Doug’s Travels

Generally speaking, travel means going from one place to another, and generally back again too.

This site uses a much more narrow definition. When I use the word travel, I mean visiting somewhere for as long as possible, getting to know the locals a bit, the customs, the food that the locals eat, how people live, the look and feel of everyday life.

I am not very much interested in talking about tourist destinations, in other words attractions specifically designed for tourists. Now there are cities and locations that naturally attract tourists, and with good reason. The Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall Of China - these are all famous tourist attractions, and with good reason. I avoid places like Disney Land, a fake place set up specifically to extract money from tourists, nothing more nor less.

Ideally, travel means leaving home for more than six months, not having an itinerary, being able to stay anywhere that attracts you for as long as it suits you, and being able to move on at whim, in what ever direction inspires you at the moment.

One time in Thailand, I headed off to the bus station, with the intention of going to a particular town. When I arrived at the bus station, I found that the next bus to that particular town did not leave for three hours, but there was a bus going to a different town, in litterally the opposite direction, leaveing in five minutes. I changed my mind and my direction and took the bus leaving in five minutes.

That’s travel!