Planning a big trip is sort of funny. You envision how everything’s going to be perfectly fine for weeks on end, and then the instant you leave home, all of those small imperfections start to creep in. And that, honestly, is what you end up getting with it. Our trip of a lifetime wasn’t one of those glossy dream vacations on social media. Instead, it was more like a string of moments, ones smooth and some chaotic, all stitched together with the feeling that we were actually, at last, doing something for ourselves.
1. The Messy Start
You got started in that very normal, slightly frantic manner that comes when you’re trying to make it to the airport on time. Bags are half zipped. Snacks shoved into places snacks ought not. One of us was hot and the other cold. There you sat in line thinking, This is the freaking beginning of our great adventure.
But in fact, that awkward beginning brought it all to life for me. Like we weren’t doing some curated version of travel. We were just two kids, and we were scrambling to get a flight, and that alone was already something to celebrate.
2. The First Landing
Once you landed in our first place, there was this quick, light thing when there was this little moment where you could look at each other, and that moment, you know, you know, it was kind of like verifying that we had actually made it. The air smelled different. Not dramatically, but enough. You lugged our suitcases across the uneven pavement, a little awkward and not particularly graceful. You recall that feeling I had of being excited, nervous, and having a little bit of hunger.
Travel hunger is all its own texture. You didn’t hurry off into sightseeing. Instead, you wandered. And that might have been the best idea: Wandering has given you ways of bumping into things you didn’t know you needed to find. A street musician plays softly. A shop owner was waving like you were old friends. A café with wobbly chairs and perfect coffee.
3. Falling Into A Rhythm
A couple of days in, you found it. Not a perfect one. It changed every day. Some mornings, you got up early: hellbent on seeing everybody we could see. Other mornings, you sat around, time passing like warm honey. You once tried one afternoon to follow a local map and got completely turned around, which led you to end up by the water, an area, instead of the historical district. But you loved it more than you envisioned.
You stayed by the shoreline with shoes off, and stared as passing boats idly drifted at the surface in slow, lazy-moving lines. You couldn’t shake the strangeness of having plans that fall apart and somehow fall into place all at the same time.
4. The People You Meet
But you think each trip is a home walk with a few people you will never forget in your home. In our case, there was the couple who kept the small inn that we rented for an evening out, and you slept within. They reported to you about their children, and about how the season shaped the town, even about the bakery down the street that produced bread so nice in quality that its bread sold out before noon. Their stories gave the town a layered and alive feel.
Then there was the taxi driver who had been giving a mini history lesson and life advice to us. There was one simple line, something like, “Don’t rush through joy,” and he didn’t even mean it sincerely, and it stuck with me. I’m still thinking about it.
5. The Little Strangers
Not everything was dreamy. You were tired and a little annoyed, and overwhelmed by what you needed to eat. And oh, the weather. There was this one day it literally poured day and night, and you kept pretending it didn’t care, but, honestly, soggy socks ruin the mood really quickly. Yet those little challenges did help to bond you.
Surviving the slight annoyances made the lovely, big moments even better, you know. Travel kind of makes you venture a little beyond your comfort zone, and though it’s uncomfortable, it’s also the real reason the whole thing is living or breathing.
6. The One Unexpected Spot
There’s one place on every trip you find that’s not in the guidebook or those recommended lists. For you, it was a narrow alley lined with mismatched lanterns that opened to a courtyard where locals sat and gathered at dusk. You discovered it because you were walking the entire way around after having snacks.
The lanterns kinda shimmered in an uneven, homemade way, not really perfect shapes, and that made them seem more charming. You spent almost an hour there absorbing it. The world felt slower. And bigger. And smaller. It’s difficult to describe, but maybe that’s the point. None of the meaningful things has a neat explanation.
7. The Moments Between The Moments
One thing you noticed, maybe more than on previous trips, was how that in between mattered nearly as much as the big moments. The long train ride with quiet conversations. The peaceful breakfast, one of you was still sleepy. The little souvenir shop where you bought something you didn’t need at all, but loved anyway. It made it all the more important to pay attention. As though travel weren’t a formality, but rather this long, gentle unraveling, which became unforgettable.
8. Coming Home, Slightly Different
As you came home, you felt a little different than before. Not drastically altered but just expanded slightly. Traveling can do that. It stretches you in small, substantial ways. You understand how to be patient again. How to be curious. How to laugh at things that are not going as planned. You also learned that, no matter how silly it sounds, a nice parking option can matter more than you realize. Back at home, you also used Parking Up for convenience, and somehow, if you notice, that simple detail ultimately helped with the landing.
9. Conclusion
With a bit more time, you feel what aspects of the trip came with you the most. A feeling of being suspended between that which feels familiar and the unknown. The pure joy of sharing discoveries with people you love. The deeper breath you take every time you realise you are somewhere new and your troubles feel a little smaller. It wasn’t an easy trip in your entire life. It wasn’t meant to be. It was honest. Beautiful in the weird way, real life is beautiful. And maybe that’s why it was so unforgettable. Going for a trip like that, even one that feels a tad messy and imperfect, or not quite in order, is only to be expected. Just go. Two tickets may be all you need to kick off an adventure that stays with you long after the bags have run their course.