jglsongs' VirtualTourist Home Page

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
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"The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist."
-Russell Baker, U.S. columnist and journalist
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"One day, you ought to go to a country where they don't speak English, and they don't even want to."
-Thornton Wilder, "Our Town"

MY TENETS OF TRAVEL a.k.a. Leavitt’s Laws:

1.
If you head off a tourist-filled pedestrian plaza and onto a small street (especially one leading to a lot of winding or small cobblestone streets), you are likely to see and experience things that are more interesting and genuine than on the tourist-filled pedestrian plaza.

2.
If you can recognize the name of a chain (fast food) restaurant in a foreign country, it’s not worth going inside and eating.

3.
One word/phrase (especially thank you) spoken in the local language is worth a thousand spoken in English.

4.
Don’t assume anything while traveling- there are always exceptions to every stereotype, assumption and an opinionated neighbor’s stilted opinion.

5.
If you can’t recognize something on a menu, that’s all the more reason to order it.

6.
The amount of time it takes to travel somewhere does not necessarily equal the amount of experiences you can have. In other words...there might be a whole new world you've never experienced in the next town, or even on the next street!

7.
Although the travel industry cites June-September as high season, the REAL travel season runs from January-December in both hemispheres, and on both sides of the equator.