The Art of Going Somewhere: Travel Beyond the Checklist

I spent three days in Paris once, and I barely remember it. I was so focused on hitting the major sites—Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre-Dame—that the whole trip felt like a checklist. Click, click, done. Years later, I spent a week in a tiny town in Portugal I'd never heard of. I had no plan. No must-sees. I just wandered. That trip changed how I think about travel.

The Attraction Trap

Here's what nobody tells you about famous landmarks: they're crowded, expensive, and often disappointing in person. The Mona Lisa is smaller than you think and surrounded by a hundred raised phones. Times Square is just aggressive advertising. The Grand Canyon is spectacular, but so is the silence of a desert you found by accident. The best travel experiences usually happen between the planned stuff. The restaurant you stumbled into because you got lost. The local who invited you for coffee. The neighborhood that wasn't in any guidebook.

Slow Travel

There's a movement called "slow travel," and the premise is simple: go fewer places, but actually be there. Instead of five countries in two weeks, spend two weeks in one city. Learn the rhythm of a place. Find your coffee shop. Recognize faces. Something shifts when you stay longer. You stop being a tourist and start being a temporary local. People treat you differently. You see things you'd never see if you were just passing through.

The Trip Within the Trip

Every great journey has a moment—often unplanned—that becomes the story you'll tell for years. The flat tire that led to dinner with a stranger's family. The missed bus that turned into the best day of the trip. The rain that forced you into a bookshop where you had a conversation that changed how you think about something. You can't plan these moments, but you can make space for them. Leave gaps in your itinerary. Say yes to invitations. Get lost on purpose. Where have you always wanted to go? Stop researching and start booking.