I've travelled a little bit. A good bit according to some, but just not enough if you ask me. I'd like to travel more. Much more. And differently - be less touristy and more like them snooty "travellers". But that's not exactly my style.
I'd love to randomly go some place (various restrictive factors aside), and then what? I'm usually at a loss about what to do, where to start. No matter how much I research - and THAT I do, trust me! - all that goes out of the window and I'm left lost, not knowing what to do next.
I'm a creature that loves the familiar. I'd rather be told how a new software/program works instead of playing and discovering for myself. I preferred being taught the lessons in class instead of reading the books. And I'd rather someone shows me around a new place, tell me what to see. Basically, just get me going. Also, I do tend to get lost a little - but that's a whole different story.
I like taking tours cause I like stories. I like to know what I'm looking at. While I know that I can get this information by reading about it, I really like to leave everything behind when I travel. I like to carry a free mind - have as little to think about as necessary. Art, I can get engrossed in. People, culture - I'd love to be a part of. Shopping - you can't stop me! But with architecture, I can appreciate only so much. I get dreadfully bored when I don't know the whos and whys.
It is true that I have slept on every bus tour I have gone on (yes, I've gone on a few). But I would put that down to having unskilled guides - or in this case, a really boring droneful recorded voice. What I love are small group tours, tours which are personalised and intimate. Tours on which you get to know your guides and become friends with them.
Like Inez in Cairo. She was a young woman. A student of archaeology. She told us her stories and history from her point of view. Since it was just two of us and her, it was a nice and at our pace. We booked the tour locally, with the hostel we stayed (they had a deal we made use of) and Inez and a car with a driver were ours for the next couple of days. She was also our guide on a day trip to Alexandria we booked with them. This was just perfect since we had already built an amazing rapport with her.
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| Tanya and Inez |
Another of my favourite tours is Brightside in Barcelona. It was a tour on a bike with a sidecar. The tour was tailored based not just on what we'd already seen, but also on what the guide perceived to be our interests from our interaction. Joao, our guide, was charming and knowledgeable and made you feel thoroughly comfortable. The ride itself was soooo much fun that when we went back to Barcelona, we took another tour with them. I have to thank TripAdvisor for finding these guys.
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| Joao, Vidya and Me |
For someone like me who is so not a social person and has no clue how to make friends or even start conversations, leave alone find fellow travellers to hang out with in a new place, personalized tours totally rock :-)
