I have been in Turkey for over two weeks now, longer than
anywhere I’ve ever spent in one place on one trip (and still 2 days to go). Because
of that, and because I’ve been staying with a friend and living local, it’s an
entirely different perspective than if you do it with a tour group or other
something like it. This way, the local way, is a real treat in travel. Here,
for me, there have been no tour groups, no freeze dried spiel on the sites. I
visited here the real way and did what the real people here do.
This is the best way to travel. I’ve often told the story of
when people tell me how much they loved Alaska. Inevitably, after saying how
much the beauty and people of the majestic 49th state wowed them, I then ask
them: Did you go on a cruise? After inevitably
saying yes, I tell them how Alaska really is. As someone who motorcycled rather
extensively through it, the real part of Alaska, not
nicely-wrapped-up-for-the-pseudo-traveller-cruiser Alaska, I can tell you it’s
nothing more than a big cedar swamp with the occasional snowy vista. It’s a
backwater filled with missionaries, pipelines and people who are, shall we say,
a bit different? While I may have enjoyed myself a bit more in a town that
catered to the day tripping cruisers, I know what it’s really like there. It
ultimately leads to a better understanding of the place you are visiting. In
the end, isn’t that why we travel?
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