Where are you planning on going?
M&M
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