Hit the Road

Dominic and I have not traveled extensively together, but we’re starting to rack up the out-of-town experiences under our belt.

To celebrate America’s birthday this weekend we took the Bolt Bus up to Boston. We have dear friends Kyle and Sara who recently moved to Beantown and they were amazing hosts.

We tend to think we know what it takes to show guests a good time. Dominic and I strike a nice balance between planning and itinerary drafting (Sarah) and low key relaxing (Dominic). What we haven’t quite figured out yet is how to balance our two travel preferences when we are guests ourselves.

Sara and Kyle went out of the way to make us feel welcome. From pre-purchasing unlimited subway passes to researching a list of popular tourist activities prior to our arrival, we were well cared for. Sara loves to cook – much to our benefit, and Kyle doesn’t mind being a tourist in his own town, so we were set.

If given a day in a new place, my top choice would be to set out walking and not stop until I collapse. I want to see it all, I want to do it all, and I have little regard for the human necessities such as eating and drinking. I’m not big into expensive tourist sights, but I do want to see what I can and I certainly want to be outside.

On the other hand, Dominic would be perfectly content to sit inside a dark café or bar and read a new book all day long. You could put him anywhere and he would be happy. He likes to grab a drink and chat, he definitely prefers to eat at regular intervals.

If left to our own devices, we would probably have to travel separately. Thank goodness for hospitable friends. We can walk the Freedom trail and relax over a drink in the city. We can play board games at home one night and take the subway to the Boston Pops dress rehearsal another. It was a perfect weekend with fun-loving friends.

Boston has been a nice example of how easy it is to balance our separate vacation preferences when we are with dear friends. Lesson learned - always travel in clans.