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| Mallory Square: Key West, FL (July 2017) |
Focusing has been difficult the past few months, so I'm taking an alternative approach to A-Z this year: looking back at past travel, editing or re-editing images from travels before, and responding to travel-related questions. Hope you are able to join me on this journey to my past!
For Day K, I have a photograph of the sunset from Mallory Square in Key West, Florida. Key West is one of the prettiest places in Florida to capture sunset, because there is very little to no land in the west, and the sky always seems to be colorful. Right as the sun set, a crowd will form at Mallory Square and then clap as the sun disappears from the horizon as if watching a show. Then, behind you, the real show will begin with food carts and entertainers trying to make a buck or two. Be sure to drink something out of a coconut!
Other places I considered for this post: ??? I couldn't come up with many places that started with the letter 'K'!
Here are today's questions –
31. Would you rather see a lot of places or get to know one really well?
Por qué no los dos? (Why not both?)
I'm always a fan of seeing new places. You never know what you will discover if you keep your mind and heart open.
… But I also love going to places I've seen and been to many times. With the same attitude, you can look at a place with fresh eyes and find the truly hidden gems you may have missed on your first trip there.
32. What's the most entertaining story you have about getting lost?
Can you ever really be lost when traveling?
I think one of my favorite things to do while traveling is getting lost!
Ok, so not really.
One of my favorite trips to NYC included the app Pretty Streets (no longer available). I knew where we were going to get lunch upon arrival to NYC, but I didn't have any plans scheduled between arrival to our hotel and lunch time. With an hour walk to the restaurant and an hour until the restaurant opened, Justin and I decided to use the app and walk to the restaurant instead of using public transportation. It was a gorgeous 80º day. Along the way, we walked past parks (people playing basketball, playing mahjong, dancing, playing instruments), Chinatown, artwork (including fairy doors, mosaic tiles on buildings, and graffiti), interesting coffee shops and stores, and pop up exhibits along the way. The end result was that I began to appreciate NYC for all of the culture that can be found there. And yes, maybe I got to know the city a little better by doing this.
Alternatively, without the Pretty Streets app, I went walking through San Francisco and discovered I hated it. All of the hills were just too much for me. I couldn't stop and appreciate the "flowers" quite as much as I could in NYC.
With GPS now, it's not as easy to get lost when going somewhere by car. If you do happen to get lost though, sometimes it's nice to just admire the places you end up discovering along the way. Ideally, if you are lost while traveling, you have the time to spare.
33. Are you usually early, late, or on time?
LATE. I don't like being early and thus can't be on time, so late it is. Except for work… Luckily, my work schedule 90% of the time is flexible, so that's cool.
As you can imagine, this presents a few problems for me when traveling. Mainly, I have to plan. I add extra time to my schedule knowing I will run behind. So I need to be at the airport at 3pm? It's better for me to aim for 2:30pm instead. That leaves me 30 extra minutes for getting lost, talking to hotel staff, remembering that last minute item I forgot, taking pictures, etc, etc…
It's still pretty much guaranteed that I will be late or almost late to something I have planned during a trip. I'm just not a timely person.
What about you? Are you good at sticking to a schedule and arriving in a timely fashion? Do you have an interesting story about getting lost?
See other posts in this year's A-Z.
