Ulm

I recently spent almost a week in southern Germany. I didn’t see any major towns, nor did I attend many tourist attractions. And although I imagine I’ll return to Germany someday, I won’t on this particular trip. And I’m not sorry about it.

One of the underlying messages in the documentary A Map For Saturday that spoke to me was that travel gets old pretty quickly. At least – certain styles of travel get old quickly. If you bounce from one major city/attraction to the next, staying in hostels and following the backpacker circuits consistently, one amazing awe-inspiring sight tends to melt into the next, and you can actually become almost apathetic about the attractions that once appeared wondrous.

Having been on the road well over three years, I don’t think I would have lasted anywhere near this long if I were on this “actively traveling” circuit.

Instead, I’ve volunteered in trade for my accommodation in at least five different places around the world for upwards of a month at a time. In between volunteer gigs, I’ve usually enjoyed some home-grown hospitality by staying with friends. Friends I’ve met in all sorts of ways, mostly in the course of my volunteering and traveling.