Patience is the Greatest Virtue a Traveler Can Learn on the Road
What is the longest downtime a traveler can have? For many, the answer would be zero. Being in a new place, new environment, and potentially new people, there would be little in terms of boredom. Always something new to see and experience, the traveler should never be bored while being in new and exciting destinations that the traveler him/herself chose in the first place. Unfortunately, such is but empty speculation from people who rarely travel. The reality is that traveling, more often than not, involve much waiting and sitting around than the traveler would experience back home.
Part of the increased downtime comes down to the logistics of getting from one place to the other. Unlike back home, when a person may have multiple options from getting from point A to B, including but not limited to own cars, requesting friends to pick up, extensive knowledge on public transport, or even hitchhiking, the traveler may not have access to some or all of the same options in a new place. Many would not be advisable for safety reasons, while others are off-limits due to lack of proper language skills, and even others are simply not known because the traveler does not have the necessary local knowledge.
So usually the result is waiting, lots and lots of waiting. In more remote places, the time between buses and flights can be hours, if not days. Without alternative cheap solutions that do not involve collaborating with sketchy characters or back-breakingly long journeys in questionable conditions, the only thing the traveler can do is wait it out. Considering that many of these waiting locations are situated in places that are neither particularly interesting nor really that safe, the traveler is likely to spend time in one place, sealed off from whatever local community that happens to be in the neighborhood.
I, for instance, had to wait for 12 hours in an airport from Bogota, Colombia to Houston, Texas, on the way back from the recent South America trip. It honestly can get a bit embarrassing for the waiting traveler in this case since, given the airport waiting area is only that big and only has so many shops, by a few hours into the wait, everyone at the shops would be familiar with the waiting person, and wondering (and in some cases, alarmed, justifiably) why the person is still here after so many hours, and why is s/he not going off to another place on any of the dozens of flights that leave every hour.
And often the waiting traveler cannot avoid these sources of embarrassment. After all, people still need to eat every few hours, and there are so many places selling food within the airport waiting area. One visit to one of the shops, after looking around other ones to see which ones offer the best food at the best prices, would familiarize one with potentially all restaurateurs in the airport. And if the waiting traveler has to go around once again for food a few hours later, s/he would likely be recognized by all the same people, even if they choose not to act out the familiarity.
Even if the traveler chooses to stash him/herself away in a corner, unnoticed by others and avoiding potential embarrassments, there is little s/he can do to while away the lengthy hours. With spotty wifi in many places, if they exist at all, getting work or trip planning done is often too painful to be properly conducted. Reading a book or planning the next part of the trip offline is an option, but that would not last for twelve hours, if six. If the wait happens during the day, sleep might not come so easily, especially considering that places like bus stations are notorious for stealing.
The anxious traveler looking out for his/her bags (and changing schedules and most up-to-date information of the next bus/flight to take) would not be in the right mental state for sleeping. So what really ends up happening is that people sit, and occasionally eat or read, but mostly just spend time being alert but not doing anything in particular. For the solo traveler, at least the wait can be whiled away quietly. For people traveling with friends, they also must expend energy finding small talk, something increasingly difficult and more tiring as the hours drag along. Couples must refrain from bouts of passion in certain places.
When the travelers come out of the long wait, then, s/he has learned much about how to handle sheer boredom in strange places. S/he would now know better how to quietly overcome frustration, from lack of things to do or lack of punctuality for flights and buses, and how to grind through despite all the emptiness and embarrassments that come with doing nothing or something during the waits. The patience learned in the process is a true character-builder, preparing the traveler for future travels (where the same thing is bound to happen again) or at work (where hateful situations like waiting is prominent).
Part of the increased downtime comes down to the logistics of getting from one place to the other. Unlike back home, when a person may have multiple options from getting from point A to B, including but not limited to own cars, requesting friends to pick up, extensive knowledge on public transport, or even hitchhiking, the traveler may not have access to some or all of the same options in a new place. Many would not be advisable for safety reasons, while others are off-limits due to lack of proper language skills, and even others are simply not known because the traveler does not have the necessary local knowledge.
So usually the result is waiting, lots and lots of waiting. In more remote places, the time between buses and flights can be hours, if not days. Without alternative cheap solutions that do not involve collaborating with sketchy characters or back-breakingly long journeys in questionable conditions, the only thing the traveler can do is wait it out. Considering that many of these waiting locations are situated in places that are neither particularly interesting nor really that safe, the traveler is likely to spend time in one place, sealed off from whatever local community that happens to be in the neighborhood.
I, for instance, had to wait for 12 hours in an airport from Bogota, Colombia to Houston, Texas, on the way back from the recent South America trip. It honestly can get a bit embarrassing for the waiting traveler in this case since, given the airport waiting area is only that big and only has so many shops, by a few hours into the wait, everyone at the shops would be familiar with the waiting person, and wondering (and in some cases, alarmed, justifiably) why the person is still here after so many hours, and why is s/he not going off to another place on any of the dozens of flights that leave every hour.
And often the waiting traveler cannot avoid these sources of embarrassment. After all, people still need to eat every few hours, and there are so many places selling food within the airport waiting area. One visit to one of the shops, after looking around other ones to see which ones offer the best food at the best prices, would familiarize one with potentially all restaurateurs in the airport. And if the waiting traveler has to go around once again for food a few hours later, s/he would likely be recognized by all the same people, even if they choose not to act out the familiarity.
Even if the traveler chooses to stash him/herself away in a corner, unnoticed by others and avoiding potential embarrassments, there is little s/he can do to while away the lengthy hours. With spotty wifi in many places, if they exist at all, getting work or trip planning done is often too painful to be properly conducted. Reading a book or planning the next part of the trip offline is an option, but that would not last for twelve hours, if six. If the wait happens during the day, sleep might not come so easily, especially considering that places like bus stations are notorious for stealing.
The anxious traveler looking out for his/her bags (and changing schedules and most up-to-date information of the next bus/flight to take) would not be in the right mental state for sleeping. So what really ends up happening is that people sit, and occasionally eat or read, but mostly just spend time being alert but not doing anything in particular. For the solo traveler, at least the wait can be whiled away quietly. For people traveling with friends, they also must expend energy finding small talk, something increasingly difficult and more tiring as the hours drag along. Couples must refrain from bouts of passion in certain places.
When the travelers come out of the long wait, then, s/he has learned much about how to handle sheer boredom in strange places. S/he would now know better how to quietly overcome frustration, from lack of things to do or lack of punctuality for flights and buses, and how to grind through despite all the emptiness and embarrassments that come with doing nothing or something during the waits. The patience learned in the process is a true character-builder, preparing the traveler for future travels (where the same thing is bound to happen again) or at work (where hateful situations like waiting is prominent).
Comments
Post a Comment