Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[starlagurl]

This website has great tips for electrifying your life. If you don't have the money to travel, why not explore your own town on a more detailed level:

http://www.wisebread.com/walking-into-the-spirit-of-travel

It would be great to take off on a trip whenever the whim strikes us. Unfortunately, there is a seemingly endless list of things to keep us at home. Perhaps we feel that travel is not a financial possibility. Maybe our lives are filled with work and family obligations, leaving no time for travel. The list goes on and, in the end, leaves us at home following the same routines.

What if there was a way to experience the excitement and discovery of travel without leaving your hometown? The English writer G. K. Chesterton said that "the whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land." This idea of making one's home foreign is not necessarily about movement or new places. Rather, it involves opening your mind and seeing the world in a new way.

It is safe to say that most travelers believe the easiest way to achieve this new perspective is to immerse one's self in a foreign culture. This may be the easiest, but it is certainly not the only way. I would argue that by simply going for a walk anyone can feel the excitement of travel.

[flewthecoop]

You know how you don't see the tourist things unless someone comes to visit and needs you to show them around? One year we decided to stay home for the week of vacation. We unplugged the phone, made a list of all the tourist places in our area that we hadn't seen, and proceeded to be tourists. It was a challenge to stay out of the normal routines, but I'm grateful to have done some of the more unusual touristy things as well as some of the usual ones we never get to. I'd recommend it to anyone... at least once!

[starlagurl]

Cool, where do you live, and what did you do? Do you still have the list of the places you visited?

[flewthecoop]

Cool, where do you live, and what did you do? Do you still have the list of the places you visited?

I live on Cape Ann in Massachusetts. It was a while ago, but a few of the things we did were the Paper House here in Rockport, the Cape Ann Historical Society museum in Gloucester, Hammond Castle, a hike in Ravenswood Park, a ferry ride to 10 Pound Island in Gloucester harbor. This is a major tourist area, but that's all I remember from that week.

[starlagurl]

That's pretty cool I grew up in Niagara Falls, and every Mother's Day they would have free rides for locals. All you had to do was show some ID and you could go to most of the major attractions like the Maid of the Mist etc. So, that was really fun, we used to do it every year almost.

[travelmonster]

It is safe to say that most travelers believe the easiest way to achieve this new perspective is to immerse one's self in a foreign culture. This may be the easiest, but it is certainly not the only way. I would argue that by simply going for a walk anyone can feel the excitement of travel.

I can see what you are saying with this and I have an insatiable curiosity that sees me investigating my hometown, neighbouring towns, and large parts of England on weekends, days out and holidays, but whilst there is excitement - I personally don't think there is anything like setting foot on foreign soil, purely because everything is different, its a feast for the senses, the food is different, the smells are different, the language is often different, everywhere you look something is different, the birds, the trees, the flowers, the insects, so many things to take in.

[starlagurl]

OR... everything is so very much the same ... ie. consumer and franchise culture, the basic human tendencies towards things like laziness, extravagance and greed... and on and on the debate goes...

[travelmonster]

In my experiences vastly different - People can be lazy, extravagent, greedy and all of the above right from their very front room - just by going on the internet and buying anything and everything they want, that has nothing to do with travel, its to do with how an individual person is.

[starlagurl]

I just meant that the same basic tendencies of laziness and greed are present, no matter where you go.

*stirring the pot*

[sarahindc]

I love playing tourist where I live - Washington, DC. My 11 year-old niece is visiting me for a few days this month and I have a laundry list of sites I want to take her to. I am lucky to live in a city that has so much to offer.

Top of the list is the Butterfly Exhibit that just opened at the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian
aquarium in Baltimore
National Zoo
Orchid exhibit at the botanical garden
Smithsonian art museums like the Freer & Sackler, African Art, American Art
IMAX
free concerts at the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center
Georgetown
National Cathedral (which is just across the street from me)
Ice skating at the National Gallery's sculpture garden
National Archives

Few, so much to do in 3 and 1/2 days. And I can't wait to introduce her to a beautiful small city.

[starlagurl]

Nice, I just did the tourist thing at home, It's Winterlude time, so I went to a free concert (K-Os) on the frozen Rideau Canal, then skated all day Saturday, looked at the ice sculptures and went out for karaoke!

[flewthecoop]

I love playing tourist where I live - Washington, DC. My 11 year-old niece is visiting me for a few days this month and I have a laundry list of sites I want to take her to. I am lucky to live in a city that has so much to offer.

Top of the list is the Butterfly Exhibit that just opened at the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian
aquarium in Baltimore
National Zoo
Orchid exhibit at the botanical garden
Smithsonian art museums like the Freer & Sackler, African Art, American Art
IMAX
free concerts at the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center
Georgetown
National Cathedral (which is just across the street from me)
Ice skating at the National Gallery's sculpture garden
National Archives

Few, so much to do in 3 and 1/2 days. And I can't wait to introduce her to a beautiful small city.

I love Washington, especially in the off-season without all the school groups. Twice I led a middle-school group around the city. The trips were great, but I love exploring on my own time and with only one or two others. One of my favorite places is the International Spy Museum. The kids loved it, but I learned so much more when I went without them.

[echasme]

Nice, I just did the tourist thing at home, It's Winterlude time, so I went to a free concert (K-Os) on the frozen Rideau Canal, then skated all day Saturday, looked at the ice sculptures and went out for karaoke!

[stevejames]

I just meant that the same basic tendencies of laziness and greed are present, no matter where you go.

Drink up that half-empty cup of coffee - it's getting cold!

[starlagurl]

Haha, are you calling me a pessimist? I prefer to place my buttocks firmly on the fence in most discussions, thank you very much.

[sianeth]

I have to say I'm perpetually amazed by Bath and how beautiful it is. Even after a really rubbish day I can still walk home and watch the sun set over the city and realise how lucky I am...

Being touristy in Bath

[stevejames]

Aw thanks for that! A nice reminder of home I used to work just off Pultney Bridge... Bath is a great town in the summer to stroll around at lunch, even with the tourists

[sianeth]

Aw thanks for that! A nice reminder of home I used to work just off Pultney Bridge... Bath is a great town in the summer to stroll around at lunch, even with the tourists

I will miss Bath when I'm gone!

These last couple of weeks have been really really nice, verging on summery type weather - I love how the all the building just glow when the sun shines on them... ahhhh.

[cheli]

I'm a huge fan of touristing my home town - which technically is Melbourne in Australia but currently I'm living in London.

Along with making time to see the 'sights' one of my favourite things is to either walk in an area I'm not so familiar with and see what I find, or else download a free walk (easy enough to google and find them nowadays) and learn more about the history and context of the area.

I've only done one of these, but what an awesome idea:
http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/podtours/default.htm

There's also an oldy but a goodie - you can joing a tour or buy the booklet (I think it's only $10 or summat) and do it yourself. Some pretty amazing facts on this one:
http://www.visitvictoria.com/displayobject...CD80C476A90318/

And for London there's heaps I've been using recently:
www.southbankwalks.com
http://www.londonforfree.net/walks/index.shtml
http://www.londongardenstrust.org/guides/index.htm
www.london-footprints.co.uk/walks.htm

Best bet is to locate your friendly government tourist bureau as they usually have a periodical 'what's on' booklet of some description which will remind you of all the things you meant to do and some things you never realised were on offer

[introducinlyric]

ive started doing the tourist thing at home as ive realized ive live in sydney for most of my life but seen so little of it. and its surprising how much ive seen and discovered. like i never knew sydney had a nudist beach lol the things you learn.....