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| Passage du Grand Cerf: Paris, France (May 2014) |
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 P, I went with this shot of a passage in Paris, France. I don't even remember exploring it, but I have this image… 😳 Maybe one day I'll go back and purposefully explore all of the many passageways of Paris.
Other places I considered for this post: Pensacola (FL), Prague (Czech Republic), Pearl Harbor (O'ahu, Hawai'i), Panama City Beach (FL), Potsdam (Germany), Porto Venere (Italy), Pacifica (CA)
Onward –
Usually, when I'm listening to music, I'm listening to Pandora, so I don't really do "playlists".
Obviously, Pandora doesn't really work overseas unless you have a wifi hot spot. In those cases, I tend to drag along the iPod my husband got me when we were in college. I'm not sure when I last put music on the iPod. In the time since I have lost all of my mp3s (dead hard drive), so I can't really change out the music I have on there unless I buy all of my music again. (Or upload all of the CDs I have. – Anyone remember CDs?)
If we are on a road trip in the states, I throw some headphones on while my husband listens to podcasts. I will listen to almost anything and what I choose depends entirely on my mood. Recently, I've been listening to lots of 90s pop, but I will also listen to alternative rock, classic rock, oldies, jazz, soft rock, soundtracks, etc, etc… Rap is the only thing I really can't deal with.
47. What's the most reliable source of travel advice?
I usually start all travel planning with The Points Guy. Then, I move on to Visit A City and see what they recommend. Time-dependent, I love to get books from the bookstore to peruse (DK Eyewitness tend to be my favorite), chat on Twitter during travel chats, and research the heck out of Google. If I know someone who has been there before, I will definitely be in contact with them. On my last trip to LA (April 2017), on the way to the airport, I was still researching! Our Uber driver had lived in LA for a number of years, so as she was driving, my husband and I would ask her questions about what we should see/do/eat, and I was furiously typing notes out on my phone as quickly as I could knowing that with our itinerary we probably wouldn't get to follow any of her suggestions but maybe with a little luck we could squeeze one or two in?
48. How did your relatives feel about your last trip?
Our last trip was a three-day weekend to Miami, Florida. We didn't hear too much from them nor did we ask.
The trip before that, when we went to Egypt, France, and Germany, we got an ear full. We were leaving on Christmas Day which is always a bit of a controversy. ("You don't want to spend Christmas Day with us?!") Then the travel to Egypt was also pretty controversial. Our family was really worried that we wouldn't make it back alive.
So, while our parents were excited about our first trip to Europe, they have since begun questioning our choices. I guess this is one more stressful topic that bloggers don't talk about – how traveling affects the way your family sees you.
To that I say: you do you. You only have one life and if your family doesn't approve of your choices, then so be it. If their approval is important, listen. If it's not, if what you want to do is the better choice for you, do that instead.
I am grateful to have friends that live all over the world. I am grateful to have been invited to weddings in so many different places. The least I can do is be there for my friends. I live near my family; they can see me whenever they want. Who knows how many more times I will be able to see my friends before it becomes too hard?
Have you ever done something your family has disapproved of because it wasn't the right choice for you? Tell me about some of your favorite tunes; I'd love to listen to find something new to listen to!
See other posts in this year's A-Z.
