Authenticity

The other day I was talking with a friend and we were having a conversation about our shared affinity for travel. Although, when discussing our future travel plans and wish list of places to go, we quickly figured out we would not be good traveling buddies. I will go ahead and preface the next sentence with the phrase "At this point in my life". At this point in my life I prefer to see the world with a pack on my back, sleeping in a hostel, catching a discount airline or a train to my next destination and with an idea of where i'm going..but no real plan. While he much prefers a first class plane ticket with a stay at the Four Seasons. Now don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the luxury of first-class and the Four Seasons...and there is a time and a place for them in my life as it currently exists. I'm sure there will be a much larger place for it when I am hopefully seeing the world for a second time around in my old age! So he asked me a relatively simple question, "why..what do you enjoy about traveling that way?" It is a question I know the answer to, but had really never thought about in a way that I could verbalize. So I thought about it for a minute and the answer I came up with is Authenticity.

That pretty much sums it up, I feel like I get a more authenitic experience when traveling on the fly. He asked why can't he have that while staying a the Four Seasons. Maybe he can, but I feel like for the most part you sign up for "touristy" tours where you get to see but not touch, watch but not join in. That isn't how I want to do things, I want to touch and to join in. I also like leaving a lot of flexibility to my plans because I have also experienced that the things I have enjoyed the most while traveling were not things I had planned. You also meet so many other travelers along the way, especially when staying in hostels, and you share experiences and learn about so many things you didn't know about. So it is nice to be able to change your plans.

Traveling is about so much more than the places you see, but it is about the people you meet and the experiences you have. With all of the places I have been, the most memorable have little to do with the sites I have seen but the experiences I have had that make me feel a certain way about that place. I like to travel the way I do because I feel it creates more of an opportuntiy to find these people and form these experiences. For me it creates an authenticity that I can't get enough of.