When wrapping up your year in review it is only natural that you take a look back and take stock of what you did and did not accomplish so you know how to do things better in the future. We were called upon by some fellow bloggers to post our biggest travel regrets. Thanks to both The Mellyboo Project and Southwest Compass for sucking us into this travel meme :-) After sitting down and going over our time, this is what we came up with as our biggest travel regrets!
Our Biggest Travel Regrets
Visiting NYC and not seeing a Broadway show – We have visited New York City many times. Kenin and I have always wanted to see a show on Broadway. This never happened because most of our trips to NYC were pretty spontaneous. I even took Ken to see a concert in NYC where we flew in for 24 hours, but somehow haven’t managed to see a show on Broadway! Next time, I am not leaving without seeing a show ON Broadway.
Going to Trinidad and not taking the extremely short flight/ferry to Tobago – This is Kenin’s regret. He has visited my homeland on countless many occasions. We always seem to get caught up in family gatherings and never had a moment to ourselves. Tobago is a 45 minute flight from Trinidad and it is relatively inexpensive. It boasts one of the world’s most beautiful coral reefs and one of the world’s best beaches. There is no excuse for him not making this trip :)
Going to Alaska and not seeing one darn bear – We traveled almost every inch of interior Alaska during our last visit. I didn’t see one bear, not one! I’ve actually never seen a real bear in the wild. I’ve driven through most of North America in all types of climates and many different topographies. Never seen a bear, ever, in the wild. I’m beginning to believe that they are a mythical creature and all the internet hype is for fake, animatronic creatures. Bears might not be real….
Not doing more excursions on cruises – We’ve sailed on many cruises in our past together. We used much of this time poorly. We napped and ate and napped some more. We only recently started doing shore excursions while cruising. We missed too many hikes, fun beach activities, and sight-seeing tours to count. I recommend that if you go to a strange place, take the time to actually visit. Go out there and meet the locals, eat their food, dance to their music, and immerse yourself in a different culture. No more lazy cruising for us!
Being sick while visiting Portland OR – I was looking forward to visiting Portland, OR for years. I finally get the chance to be in the city for two days, and I get the flu. What dumb frickin’ luck!?! I am not talking about the beginnings of the flu either. I am talking about snotty nosed, red eyed, can’t breathe, can’t see straight, everything hurts, full on FLU! It was bad! What do I do… I put on my grown-up pants, slap on a smile, and head into town with Kenin. We ate great food, drank great beer, walked around the city, drank more great beer, and I would not remember doing any of it had it not been for the incredible invention of cameras. Portland needs to have a part 2 :(
We try to not have any negativity while traveling. Things get in the way, plans change, stuff happens. Take it with a grain of salt and make the best of your travels! You only live once, make sure you do it to the fullest! Safe and happy travels everyone!
Since this is a “Our Biggest Travel Regrets” chain post, here are my next 3 victims!
D.J. at The World of DeeJ
Ayelet at All Colores
Tami at Colorado Mountain Mom
Please feel free to comment below and take a moment to subscribe to TheConstantRambler via email or RSS by using the sidebar or follow us on Facebook, Google+, tumblr , and Pinterest
“Bears might not be real…” ROFL!! Loved living vicariously through your travels this year ;)
Why’s that funny…. have you EVER seen a bear in the ACTUAL wild?!?!?!?! :-)
Thanks for commenting. I’m sorry my response is so delayed. We were having an error with our comment system and we just found a bunch of older comments that were marked as spam :-(
Not one bear? Stinks. Maybe. If you’re safely in a vehicle, then that stinks. :o)
Nope.. not one real bear…
Thanks for commenting. I’m sorry my response is so delayed. We were having an error with our comment system and we just found a bunch of older comments that were marked as spam :-(
I think my biggest regret of 2012 is not visiting any NEW countries. Canada, 18 different US states, 5 different Mexican states, and another quick look through Central America….but I’ve done all that before. Yet for some reason I did it all again this year, just solo. After splitting up with my ex (whom was supposed to be my traveling partner for the year) I kind of threw all our plans out the window and just took it day-by-day. Sure, I found a few new cities and made some great friends, but certainly didn’t have as many of the wild, unplanned adventures as I have in prior years.
Guess that just means I’ll have to use 2013 to make up for it, eh?
That just means you need a new motto for 2013. GO BIG OR GO HOME :-)
Thanks for commenting. I’m sorry my response is so delayed. We were having an error with our comment system and we just found a bunch of older comments that were marked as spam :-(
I always enjoy your pictures! Keep ’em coming! And NO MORE regrets, kids :)
Thanks Chica!!
Thanks for commenting. I’m sorry my response is so delayed. We were having an error with our comment system and we just found a bunch of older comments that were marked as spam :-(
Cute article! I laughed about the bears not being real. We have one here! For real! He’s been getting into our neighbors trash and leaving behind a present.
Have you actually seen the bear though, or just “evidence” of this so called bear?!?
Carlo feels the same way about bears. He has always wanted to see one in the wild, doing its natural bear stuff. Sadly the only one that he has ever seen was failing at natural bear stuff. He was dead on the side of the road :( hopefully he will see a successful, natural, bear one day.
The bear Carlo saw wasn’t dead. Something has to be alive before it can be classified as dead. More than likely it just ran out of batteries. :-)
Thanks for commenting. I’m sorry my response is so delayed. We were having an error with our comment system and we just found a bunch of older comments that were marked as spam :-(
I did one of these travel regrets posts too. Like you my regrets were also about missing out on experiences when I was so close.
If you’re going to see one Broadway show… make it Wicked!!! I saw it in NYC and London and it is amazing!!!!!
I’ve heard wicked is suposed to be very good. There are so many choices out there it’s so hard to choose. We’ll make it one day!
Thanks for commenting. I’m sorry my response is so delayed. We were having an error with our comment system and we just found a bunch of older comments that were marked as spam :-(
Nice!! This is where I think doing more planning in advance really pays off. You never have enough time while travelling to do everything (that awful word compromise…). If you plan ahead and also allow some flexibility in your itinerary then you can ensure you do your major trip goals. And allow some time for the unplanned in between bits.
Getting sick when you are travelling is a pain – if your itinerary is too tight it is hard to get that time back… (fond memories of being stuck in our hotel in Chamonix coughing up green stuff for a couple of days – looking at Montblanc out our hotel window. We cancelled our train reservation and car hire and rejigged our trip to have a couple more days.)
All the best for 2013!
Sorry for the delayed response my comments were broken for a bit there. To be honest we travel VERY loosely. Other then a few key cities and sights we leave a lot until the last minute to preserve spontaneity.
You should make sure to see some Broadway shows next time your in NYC. Off Broadway shows are just as good!
Sorry for the delayed response my comments were broken. We will definitely hit a show next time.
Thanks for tagging me! I agree – I’m not at all sure bears really exist in the wild! Want to see them in person too :) And too bad about getting sick for Portland! Of course, now you have to return :):)
I actually thought of you when we did this post because you asked if we saw bears in the wilderness. Sadly, we did not. Now we need to do a repeat trip :D
I love how all the items in your regrets are the result of being on great excursions. Better to be traveling and only seeing most of the stuff that you want, than stuck in an office tower reading travel Blogs :)
Keep up the journeys, and the love of life.
-Dennis
We appreciate everything we get to do and try to live life regret-free. We could probably find the silver lining in sitting in an office tower as well :)
I wouldn’t “regret” being ill or not seeing bears. That’s just unfortunate.
The other things you have more of an element of control over and I hope you get to rectify them soon. Seeing a show in NYC is a must really and maybe best to just queue up on the day at the discount ticket office. I got discounted tickets to see Phantom of the Opera on the same day.
Phantom is definitely on our list of potentials for a Broadway show. I’ve also hear Wicked is supposed to be pretty good. we usualy travel on short notice, so the same day discount sounds like the way to go. Thanks for the tip :-)
So sorry to hear you had those regrets but you know what,
I firmly believe that there is always a reason why something doesn’t happen. Sad but its true.
You can always catch a theater play, no worries. I certainly agree with The guy above. I love the Phantom of the opera or Mamma Mia on Broadway.
I can relate to being sick during a trip. I was in Innsbruck, Austria a beautiful city near the mountains and spend an entire day indoors curing a cold. Kind of sucked! I had to take the train the next day.
Life will offer you better opportunities, without a doubt!
Happy travels ;)
Oh I’m sure we’ll have other opportunities :-) We alsways look for the silver lining in everything.
Funny about the Bear…I can relate
I live in Alberta and everyone i know has seen a Moose up close and personal – and I have not…
We’ve gone looking and again, no Moose on the days we’ve gone out.
I joke that i now believe they are like unicorns and don’t really exist!