MOTRLT = Middle of the Road Less Travelled
Adventure without risking life and limb
Hello. My name is Jill Browne and this is my travel story. It’s about having fun without killing myself, in a world where adventure seems to mean courting death and overloading on adrenalin – neither of which really ring my bell.
Frankly, even in my 20s I wasn’t likely to jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft. So many things just didn’t appeal to me: crawling through caves in the dark, swimming with man-eating sharks, politely feasting on sheep’s eyeballs and rancid yak butter – I really wasn’t cut out for all that then. Oddly enough, getting a little older, and then a little more older, hasn’t changed my point of view.
But OMG! as they say, I can’t see myself surrendering to the all-inclusive resort or the package tour. Not now, not ever. Well, package tour maybe, but it would have to be a really really good one.
I travel independently. When I go alone, I talk to strangers. I check out little nooks and crannies – not dangerous, just not always mainstream. I like to know more about where I’ve been after I’ve been there, but given the choice, I prefer to go in blind.
I don’t always travel alone, and it turns out that my husband is pretty darn good at finding adventures I can manage when we’re together.
Sometimes it’s a city thing, sometimes it’s a countryside hike. I’ll try it if the odds of dying aren’t too high.
I live in western Canada, and have travelled in much of my own country, though not yet to the north. Has to be on my list.
I’ve also lived in London, England, and as far as travel goes, that is my number one pick of places to return to year after year.
Because I don’t care much for hot weather, I haven’t spent much time in southern Europe, but I would recommend Venice in May to anyone.
Also in the hot weather department, I spent some time in northern Queensland a few years ago, enjoying a taste of life in the place where tropical plants come from. However, my favourite part of Australia is probably Tasmania. I’m not really sure about that. Must go back and see more before I can decide forever.
Most recently, I added a trip to Helsinki in January en route to London from Calgary. Yes, it’s true that Helsinki is actually on the other side of London but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and I’m very glad I went. I’m a great admirer of the nordic way of life.
The most unusual place I’ve been is probably the Faroe Islands. These are in the north Atlantic between Norway and Iceland. The scenery is open and magnificent, the people very down to earth, and the way of life a pleasing combination of modern European sophistication and old ways of living on the land.
Well, enough about me. I’m going to share some stories and hope your travels will take you to the middle of the road less travelled, too.
Jill
