If You Like It, You Can Go Back

Many of my friends think I’m crazy for the way I travel. Ok, probably most of them.  I prioritize taking advantage of a good deal and visiting a place I’m interested in over catchingup on sleep during the weekends and having extended time at the destination.

 

In an ideal world, I would spend a week or more at each location. But I work long hours for a non-profit, I need to visit relatives & friends, and frankly, I will never see all the places I want to see if I wait for huge chunks of time.

My travel philosophy has been heavily influenced my travel mentor, and his key point, which I heartily embrace, is “If you like it, you can go back.†Once I adopted that view point, it changed everything. I don’t need to do or see everything in a new location. Pick out the highlights, don’t exhaust myself, and then see if it’sworth coming back for.  

So now I don’t feel guilty popping out to the West Coast on a cheap fare just to grab an In-N-Out burger and catch up with some friends or see the Getty. (One day I will make it to the Hollywood walk and Catalina Island!) When traveling abroad, I either schedule a full day of site-seeing and crash early, or take it easy during the day and enjoy a fancy dinner. Gone are the days of trying to get up at 6AM and do things nonstop until I’m falling asleep in my food at 10PM.

I think if more people who want to travel adopted this idea, they’d be less daunted by the idea of a weekend trip several time zones away.

The other part of my travel philosophy is that my body isn’t going handle red-eyes and 10+ hours in international coach much longer and I should do as much as I can now.

My mileage run philosophy, however, is much wimpier than most seasoned travelers. I do not like trips where I never leave the airport. I infinitely prefer flights where I can get out and see my destination, even if it’s only for a few hours. I will happily pay more or travel fewer segments if it gets time to see the area.

Last summer was my first and so far, only, never-leave-the-airport mileage run. I took advantage of United’s routing rules from EWR-SEA. I flew from Newark to Honolulu (in a tiny Continental seat) to DC to Denver to Seattle. Sitting outside the gate, staring at Diamond Head, and breathing in the airport terminal bus fumes during the brief layover was pure torture and didn’t do my relationship with my traveling companion any favors. In contrast, even with only 3 hours in Jamaica, getting some time on the beach with Jeanne and a fruity drink felt like a vacation!

Related Posts:

• United Status Match Challenge: Going for Premier 1K
• Why I Just Spent 28 Hours On a Plane
• Am I Jaded From Jetsetting?
• Party in the Sky: I Didn’t Expect THIS on My Mileage Run
• When the Landing Gear is Down Mid Flight