Cruising Past Seventy: The Inner Journeys: You Must Get Used to Change and Practice Flexibility When You’re on the Go

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

You Must Get Used to Change and Practice Flexibility When You’re on the Go


It has often been said that, if there’s anything constant in this world, it is change. And when you are on the go, as travelers always are, change happens more often.

 Camping in Chicken, Alaska

 Nothing illustrates this more than this incident in Chicken, Alaska. We were newbies in RVing. We successfully drove across the Alaska Highway from Calgary, Alberta to spend a cool summer month in Alaska. But we returned to the Lower 48 on a different route through Chicken, Alaska, the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City in the Yukon, and then the Glacier Highway in British Columbia. 

  I distinctly remember the trauma of taking a shower in Chicken, a little town of 32 in summer and seven in winter. I thought I had enough Loonies (Canadian coins) for a hot shower at the campground. I ended by rinsing with cold water at the sink in a room with no heater in the cold of fall. I made a mistake and put all of them all at once in the beginning, I was supposed to put each one before each segment ran out. I had to learn to be more flexible. We were in a different “home” every few days.  

Using Public Transportation in Mexico City

Then I remember the folly of resisting local ways. During our 2009 three-week tour of Mexico, we parked our RV in Teotihuacan where the most visited pre-Hispanic ruins of the oldest civilization in North America are located. It is 25 miles northeast of Mexico City. One day, we took the public bus to tour the metropolis. With a population of 18 million, it is one of the most congested cities in the world. We loved our tour of Catedral Metropolitana, Templo Mayor, Plaza de la Constitucion, Palacio Nacional, and the Avenida Central shopping area, ending our day with a visit to the only authentic castle in North America, Chapultepec.

To get back to Teotihuacan, we needed to take the train to get to the bus station. But I was horrified to find that men and women rode in separate carriages to prevent chances of unwanted encounters. I didn’t want to be apart from my husband, so we hailed a taxi instead. Bill lost his cell phone and a lot of money and time going through all the city traffic in that cab. It was good that we made it to the last bus to Teotihuacan. But I should not have resisted local ways.  

Stopping in Guangzhou, China

 One year I went to Melbourne, Australia to babysit my youngest grandson. The cheapskate that I am, I opted for the lowest fares with long layovers in Guangzhou, China.  I thought not only would I save money, but I would also get to tour the second-largest Chinese city after Shanghai. Unfortunately, I discovered the seven-hour layover wasn’t long enough because I needed two hours each way to get to Guangzhou. I decided to spend those seven hours with my laptop instead.

 Sadly, its battery was down to almost zero. It just so happens that I also have a mechanical aptitude near zero. I could not get my chargers to work. Luckily, I discovered that my husband had put a portable one into my bag.  That plus help from a millennial Chinese couple saved me. But when I finally sat down, I was dismayed. I had forgotten that Facebook is banned in China. I turned to surfing, only to find that every search landed me in an unfamiliar site, totally in Chinese. My isolation was complete. I should have brought a book.

 It is hard to make a woman in her seventies to be more flexible. But I love to travel so I would have to keep on trying. I must be better prepared, arm myself with prior knowledge, and, most of all, have a great attitude when something unexpected happens instead.   

 




22 comments:

  1. If you want to have a good time on your trip, you have to be flexible. Things never go according to plan.

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  2. I love these stories because they highlight one constant fact of travel. It NEVER goes the way you think it will. You have to be able to roll with the punches.

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  3. Yes - traveling can certainly be full of unexpected surprises and we must stay flexible if we are to enjoy ourselves. Thank you for the gentle reminder and for sharing your stories. Stephanie

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  4. Your blog post offers a profound perspective on embracing change as a vital aspect of the RV lifestyle. Reminds me of my grandpa who used to love traveling the country in his RV :)

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  5. I enjoying reading your travel stories and I agree you must be willing to change because anything can happen when you're traveling no matter where you are. Being flexible is a must!!

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  6. I loved reading about your adventures and the lessons you’ve learned along the way. It’s inspiring to see how you’ve embraced the unpredictability of travel, especially in places as diverse as Alaska and Mexico City.

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  7. Oh, wow, what a stories! I like your tone, and your blog is really nice. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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  8. Interesting stories, especially, traveling to babysit your grandson. We do need to be flexible if we want to have a good travel.

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  9. It’s a gentle reminder that embracing change and staying flexible are key to enjoying life on the road or not. Never know what travel may bring

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    1. Oh yes...even when not on the road but more so when you are.

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  10. What an amazing collection of travel stories! It's clear that your adventurous spirit and determination to keep growing and embracing new experiences will serve you well on your future travels. Thank you for sharing these insightful and entertaining anecdotes!

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  11. Nnniiicccee...I'd love to be on public transport in Mexico. I've only seen their transport in buses. Do they have something else; I wonder?!

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