Follow Your Own Travel Choices

I’ve read a lot of reviews of tourist sites published by various on-line places and most are stated from a certain point of view. For instance, one review said that most people are surprised at how small the Little Mermaid statue is. It is much smaller than one would expect but what made it interesting for me, was the tidbit of information my tour guide shared. Apparently, its head has been stolen a couple of times.

Another person recommended people avoid going to the Vasa museum in Stockholm but honestly, I found it absolutely amazing. For those who don’t know, the Vasa was a new design of a warship built in the 1630’s with two decks of cannons. Unfortunately, it sank on its maiden voyage within a couple miles of setting off. It was rediscovered, rescued, and preserved.

Until you stand at the bottom of the ship and look upwards, you don’t realize how huge these ships were. The history was cool and we learned so much about the way they built and it appears the builders neglected to increase the amount of weight in the bottom of the ship to counter the weight of the extra canons.

Then I read that someone felt Sydney had little to offer other than checking out Bondi Beach. They obviously didn’t check out much else. Sydney has a great museum with a wonderful section on dinosaurs, another on gems, and a third section on some of the coolest animals in. the country. There are also so wonderfully preserved historical buildings redone to show its history to others.

I am a person who loves walking around and just enjoying the slow pace. I’ve found a cool science fiction bookstore in Stockholm, an unexpected Jewish museum in Sydney, multiple Christmas fairs in Copenhagen in early December.

I went by a small amusement park in Helsinki one day on my way from one part of town to another, have seen the results of an earthquake in Iceland and visited an orchid garden in Fiji created by Raymond Burr who was an actor in the 50’s and 60’s that my father loved.

I’ve visited botanical gardens in multiple countries since they were free and great for exploring. I’ve spent hours going through the one in Sydney that starts over near the opera house and stretches to the area with some cool historical buildings. There is one in Christchurch that offers you a small free standing train ride around it for a few dollars.

I’ve seen some cool ruins under other buildings in Bulgaria, Denmark, and Reykjavik Iceland. In fact, the ruins I saw in Reykjavik was right next to a building preserving the early history of the town, including information on its first beauty salon.

I’ve seen a cave in Bulgaria that was used in Expendables 2 for a scene but previously hid huge tanks of fuel by the communist government. I’ve used hop on and hop off buses to get a better sense of the place before I began exploring the town myself.

Yes, I sign up for tours but I pick and choose what tours I take. I’ve seen the Blue Ridge mountains outside of Sydney with a Aboriginal guide who shared cultural knowledge. I’ve done several tours of Mayan ruins in Belize, and tried to see a cool volcano in Costa Rica but it was covered with fog that day.

Don’t bother listening to what everyone else recommends. Make your choices on what interests you most. Don’t be afraid to sign up for various tours that spark your curiosity. Take time to walk around town to discover those little eating places, the cool stores, and those little odd things you’ll never see otherwise. Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear.