Daily Southtown

Nothing beats an adventure to a foreign place

The start o fan e wy ear hits us like a blank page. How will w efi ll it?

For many, especially thos eo f us o fac ertain age, trave lis o nth e agenda, which is why I love going to the annual Chicago Trav e l and Adventure Sho w in Rosemont, which takes place this weekend.

B ut l e tusn o tc onfuse travel with vacation. While bo th r equire a chunk of time and money, the yare not one and the same.

Vacation implies indulgence ,abr eak fro mr outine, ad eep dive into the foods, weather and activitie s we love and maybe don’t get enough of while towing the home-work

Trave listh life.pp

eo o sit e in many ways, a foray into something new, out of our comfort zone ,adiff erent place with differe nt f oods, differe ntm oney, different language.

While vacation ofte nl ets us c ontro l th e way things go, trave ll ets the way c o ntr o l us.

I n ee db oth .A ndify ou’r e savvy, you can ble nd b oth into a single trip .Do ing that require sr esearch, planning andak een understand­ing o fy o urp ersonal limits.

Be honest with yourself abo uth ow much money you can spend, how much pati e nc e y o u hav e and h w

od much down time yo un ee .

Do yo ul ov eo rl oathe the thought of sitting in al ounge chair all day ?A s welcoming as that may see mt oC hicagoans in January, fo rm e ,itg ets

boring pretty quickly .I f I’m going to pay hundreds of dollars a day, I want more than a sunburn in return.

Are yo uam over — someone who nee dst o walk, hike, explore? We are , so we work that int oo ur itinerarie­s.

Are you friendly? We have met many wonderful people along the way. We have also me ts ome not-so-wonderful people but we try no tt o linger on that.

C an y ou adapt to different climates and different cultures ?Ho te lsinf oreign countries often only have TV in said languages .C an y ug o without y o ur fav rito od

e f oo d o r drink ? We nee o ur big, honking American coff eee very day, so ifwe trave lt o Europe where the

coffee sar e tiny, we pack ap ortabl e Ke urig-type machine.

Are yo ur esourceful? Once in Paris, we struggled with the me nuataw ellknown, somewhat snooty restaurant. We turne d to the table nex tt o us —a mother and daughter— and aske df o rh elp. They were so lovely. The yr ead it t o us and then invite d us to the hote lth ey owned on Corsica.

C an y ou sit in an airport fo rh ours witho utl osing your mind? Wasted time is a struggle fo rm e. Books, travel games and circling the terminal o nf oo th elps. I fy ou want to see far-off plac e s, th o ugh, y o u hav e t oe ndure the waits to get there.

Leaving yo urh ome,

whethe rins earch of respit eo r adventure, require spr eparation .Yo u must prepay bills, se t up care for children o rp ets as well as airport transporta­tion.

The n th ere’s the pack. I recomme nd s etting out everything y

oducing eu think you’ll nee dandr it by half .O nce you’ve wheele d tw o suitcases and a carry-on through the streets of Barcelona (or anywhere) ,y ou will understand.

And unle ssy ou’re heade dt o the Equator or North Pole, pack fo rb oth ho tandc o ld w eather .D ress in layers .Do n’t le tthe seasons guide you. W e have shivered across France and Belgium during an unseasonab­ly cold spring.

And the blue jeans and h oo disnvrlftt­h e e e e e case during o ur August trip to th eG rand Canyon. We’ve been chilly in Ke yW est and overheated in Edinburgh. Taking a cruise? Remember yo urm other’s advice and bring a sweater.

Th eo nly tim eI haven’t n ee d e d o n e at night was whe nw e wer eo ff the coast of Venezuela.

Things I always bring regardless o fd estination: hand sanitize r,p ower cords, goo d sh oes, maps of o ur d estination, sunscreen, headphone s,t oilet paper, hard candy and Motrin.

Travel insurance is a must in this post-COVID world .I have neve rinmy life had to cance l, p ostpone and change things as much as I’ve had to these past fe wy ears. These days, we always o pt f or cancellabl­e flights and hote lr ooms.

Also , ch e cky o urc ellphone service provide rto see if calls and texts are covered. We paid hundreds o fd ollars after my father hadah ealth crisis while we wer eo n a cruise. We had purchase d th e travel package but didn’t realize it did no tc over “at s ea” service.

Expect the unexpected. Whe nw e were in Milan, there were random day-strikes. The city’s transit system simply shut down. We waite dh ours fo rn onunion attendants to get our bags off the plane. Another day, we hustled the two-plus mile st oo ur meeting point because ta x i and bus drive rs w er e on strik e. A long the way we saw parents riding their kids to school on bicycles.

Learn to adapt .A nd, remembe r,y ou’re the visito r,s o be gracious.

Trave lcanb e tiring, expensive and boring for long stretches .B ut, like a vacation, it also can be wonderful, restorativ­e and mind blowing at times.

Some say travel changes you . Fo rm e, it instills the qualities I want to reinforc e. I want to be more patient, more adventurou­s, more adaptabl e. A nd I want to hav e incr e dibl e st o ri e s to share.

So ,b efore you plan a trip, kno wy ourself.

Then take that trip and kno wy ourse lfb etter.