Where next to travel?

 

Very useful book!

As fate would have it, I managed to travel this summer to two of the most over-touristed places on the planet - Venice, Italy and Yosemite, California. While I still managed to have a very good time in both places (using strategies such as getting an early start on the day, being with a lovely travel companion), the crowds made the trips less than ideal. 

Having learned from my experiences, I am taking a more thoughtful approach to planning my next big trip(s). Ideally, I would like to take a two week trip in November and another month-long trip in January or February to escape the Minnesota cold for a bit. And I worry I am getting a bit of a late start. And it feels weird not to have an answer when someone asks, "Where is your next big trip?"

There are some well-recognized strategies for avoid over-touristed areas:

1. Go in the off season or shoulder season. Most people, primarily families, vacation during the northern hemisphere’s summer months. School is out. The weather in the US and Europe is warm. Travel during the fall months tends to be picking up for those who have flexible vacation dates. Late spring is lovely in Europe. Winter is great in South America. One does need to use caution when traveling to places like SE Asia and Central America since they both have rainy seasons and tend to be very hot and humid year-round. 
2. Go to less mainstream destinations. This one is a little trickier. If your goal is to see the Mona Lisa, a vacation in a small town in Provence isn’t going to be satisfying. But if you want to hike, bike,  or sit on a beach, you can find plenty of places off the beaten path if you dig a little. I see more and more travel companies and websites advertising “off the beaten path” suggestions.
3. Rely on a professional travel company. In my encroaching senility, I find that a professional travel agent can be of invaluable service. They can help one figure out how to answer the when and where to go questions. Do they get some form of compensation for their work that may cost you a little extra? Of course, but a little more cost upfront may be more than offset by a great time. (I have used MacsAdventures, Knowmad, Grasshopper, SE Tours, Road Scholar, and Boat Bike Tours with happy results.)

Things get a little more complicated for me since I have some personal criteria for my travels:

1. I like them to be active. Big cruise ships or sitting on a bus or staying in an all inclusive beach resort - no thanks. Biking or hiking - yes!
2. I want to see new countries. I’ve now visited around 60 countries and ideally would like to add one new one each year.
3. I don’t want to wind up spending my children’s entire inheritance. I don’t need (or want) 5 star hotels. I prefer local restaurants and street food to fancy restaurants. I would prefer to travel economically and more often. Or maybe I am just cheap.
4. I want to travel sometimes by myself. Sometimes with my SO. And sometimes with my family. Great reward is to be found in each type of travel.

Good travel is the result of not just knowing where and when you want to go, but knowing yourself as well. I always view travel as a learning experience. That helps when the crowds get claustrophobic. 

Your observations/advice about travel?

Constructive criticism

Image source: https://reallifeofanmsw.com/2020/05/10/constructive-criticism-3/

Few people like criticism. But most of us can gain from it.

A friend and I were talking about some suggestions made by an editor of his latest book. She called into question the term “master bedroom." - “master” conjuring up the era of slavery and all of its injustices. Yeah, I can see that, as could my friend.

I was once admonished for using the phrase “cracking the whip” when assuring a coworker that I would have my tech staff work on a problem without delay. When I used the term, I was thinking mules as the historical reference to the illusion. She was thinking enslaved persons. I can see that too. I no longer use the saying.

After reading a manuscript of one of my books, a friend noted that I wrote “somewhat unique." “The word ‘unique' cannot have qualifiers. It is an absolute. A thing is either unique or it is not.” I stood corrected and remain so to this day. And I silently moan when others say “somewhat unique” or similar.

After a professional presentation, a librarian told me that I was racist. “Why do you say that?” I asked. “Because your slideshow showed not a single child of color - only white students!” I explained that I used photos of the students in my own school district (filtered to remove identity), which at the time was small, rural, and majority white. But after the criticism, I made sure I included as large a sampling of different races as possible. And it really wasn’t that hard to do.

The final piece of constructive criticism that I appreciate to this day also came after giving a keynote presentation at a conference. Once again a woman (probably a librarian) asked me if I realized that throughout my talk I played with the coins and other objects in my pockets. But perhaps it looked like I was playing with something else and I should not be lecturing about education nor be allowed within 100 yards of a school. Before every talk and workshop that followed, I always removed everything from my front pants pockets and placed them in my suit jacket pockets - and kept my hands out of all my pockets.

Constructive criticism can be embarrassing. Painful. Humiliating. But should one choose to learn from it, it can be invaluable. 

Might these two problems cancel themselves out?

The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment. Warren Bennis

The projections are reliable and stark: By 2050, people ages 65 and older will make up nearly 40% of the population in some parts of East Asia and Europe. That’s almost twice the share of older adults in Florida, America’s retirement capital. Large numbers of retirees will be dependent on a shrinking number of working age people to support them. Lauren Leatherby, NYT,  July 23, 2023

An article in the July 24, 2023 Star Tribune newspaper reported that we Minnesotans can now renew our license plate tabs at the local supermarket. Using a machine similar to an ATM, one provides the necessary information and payment and bada-bing, bada-boom one gets new stickers printed out. No human contact necessary.

And, I would suspect, fewer employees needed at the vehicle registration desk in the county offices. Perhaps less demand for postal workers who might deliver the stickers. 

It seems to me that we may be facing two big problems that just might cancel each other out.

The first is that there is a shrinking percentage of our population who will be in the workforce. My Boomer generation is large and retiring in growing numbers. Our children and children’s children seem to be postponing starting families. The advisability of large numbers of immigrants who might fill needed work positions seems to be called ever more into question. 

Yet at the same time, automation and AI are doing more of the work that was once done by humans. Warehouses look to be run by some sort of robotic pickers. Manufacturing has long been dominated by robots. Self-driving cars are becoming a thing. Even tasks done by nursing home workers are being co opted by little C3POs. (Somehow I would rather have a robot change my diapers and empty my drool bucket than a human being.)

As “cheap” labor becomes harder to find and more expensive when found, the push for automation will make increasing economic sense for businesses and the government. My local bank recently remodeled its office area, taking out dozens of cubicles once used by bank officers. Of the ten teller windows, usually only two are now occupied. Hey, with online banking and ATMs and Venmo, who needs to go to a bank any more?

One business that seems to remain labor-intensive is the local supermarket. While the number of checkout clerks has dwindled due to self-checkout, produce workers, meat cutters, shelf-restockers, bakers, and deli workers are still plentiful. How long, I wonder, before the big stores figure out a way for shelves to be somehow automatically restocked? Before all hamburger is processed and packaged before being shipped to the store?  Before robots start baking the bismarcks and apple fritters? 

The nature of human work will change. Rather than flip burgers at McDonalds, the employees will maintain the burger-flippin’ mechanical devices and troubleshoot the already present machines used to place orders. “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us,” will be true for all fast food joints unless the AI cook develops the ability to get upset. People who really enjoy cooking can work as chefs in more upscale restaurants.

I have always believed that any person who can be replaced by a machine, should be. Work should engage the mind, allow for creativity and problem-solving, and give individuals a sense of self worth. Automation and a shrinking workforce may just make that more likely.

So ends my morning mental rambling on this hot, hot day…