I have been very lucky in my life to travel to other countries and experience different cultures taste different foods and see things many people only see in photos. I think out of all my traveling the best thing about the journey was meeting the people and experiencing how they live. I would say most places I have been I would not feel a major culture shock because the people are mostly the same living, working, loving and just trying to have the best life they can. The style of dress may be different the homes they live in etc but all in all we as humans are basically the same.
While I was stationed in Germany with the United States Army I took advantage of the fact I could travel on my off time and see Europe first hand. I often traveled alone and would just jump on a train with no itinerary in place just ride the train until I would see a town or place that seemed to call out to me. I was able to see so much more and meet some fantastic people doing this and by avoiding the tourist trap places was able to see the real people and how they lived. Many of the bigger cities are set up to accommodate travelers and often have little bits of home to make them feel more at home like fast food restaurants and hotels with familiar names. I found the little off the beaten path restaurants had better food and the little hotels less pricy and more friendly.
I often had the weekends off and for the first year or so I was in Germany I spent those weekends clubbing. I would get off work on Friday and if I did not have duty that weekend I would shed my uniform and head down town to the club scene. I would spend my weekend drinking dancing and often stay in a Hotel and get up the next day and start all over again. It was fun and wild and I loved the party life but it got old after a while. One weekend some friends were heading off to Paris and asked if I wanted to come with so I did. That two day trip to Paris was fun but lacking in the fact they traveled there to go to the clubs and do the same thing we could have done in Mannheim where I was stationed. We did little sight seeing and mostly spent our time in the bars or Hotel. Also a few in the group had that what some call ugly American attitude and with their rude behavior and antics spoiled much of the trip for me. One thing that trip did do was to re spark the traveling bug in me. After returning from that little trip I would take every chance I had take off and explore on train trips all over Europe.
There is something wonderful about trains clacking along the tracks looking out the window and not knowing what is around the next bend or on the other side of the tunnel. Europe is so different from the United States when it comes to transportation. In Europe you can get to just about anyplace on the train and cost wise it is very affordable or it was when I was there. Often I would meet people on the trains and have long conversations about the differences in our countries what foods to try places to go etc. I would do most of my traveling on my own I guess I was a selfish traveler and wanted to do it my way stopping when I wanted to and staying where I wanted. I found when I traveled with others I had to compromise when it came to the things we would see or do and at the time I did not want to do that so I traveled alone. Many of my friends at the time being that most of us ranged from age 18 to early 20's had partying on the brain and when I traveled with others it seemed the party took over the experience and clouded the sight seeing and experiencing the culture.
I remember one trip a group of us took to Auschwitz. I have written about this before in my blog but that post was one of the ones that disappeared from my blog in a glitch last year. So I will be brief about it. A group of us had been talking about the things we had learned in School about the war and the Nazi invasion and as we talked we made a plane to visit the camps on one of the weekend outings. We as a group caught the train and as always there was a lot of drinking laughing and having fun as the train took us to our destination. Once we reached our destination and before we even walked through the front gate the party stopped and the laughing stopped. You could feel the past hanging in the air and as I walked through the front gate a chill ran up my spine. As the guide talked about the camp I could feel a sickening feeling come over me and I felt as if I was going to vomit and it was not from drinking it was an eery feeling of loss. As we progressed on the tour the group said little and you could see the faces of the people around frozen in disbelief. We toured the barracks building and just being in that building brought such strong emotions within me I had to walk away. After the tour the group I was with made our way back to the train station and boarded with little conversation and this was followed by a long trip home with no one saying much of anything. We rode the train in silence each person trying to comprehend what we had just seen and make sense of it in their minds. It is not a highlight of my excursions but it is something I am glad I was able to see. In all that I had read in the past in books or seen in documentaries I had never gotten that chilled to the bone feeling of what happened there as I did standing on the ground where it happened. Germany is a beautiful country and I met some wonderful people there but each country has a past and often it is a dark one just look at the past in the United States with slavery and the treatment of the Indians and Orientals.
I always wanted to see Poland so I took a trip to soak up the Polish culture. I was blown away by the scenery and was surprised that more people do not make this a destination when traveling. I did find the people there very guarded and stand offish but keep in mind I was traveling off the beaten path in areas most tourists do not go. At the time I thought it was the fact I was an American but with further investigation many years later I would find I was very clueless to what was going on around me politically. At that time the people there were striking and fiercely fighting for rights and fearing the Russians and the US interference so they were very weary of outsiders. I had no clue of all the upheaval that was going on as I took my holiday I had the mind set of traveling from state to state like going from Michigan to Ohio as we do here in my world with no thought to any problems that could be happening within that country. I stopped in a few small towns and walked the streets and checked out some shops. I ate at a small restaurant and no one there spoke English or very little but we communicated just the same. The food was great but very heavy or as my grandma would say rib sticking food. Some areas you could still see evidence of passed wars in the depressed buildings that had never been rebuilt after being destroyed. One area I was in was farm fields as far as you could see and it was coming upon the fall season so everything was turning to that golden brown and waving in the breeze. Some farmers still used the old horse pulled plows while others had newer farm equipment. I took a lot of photos of the farmers in the field and never had the pleasure of seeing them developed because the roll got lost on my way back home. We did not have digital cameras then so if a picture was no good you had no way of knowing until it was developed. I would love to visit Poland again some day and think it is a jewel in any travelers destination of places to go.
My next weekend trip was to Denmark. What a beautiful place and the people there were so nice and accommodating to me as a traveler. The landscape was very flat and seemed to stretch out forever. I met a family at a Pub my second day there and they invited me to have lunch with them at their home how often would that happen traveling in the US? The people seemed very healthy having that what I call a stereotypical Californian look fit happy and not many overweight people or at least that I saw while I was there. As I say I was invited back to their house for lunch and the table was set with breads cheeses vegetables a very healthy lunch not skimpy but not overboard on portions. The family was very nice and the home was not large but very clean and modern looking with a bit of the past here and there. After lunch they took me for a ride to the Ocean it was cold and the temps were dropping as it was fall. What a sight! I know some say if you have seen one body of water you have seen them all but I am here to say that I have found that statement is not true. Each shore has its own feel and view that you can not get anyplace else. We did not spend a long time because of the cold weather but I was glad to have had the chance to see it. I said farewell to my hosts and did some traveling on my own and stopped at a few places they had recommended I wished I had more time to spend that trip but it was just a four day trip so I had to return to Mannheim and dawn my uniform and snap back to reality and Army life. I intended to return in the warmer weather but sadly never made it back. I did keep in touch with the family I met for many years but one year my letter was returned to sender and have never heard from them since.
I know many people never get the travel bug and are content with never leaving the safety of their own back yard or town,city they grew up in. I can understand that I myself have reverted to that as I have aged so I am glad I was able to experience traveling before I settled down and my life became consumed with bills,job and just trying to keep a roof over my head. I guess what I am saying is never miss a chance to travel when the bug hits if it is at all possible. I feel my travels have helped make me a better person more understanding and the fact I was able to see some of the history I had read about in school more up close and personal changed my view of the places I was honored to visit and the people I had the pleasure to meet. Just a few stories of the many places I was able to visit and I can only hope I left a good impression on those I came in contact with and that my invasion of their lives and culture was a positive one.
