"doing" travel?

It's almost a cliché...

We want to do Paris. We want to climb the Eiffel Tower, shop the Champs-Elysées, see the Arc du Triomphe, swing by the Mona Lisa, then take the kids to Euro Disney so they don't get bored.

I read comments like this all the time, and they could make me scream. Some tourists seem to approach travel by googling "top ten attractions" in a given city, then checking as many of those "top ten" off their list before they're off to their next destination. People talk about "doing" Paris, London, or Rome.

No client has ever said... The quotation at the top of this article is from Kristi Marcelle, a gifted Virtuoso colleague of mine. Her statement is so on target. I think of travel as the greatest human adventure, an opportunity to expand our horizons by immersing ourselves in different cultures, experiencing countless different ways of being in this world.

The most lasting memories of a trip are invariably those unscripted moments when we depart the beaten path, when we move deliberately away from where the crowds are gathered (e.g., the Eiffel Tower). Simply explore! Dare to wander off in whatever direction your curiosity leads you. Explore neighborhoods where non-tourists live, work, eat, and shop. Sure, you might get lost ... but what you discover while getting lost will provide the lasting memory from your trip. Then, when you've walked as far as you want, just book an Uber to take you back to your hotel.

40 square Montsouris (c) 2020 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

You might discover a hidden residential street and find charming houses like the one above at 40 Square Montsouris in Paris. Did you even know that streets like this exist in Paris?

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.