I'm a newbie to this traveling thing. I am! And I'm also not ashamed to tell it here. I'm by far an expert in travel and everyday I take the smallest lessons as things I still have to learn, specially when it comes to being a solo female traveler.
I just got back from my first real travel experience: three months backpacking Europe on my own. A total leap of faith that taught me way more than I could have hoped for. So, I may not know a lot, I'm still a baby traveler at this point, but there are some things I've learned on the way, and the one I come here to write about is the travelling with high expectations of a certain place.
I just got back from my first real travel experience: three months backpacking Europe on my own. A total leap of faith that taught me way more than I could have hoped for. So, I may not know a lot, I'm still a baby traveler at this point, but there are some things I've learned on the way, and the one I come here to write about is the travelling with high expectations of a certain place.
I know that before a trip you get all that pre-travel excitement. I'm not saying you should act like you're not excited at all. All I'm saying is that getting your expectations too high can lead you to huge disappointment. And nobody wants to be disappointed while traveling, right?
I'm a total freak before a go on a trip. Before my backpacking trip I went nuts months before! I would research places, prices, trains and buses. I did it for months! And I would have done the same thing, knowing what I know now. Actually, I'm sure I'll do it on my next big trip. Still, too much research, knowing too much about a certain place you're going to, can actually ruin your experience without you realizing it.
I'm a total freak before a go on a trip. Before my backpacking trip I went nuts months before! I would research places, prices, trains and buses. I did it for months! And I would have done the same thing, knowing what I know now. Actually, I'm sure I'll do it on my next big trip. Still, too much research, knowing too much about a certain place you're going to, can actually ruin your experience without you realizing it.
I believe this expectation thing that I'm trying to explain was what made me (kind of) hate Paris in the first place. Before getting there I heard so many people saying "Oh, you're gonna love it" and "Paris is amazing" and of course the most known quote about the city "Paris is always a good idea". So by the time I got there I was expecting so much that everything let me down. I was like "Is that it?" with disappointing eyes. And I guess I like to make the same mistakes more than once, because the same happened in Lucca, Italy.
After spending a few hours in Pisa, where I had no expectations what so ever, and being totally surprised and happy to give the town a chance, I got on the train to Lucca. You see, Lucca had been on my mind forever, it was my destination that day. Once I got the vibe of "Oh my God I'm going to Florence", the second thought would be that I could not miss Lucca for anything in this world. Can you feel the high expectations already? Yeah, they were my ruin!
I was in a great mood, so by the time I got off the train I was like "Yeah, lets do this! Lucca, I'm ready for you!". I was lost for a few minutes (something that I've just gotten used to by now) and found my way by following a group of girls who looked like tourists.
Lucca is inside a huge wall, so to get to the historic center you need to get inside the wall. Right here I got a weird feeling and thought maybe this town isn't exactly what I was thinking. Since I had to get into a very sketchy tunnel full of graffiti, smelling like pee. I can tell you I would've turned back, believe that couldn't be the right way, if I was getting there by myself.
Lucca is inside a huge wall, so to get to the historic center you need to get inside the wall. Right here I got a weird feeling and thought maybe this town isn't exactly what I was thinking. Since I had to get into a very sketchy tunnel full of graffiti, smelling like pee. I can tell you I would've turned back, believe that couldn't be the right way, if I was getting there by myself.
I sat on a bench, eating and deciding where to go, what to do next and all sort of things to do when you're alone and the decisions depend on you. I saw very few people. I found it weird! Pisa was full of people all over the place. If you weren't careful you would probably loose an eye to a selfie stick. Don't people know about Lucca? I thought it would be another crowded town, being so close to Pisa and all.
I walked around the city, got some pretty cool photos (I think), but non of it corresponded to my hopes. Why are the photos of this place so misleading? I wanted to like this place. I tried! But for some reason nothing was going as I planned. I was even suppose to rent a bicycle for the afternoon and eventually gave up trying to find the place for it. You see, my biggest problem here was that I was lost all the time. And I'm used to it. I embrace the fact that I shall be lost all the time everywhere I go, but in Lucca the situation got me frustrated. I just couldn't find my way to anywhere. I only tried to find two things: the huge tower with trees on the top, and the big round square surrounded by yellow pretty buildings. How hard could that be?
I even got out of the walls for two times without realizing it! I got angry, really angry about not being able to find such simple things in a small town. But I accepted the defeat and decided to go buy a stupid map. I love maps, but spending money on them is not my happiest moment. Still this was a necessity as I told myself "I'm not leaving without finding what I came here for!"
And here comes the moment I'm not proud of. I found a place with some travel guides that were hanging outside the shop. It all happened very quickly, so please don't think I'm a bad person. I'm a very good girl, I promise! I picked up one of the books and inside there was a map of Lucca. It was not attached to the book. It was just there, ready for me to take it. And so I did it. I looked around, with a very criminal look. I "accidentally" dropped it. Got the book back to its place. Picked up the map from the floor and just kept walking like I was just a tourist passing by. Yes, I stole the map!
I felt like a total criminal! I felt so bad, even if just for two minutes! Having the map made my life easier on every level. I got to see how to navigate the town in order to get to the two places I had been trying to find for hours. Then, again, disappointment. The huge tower with the trees on top was in the middle of tiny streets, not in a huge square as I had pictured it. And the round famous square of Lucca was a complete desert. And anyone who has been to Italy knows that the people are part of what makes this country so charming in the first place, and they were nowhere to be found.
I was even disappointed at the postcards! I am telling you, the ugliest postcards I bought during my entire backpacking trip were the two I bought in Lucca. Why Lucca? Why?
I eventually left Lucca and got on a train back to Florence. I was exhausted of so much walking, but I wasn't exhausted and happy, just unhappy for not understanding how a place I had such high hopes for could give me an afternoon like that. I was confused. I had actually loved Pisa and didn't like Lucca? How was that possible? I wouldn't have seen this coming in a million years!
Can you now relate to what I've been trying to explain from the beginning about how high expectations can ruin a place?
I learned my lesson from here. I believe that Lucca was destined to be my disappointment so I could change something if I wanted to enjoy my backpacking trip that would still last two and a half months after this. After this day, I can tell you I was never disappointed during my travel ever again. Yes there were places I didn't like, there were cities I actually couldn't wait to get out off, but I wasn't disappointed because I didn't expect anything. And that's because every new place I arrived to, I went with an open mind. I didn't expect anything, nor good or bad. I would just arrive and see what the city would have to offer me.
I learned my lesson from here. I believe that Lucca was destined to be my disappointment so I could change something if I wanted to enjoy my backpacking trip that would still last two and a half months after this. After this day, I can tell you I was never disappointed during my travel ever again. Yes there were places I didn't like, there were cities I actually couldn't wait to get out off, but I wasn't disappointed because I didn't expect anything. And that's because every new place I arrived to, I went with an open mind. I didn't expect anything, nor good or bad. I would just arrive and see what the city would have to offer me.
I had this guy in Budapest ask me "Why are you going to Bratislava?" to which I answered "I don't know...because it's close and I want to see the city" and then he asked "And what are you expecting from Vienna?" and I said "Nothing..." and that's when I realized I had learned my lesson from Paris and Lucca, and that expecting nothing can give you the most amazing experience and that's when you get your mind blown as you travel.