Istanbul, Turkey in 2016. Photo/Stacy McCloud.
Traveling, exploring, and adventuring are my favorite pastimes. I love architecture and history, and I have an insatiable appetite for adventure. I’m also a foodie. Aside from jumping out of a perfectly good airplane or soaring to accelerated heights on a roller coaster, I'm pretty much game for anything.
Traveling removes us from our safe harbors and comfort zones. Traveling inspires the discovery of new things, new sights, tastes, peoples, languages, and cultures.
The only way to truly understand, know, and appreciate other lands is by firsthand experiencing—seeing and hearing it with your own eyes and ears.
The world is in an upheaval, seemingly a malevolent force is at work. The importance of travel, even locally or nationally, has never been greater.
The wise Edgar Allan Poe once said, "Believe nothing you hear and only one half that you see." How I interpret the 19th-century dark poet’s words is this: do not be over-reliant, do not take everything that is told to you as truth, and record your truths with your own experiences.
Gazing at the rooftops of Turkey in 2016. Photo/Stacy McCloud
I'm always trying to hone my traveling skills. In doing so there are a few considerations one must make to perfect the constantly evolving art. Here are some tips to remember while planning escapes.
First and foremost, remember the infamous words of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.”
2. Pack lightly. Launder clothes if needed, or buy necessary items as souvenirs.
3. Know the forecast, and TRY to pack accordingly. If you forget this step, refer to #2.
4. Don't overschedule. It can be grueling and add too much pressure. Be spontaneous! You may discover something you didn't expect!
5. Allow ample time to get to the airport, bus, or train station. There is nothing worse than starting a vacation stressed.
I’ve saved the number one most important rule of traveling for last:
1. CHOOSE YOUR TRAVEL AMBASSADOR WISELY! Not everyone is cut out for this crucial role.
The arduous, yet gratifying, job of the travel ambassador requires a person with exceptional organizational skills, time management, and unlimited resourcefulness and patience.
An adept travel ambassador's duties include but are not limited to planning and organizing the trip, including collecting schedules, researching destinations, and price-shopping airlines, hotels, and various excursions. This arduous, yet gratifying, job requires a person with exceptional organizational skills, time management, and unlimited resourcefulness and patience.
In my nuclear family, I am the travel ambassador. This title was gifted to me, not chosen by me. Naturally, I possess none of the above traits to be an adequate travel ambassador. I am not organized, timely, or patient. The only things I have going for me are that I work excellently under pressure, and I am resourceful.
In fact, my exceptional resourcefulness rendered the other requirements unnecessary. Over the last 20 years, however, I have adopted and improved the other skills. (Except for time management—my mother's constant tardiness is heavily engrained in my genes.)
In earlier years as travel ambassador, my family had missed flights by a day, been early by a day, arrived without hotel accommodations, had seats throughout the airplane but not together, flown on different flights, and been packed into a teeny-tiny sports car because I'd forgotten to reserve a rental big enough for my long-legged husband and offspring.
Although sometimes tedious, I've grown to enjoy this position that was thrust on me. I like price shopping and finding deals—I love finding unique excursions, great restaurants, and amazing accommodations without breaking the bank.
One lesson I learned over my years as a travel ambassador is this: There can NEVER be two travel ambassadors on one trip. It disrupts the oligarchical rule and is a recipe for disaster. When traveling with others, one ambassador must relinquish their duties.
Stacy McCloud in Hagia Sophia. Photo/Stacy McCloud.
In the fall of 2016, our party was bound for Istanbul, Turkey, and my father served as our ambassador. We were visiting just months after shootings and bombings at the airport killed nearly 50 people.
Traveling to a destination that has recently experienced a natural disaster tends to be inexpensive, so traveling to a destination that recently experienced a terrorist attack is nearly free. Ritz Carlton Istanbul was nearly giving out rooms, and every room was upgraded.
Upon parking at USAirport Parking at DIA, we lumbered to our shuttle with our luggage and rifles bound for an Asian ibex hunt. We arrived three hours early, trusting we had ample time to check in our firearms. Unfortunately, our acting ambassador failed to read the updated guidelines for traveling with firearms to Turkey. Apparently, we were required to check in the firearms 24 hours prior to travel.
Whoops.
Then, the airline agent requested our passports. Scrutinizing my passport, she asked if I'd recently been married and why the last name on my passport didn't match my flight reservation. The last name my father (of 42 years) had reserved my passage under was none other than my previous last name. MY EX-HUSBAND’S LAST NAME. At this time, I had been divorced for 11 years, had been with my current husband for 9 years, and married for the last 4 (My father attended my wedding in case you're wondering. My last name—McCloud—was common knowledge).
Our entire reservation was botched. There was no way to check my husband and parents in and purchase a new ticket under my REAL last name. It was too late to cancel the whole reservation and re-purchase.
Our agent deliberated with her manager, devising a plan to circumvent the issue. IF we were able to provide my birth certificate, CURRENT marriage certificate, and my expired passport with my previous married name and photo, all would be saved! I would need all three pieces to board the flight the next day. I was unsure of the survival of my previous passport, but with my husband’s constant optimism, we concluded it was worth a look.
My husband and father jumped on a shuttle to USAirport parking to collect our vehicle and zoom back to Greeley to retrieve said documents and save our vacation.
While my mother and I waited with the attendant for two and a half hours for the return of our husbands—and the slim possibility of the existence of all three documents—we began the process of checking in our firearms for our flight the next day. The air was heavy, and to cut the stress would require a sword.
After an agonizing day, my triumphant husband and sheepish father returned, bearing the necessary documents. By the skin of our teeth, we made it to Turkey.
The moral of my story is this.
With spring breakers gearing up for vacation season and seeking toes in the sand, drinks in their hands, and never-ending sunburned flesh, don’t forget to take a deep breath and remember vacations aren't always about the journey. They are sometimes about the destinations. Don’t let a rocky journey sour your destination. Relax and roll with the adventure.
Sometimes in the moment, we don't see the gifts we are given, and we lose sight of the fact that the most important job of a good travel ambassador is creating unforgettable memories. Thanks, Dad!
#beautyinthebeasts #skingirl #archerygirl #travelambassadors #theimportanceofthetravelambassador #travelinggirl #turkey #relaxandrollwithadventure #makingmemories #liveyourbestlife #mccloudlife
