w a n d e r l u s t

Writing about all those travel stuff like my English homework about the most fascinating place I've ever been to, did not really do me a favour due to my now even stronger desire to travel. I think the biggest mistake was to look through old photographs of my latest journeys. It seems to be such a long time ago that I wandered through the streets of Istanbul or climbed the Vichren in Bulgaria - experiences that I wouldn't want to miss. 

Thinking about the most fascinating place I've ever been to made me virtually revisit all the places I have seen yet. Well, at least those I am able to remember because my memory isn't so reliable when it comes to my childhood. Every time I tell my mother that I want to go to Venice in summer, she tries to convince me that I've already been there. Ok, I have actually been there, but I was just three years old and no matter how hard I try, I just can't remember anything about this place, it's useless. 

Some time ago I read about the "best" way of travelling. Of course it always depends on the purpose of a journey but what I've realised over the last few years is that you will gain the most first by informing yourself about the country you are going to visit in advance and second by experiencing the way people actually live.The challenge is not to book the most expensive all-inclusive hotel and stay as far away from the natives as possible but sleep in small bed and breakfasts, eat in small, familiar restaurants and finally talk to people on the street. 

What I experienced is that people are really glad when foreigners show interest in their everyday life, their culture and country. The easiest way of course is to speak the language of the country you are visiting. For me it is always an awkward feeling when I realise that I can neither read anything, nor talk to anyone in a foreign country. There are so many languages spoken on our beautiful planet and it would be unrealistic to learn all of them. Nevertheless, it sounds more than attractive to be able to talk in the language of every country you visit :-)