Traveling with the Flow

I ran across an interesting quote today online that sums up my views on travel.

"travel" and "travail" have the same Old French root. Go with the flow and treat travel as the character-building endeavor it invariably is."

I like to check out reviews when I have free time and it seems most often complaints arise when people either don't have reasonable expectations (which I addressed in an earlier blog) or are so rigid that one little mishap snowballs into a ruined vacation. Remember that you are visiting a foreign country with different customs. That is the very reason why we are visiting them! Natural beauty combined with an unhurried pace characteristic of the Caribbean is the anecdote for our American plugged-in, fast paced routines.
If you allow it, you'll learn something. We have enjoyed so much getting to know the crew and staff of the ships and resorts we have been to. (usually more than fellow guests) I remember all of my head waiters in the dining room of cruises and of course the bartenders at resorts! Not in a patronizing way, but a genuine personal exchange. I've met someone working to ensure a better life for their children back in the Phillipines, an Ivy League hospitality trained crewmember from India and an Irish-Mexican singer moonlighting as a waiter until they moved back to Ireland with family. Tell me you can get stories like that on your average day at home. Listening to someone can put a whole new perspective on your life and opinions. I met someone in Cancun that was heartbroken over not being able to visit their children in America...put a whole new spin on the immigration issue for me. Another great quote I posted earlier is "Travel is fatal to prejudice..." When you relax you can't help but see we are all much more alike than different. And believe me, once you stop acting like a walking American wallet more than likely you'll be treated better.