65 Lessons from the Road 2 Elsewhere

Everything you need to know about travel, in twelve words or less (mostly)

I hold these travel truths to be self evident:

1. The destination is optional. Attentiveness is all.

2. A new place means a new mindset.

3. A train ride is a narrative.

   

   Pont de Bir-Hakeim, crossed by me in 1978, and Leo DiCaprio/Ellen (now Elliot) Page in Inception, in 2010.

4. Travel doesn’t only broaden, it lengthens (understanding), it deepens (empathy), and it extends (attention).

5. National Parks are jammed. National Monuments are all yours.

6. The early morning is an exclusive club. Join it.

7. Go one place and stay there. Flitting is for horseflies.

8. Go where they ain’t.

9. A rainy day means you’ll have places all to yourself.

10. One destination per day; let serendipity hijack your agenda.

11. Take a picnic.

12. In a new city? Go for a run. You see so much at foot speed.

13. Rent a bike in Amsterdam. Ride the subway in Paris. Take a pedicab in Kathmandu.

14. Eat where the locals eat. Follow them at dinnertime.

15. France has 1,600 varieties of cheese. England has 8,000 real ales. Swedish grocery stores carry at least 24 flavors of her…