Go to that “great little place” or discover your own great little place–it’s your trip. (London)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

When Travel Tips\u00a0Hit the Tipping Point<\/h2>\n

It begins innocently. The planning, the packing, a travel tip or two. \u201cRoll, don\u2019t fold, your clothes.\u201d \u201cIf you\u2019re heading to A<\/em>, you might enjoy B<\/em> and C<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Sam and Kate are at the airport. They\u2019re excited, eager to make personal travel discoveries on their very first trip overseas. New place, new people, new language, new food, new everything. They post a brief announcement on social media and get numerous \u201cLikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here’s a crazy thought:<\/strong> What if you traveled as you liked<\/em> to travel?
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

A Tip or Two<\/h4>\n

Many people add well wishes. \u201cBon voyage!\u201d \u201cEnjoy!\u201d<\/p>\n

Some people offer suggestions. \u201cWill you visit X?\u00a0<\/em>It\u2019s lovely this time of year.\u201d \u201cDo sample some Y<\/em>\u2014it\u2019s delicious!\u201d \u201cStop in at\u00a0Z<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam and Kate smile, turn their phones to \u201cairplane\u201d mode, and head onboard.\u00a0 They plan to read a little, eat a little, and sleep a lot.<\/p>\n

Travel light. You needn’t bring along everybody else’s baggage. (Auckland)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

You’ve Got Travel Tips<\/h4>\n

There\u2019s WiFi on the flight.\u00a0Sam and Kate resist the curious urge to check work email. But they can\u2019t help seeing that their social media notifications have blown up.<\/p>\n

There are travel tips\u2014lots of travel tips. \u201cMake sure you get to\u00a0 . . .\u201d \u201cMan, you\u2019ve so gotta do . . .\u201d \u201cIf you don\u2019t see [Name of Town], then you really haven\u2019t seen [Name of Country].\u201d Even though lots of people who are native to [Name of Country] have never been to [Name of Town].<\/p>\n

Forming our own perspectives is part of the travel experience. (Los Angeles)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

My Travel Tips Are Better Than Your Travel Tips<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhere are you sitting on the plane?\u201d posts a friend-of-a-friend from Sam\u2019s middle school days. He links to a post entitled, \u201cTop Ten Hacks to Upgrade Your Seat After Take-Off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s this: \u201cMy wife and I paid only $29 round-trip and got upgraded to First Class when we traveled overseas. Our miles even scored us a 5-star hotel and VIP access to the Festival.”<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen, start your search engines. The competitive travel posts are on<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Craving ornate? Great! (Above: Vienna) Rather eat a chip? It’s your trip! (Below: Athens)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Let the Tips Fall Where They May<\/h4>\n

Some folks post travel advice. Lots of travel advice. \u00a0Some posters recap research Sam and Kate have already done.<\/p>\n

Some offer “To Do” lists: 50 SIGHTS YOU SIMPLY MUST SEE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is this list shouting at us?\u201d says Kate.\u00a0\u201cWhat if we don\u2019t want\u00a0<\/em>to see the Museum of\u00a012th Century Dental Instruments?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some offer “Skip It” lists: 50 PLACES TO SKIP CUZ THEY\u2019RE SO CLICH\u00c9.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve dreamed of seeing those places for years,\u201d says Sam. \u201cNow we’re supposed to ignore them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wherever you travel, travel your own way. (Vienna)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

1,001 Travel Tips Before You Land<\/h4>\n

Some posts declare that Sam and Kate\u2019s destination is too cold, too hot, too crowded, too quiet, too pricy, too bare-bones, possibly too This,\u00a0<\/em>and definitely too That<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A post from Cousin Bud warns of obscure laws that could lead to Sam and Kate being thrown into a medieval prison for life<\/em>\u2014just for buying ice cream from a street vendor! “Be safe, you guys!!!!!!” says Cousin Bud, using up a lifetime\u2019s allotment of exclamation marks.<\/p>\n

Care to dance all night? That’s all right! (Wedding party in Bodrum, Turkey)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Prefer a quiet caf\u00e9? Travel your way. (Vienna)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Here a Tip, There a Tip, Everywhere a Travel Tip<\/h4>\n

Some folks post photos of their own visits to Sam and Kate\u2019s travel destination, complete with travel tips so contradictory that two commenters get into a side argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cLoved<\/em> this restaurant! You must dine there to truly experience the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMeh. Avoid. The food was so-so<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some travel guidance is great, but it’s also okay to wing it.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Tipping the Baggage Scale<\/h4>\n

Sam and Kate eat their now-cold airline meal, decide they’ve read enough, and \u00a0wearily try to get some sleep. Only they forget to turn down the volume buttons on their phones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Aunt Agatha and Uncle Mortimer,\u201d says Kate grimly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs everything okay?\u201d asks Sam.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. They saw that we checked in online at that airport deli and they\u2019re hurt that we didn\u2019t let them know we were in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we were only changing planes\u2014in Newark! They’re two hours\u2019 drive away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Sam and Kate have a little guilt trip to go with their overseas trip. Sleep-deprived, jet-lagged, but still excited, they go through Customs, and despite plans to take the bus, decide on impulse to take a taxi.<\/p>\n

Forget competitive travel. Travel your own way.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Tripping Over Trip Tips<\/h4>\n

They have such a lovely chat with the driver, who speaks eloquently of his beloved native city, that they ask if he\u2019d mind being in a photo with them. The friendly driver obliges. Posting the photo, Sam writes \u201cWe\u2019ve arrived! Wow, judging by the airline crew, airport staff, and our taxi driver, people here are awesome!\u201d<\/p>\n

Cue the horror-story posts about dishonest taxi drivers, currency-exchange scams, links to bus schedules, travel tips on tipping, and something from Cousin Bud about how someone woke up in a hotel bathtub missing a kidney. Also a post from Mr. and Mrs. Competitive about the time they got upgraded to a gold-plated limo.<\/p>\n

Sam and Kate haven\u2019t just arrived overseas. They\u2019ve brought along an online Greek chorus.<\/p>\n

Don’t let social media posts and other travel tips get in the way of your own travel discoveries.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Tip, Tip, Tip\u2014Boom!<\/h4>\n

Suddenly, they have a vision of how their travels could unfold\u2014a torrent of travel tips that sound increasingly imperative: \u201cVisit X!\u201d \u201cBeware of Y!\u201d \u201c Must see Z!\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly, they don\u2019t care who has traveled overseas earlier, faster, cheaper, better, more smoothly, more authentically, or more luxuriously. They don\u2019t care if the local citizenry threw a parade for Mr. and Mrs. Competitive and named a national holiday in their honor.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Sam and Kate experience an oh-I-see moment. Suddenly, each of them hears an unspoken question: Whose trip are you taking?<\/em><\/p>\n

With that, they turn off their mobile devices and the travel tips.<\/p>\n

Happy in a crowd? That’s allowed. (Vienna)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Need solitude? Give yourself latitude. (Serifos, Greece)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Tripping Merrily Along<\/h4>\n

From that point on, Sam and Kate make: (A)<\/strong> their own way;\u00a0(B)<\/strong>\u00a0the occasional mistake; and (C)<\/strong> many personal travel discoveries.<\/p>\n

It all works out.<\/p>\n

They even buy ice cream from a street vendor.<\/p>\n

No wallets, kidneys, or obscure laws were violated
in the eating of this ice cream. (New Zealand)
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Comment<\/a>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":31999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,109,227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-travel","category-discoveries-creative","category-worldwide-mappoints"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31997"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32058,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31997\/revisions\/32058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}