The people who pay me to keep this blog alive (some major international corporations are among them) require that I show some professionalism. I have explained them a thousand times that for this blog, professionalism is a drawback! Meticulousness is my enemy! Schedule always sounds as an insult to me! But I'm still human and I have needs (=sex, money), so I have to write down a few notes about what I'm going to post next.
First of all, I have some extra memories from various Greek Islands in the form of digital pictures and, well, memories. But I'm also planning a trip to a place in Peloponese, Greece. I don't know which, but I have a method to find out: I will choose the roads that give me the vibes and see where I will be led. Then, I'm fleeing!
Rome, Amsterdam and London are in my schedule (what? My mother is a saint!). Actually, Rome and London will be visited by my highness (in that sense) for only a few hours. That is because I will only use them for the airports. One might say that it's a pity to visit Rome and London for only 3 or 4 hours each, but I'm not worried about that, because I have just made a small theory to argue that this is a good thing.
Every tourist wants to visit Rome and London (except if he or she leaves there). They dream about it, they thing how cool it would be, they watch the movies, the see the pictures, they learn the name of the sights. That's OK, that's the dreaming phase, also known as "phase one". Then they plan the trip, and they are always very excited, because planning (but not scheduling!) is like intense trip dreaming! This is called the planning phase, or "phase two".
Then it's the trip. The actual trip. It's happening. You go there and you visit the place. And you don't like it that much. You get tired easily, everything looks pretentious, put there for you and the other tourists to see, everyone wants your money, and there is nobody to talk except other tourists. You might try to cheer up by going clubbing, you may decide to become the alternative tourist and seek for places full of tourists who don't want to go to the places the other tourists go, you might even stay in your room and relax for the rest of your vacation. Whatever you do, it's always far far away for what you have planned - dreamed. This is "phase 3" a.k.a. "the reality phase".
And then it's the "story phase", the time where you recreate your trip in your mind so that it will become interesting. One reason is that you need some good stories to tell your friends and enemies. The other reason, though, is that you need a good story for yourself. So, since you failed to experience it in real Rome or London, you might as well create it in your mind. It's the same thing, with the difference that it's not real, but who am I to judge, right? The story phase is called "phase 4". This blog is a "phase 4" kind of blog.
I made an observation: long planned trips don't suck all the time. In fact, there is a time frame from the moment you step your foot on the airport or bus station until 5 to 6 hours later, which can be called the "happy time frame", where you have hope that everything you dreamed of will be there. Your eyes are hungry for what the place has to offer, your feet feel like they have feathers attached and you know that anything can happen. You know it because you are still inc phase 2, the intense dreaming phase. And ti feels great.
I suggest a type of trip that I call "the appetizer trip". The key is to utilize as much of the happy time frame as possible, while avoiding the disappointing time that follows. My experiments with Rome and London are not very well organized, because I NEVER ORGANIZE, but I will report back to you and let you know how it went. Remember that I will try to leave before depression kicks in.
Now, Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a place I 've been before. I expect it to be different than the previous time, when I sensed a couple of extra dimensions, I saw smells and tasted colors, I time-traveled. Time travel was good. My flight schedule (grrrr!) is too tight, so I might need it this time too.
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