It’s Grating On Me

Between a week of visiting with family and having a gimp pointer finger, I have neglected our blog. Entschuldigung.

John’s dad, step mom, sisters and brother came to visit while on their whirlwind European vacation. We were thrilled to show them around the area as well as explore some new sights with them. Also, it is pretty awesome that they are visiting during the World Cup. I wish the US did the World Cup like they do in Europe – every restaurant, bar and even some shops pull out the big screen(s) and everyone stops on the street or grabs a seat to watch the games. We had several opportunities to catch games over lunch/dinner with them; unfortunately, they did not have a chance to witness the pandemonium that takes place when Germany scores a goal (stupid Serbia match).

Having now had three sets of overnight guests, we are starting to see the differences in people and their travel styles. Some enjoy the go-go-go, while others prefer to kick back and relax. Some prefer museums, while others want to explore the outdoors. Often, there’s a good mix of all the travel styles, and a person’s travel personality is likely to change depending on their destination.

Take us, for example. If we are going somewhere like London (never been there before), we would want to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and perhaps the Globe Theatre, but we would also be scouring teh internets for “local” advice. When we travel, unless it’s a vacation purely to relax (i.e. our honeymoon), our goal is to be able to experience life like the locals. Last May, we went to Paris for the second time and loved every minute of it. We ate at a local bakery each morning, strolled around town, walked around two parks, went to a jazz club in a “cave,” and ate at our favorite restaurant.

Thinking about travel styles has gotten me curious: what is your travel style? Does your style change depending on your destination? What is your primary goal when traveling?

As for my gimp finger, it’s finally starting to heal and no longer induces sharp pain when I move it. Advice: be very careful when grating mozzarella cheese. It’s so soft, your hand might slip on your final “grate” of cheese and result in multiple bloody cuts on your pointer finger.

8 Comments

  1. I actually haven’t done too much travelling, so my answer isn’t going to be all that exciting.
    When I go somewhere for the first time (like Vancouver, last year), I like to keep busy with quite a few things to do. We left time to sleep in, but not too late. I like finding things that locals would do, I feel like it makes for a much better vacation!

    • I agree. I like to try to experience life like the locals to really get a good feel for what life is like in that particular area.
      I hope you get the opportunity to travel more soon!

  2. I have a slow traveling style, it was like before the kiddo but definitely helps with him too. I prefer to eat the food and enjoy the local stuff of wherever I am!

    I grated my finger on a cheese grater about a month ago. Actually my knuckle… it went right to the bone (new grater). It’s healed but still sometimes hurts… probably will have a dodgy finger for the rest of my life now… great. ha!

    • It sounds like we would travel well together!

      Yikes about your knuckle. I hope it doesn’t bother you for the rest of your life! John had a pretty bad cut that resulted in a scar on his hand, and it hurt for quite some time, but he hasn’t complained about it now in a few months. Hopefully yours will hurt less and less over time. As for my knuckle, it’s still healing. Blech.

  3. ooooh, i’ve had grated index finger before. ouch. and then some. they’re dicey instruments to use… one minute you have food to grate, the next minute it’s your finger (or knuckle). owwww.

    my traveling style is go with the flow, mostly. lately most of the travel i’ve done is for mission trips, so schedule has always been dictated by someone other than me and i’ve been okay with that.

    • Agreed. I remember my mom cutting herself on the cheese grater when I was little, and I think it traumatized me a little. As a result, I have always been afraid to grate the last bit of cheese on a block. Ironically, the block of cheese that I was grating when this happened still had about 2/3 left. Go figure.

      Travel can vary depending on the purpose for the trip, so I can definitely understand that your particular travel style isn’t always going to match the purpose of the trip, as is the case with a mission trip.

  4. ouccccchhhhh Sarah! that sounds awful! Sorry 🙁

    our traveling style is pretty much the same as y’alls! we like the local stuff with some tourism unless it’s a beach/realaxation vacation! we would make good travel buddies!

    • Thanks, V. It really hurt! Today is my first day without something covering it up, and I’m so worried it’s going to rip open. I just realized that’s a particularly bad thing to do today seeing as how my wardrobe choice included a white skirt. Here’s to hoping I don’t pull it open…

      We really would make good travel buddies! Maybe we can take a vacation together someday. 🙂

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