In some reading this week, I came across the following quote:

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

I took a few moments to think about this quote and remembered some of the more humorous times of my travels.  It’s those every day things, that are just so new when you are in a different location.  I remember on a visit to Maui, we were at an outside restaurant somewhere along a beach.  It was a fish stand and we were enjoying a nice lunch of delicious fish tacos.  Out of the corner of my eye I see a flurry of feathers and we noticed  there were about three or four chickens roaming around…. a fish stand.  I guess that would be one of the perfect places to hang around if you were a chicken.  Since I grew up on a farm, this extremely familiar fowl friend was almost foreign to me in paradise.  Now, I wonder if I would still remember that taco lunch if there had been no chickens?

On another one of my trips, I went to India which I briefly mentioned here.  During our visit at Karla Caves, I walked around and I was happily snapping photos when I came across a goat eating an offering that was placed at a shrine.  Again, because of the familiarity of a goat munching on whatever they can find, I may not have remembered this specific shrine and all its bright colors.

It was also during this trip to India when I learned that familiar brands here in the US are not always the same in other countries.  One evening, I was delighted to find that the hotel staff had placed a couple of bottles of Coca Cola in my room fridge.  Since I was an American, they had thoughtfully made sure the Coke was chilled.  I put my precious ice cubes in a glass, opened the bottle and heard that familiar fizz of a carbonated drink.  I was eagerly anticipating that taste as I poured the Coke over the ice and it filled the glass.  I was homesick and wanted to have that familiarity of something from home.  With that very first sip, I found out that what seemed familiar can be so strange, and that  Coca Cola allows bottlers to sweeten the drink according to the local taste.

Sometimes when I travel, I take one of my dogs with me for company.  During one trip across the US, my dog Katie and I stopped somewhere along Route 66 in Oklahoma.  We were at a touristy type spot that had  a buffalo grazing in a field.  Katie is quite the fiery character.  She faces most situations head on and ready to go.  We were walking along a little path and it ended up next to the field where the buffalo was quietly munching on some grass.  As we walked along the path, the buffalo started sauntering our way.  Katie took one look at that buffalo and I can say that the dog was startled for the first time in her life.  She had never seen anything like a buffalo and really didn’t know what to do about it. She honestly had a quizzical look on her face.  Katie stepped in between the buffalo and me, but I think she was glad she didn’t have to defend anyone’s honor that day! I still think of that day and laugh out loud thinking of my perplexed dog.

When I think back about these and other random thoughts of my travels, they give me a smile.  I can take a break from my day by remembering how the familiar changed for a brief moment and now these thoughts are the familiar memories.

If you have some travel memories to share, stop by our Facebook page and post to our wall.  Many of our customers have stayed multiple times with us at airport hotels, and let us know that they have nice memories of their experience through ParkSleepFly.com  We offer park sleep and fly hotels near airports.  You can stay the night before, after, or both.  You’ll get a room, parking for the duration of your trip, and shuttle service to and from your departure terminal all for one low price. At times, the rate is cheaper than airport parking alone!  Come join us and start your own memories.

Katie and I will leave you with another quote we found that we love about travel!

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy