Travel Mode

I studied the vending machine for several minutes before inserting my coins and making a selection. Each button had a series symbols made up of letters from the Korean alphabet. Concentrating on each block of symbols, I haltingly pronounced each segment. Very slowly. My lips could form the sounds, but my brain did not comprehend the phrase.

Until one fortuitous word. The first two blocks were identical, followed by a basic vowel.

코코아

Like Grover’s word of the day on Sesame Street I carefully joined the three syllables.

CO – CO – A

“Hot chocolate!” my feet did a little excited dance. It was revelation. For me. Because it was my discovery. This is why I still remember this moment so many years later. I was in South Korea in 1996.

I was reminded of this vending machine triumph as I was reading Seth Kugel’s book Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious. In the opening chapter, Seth is in a small Hungarian town standing in front of a drab cement building with the word SZESZFőZDE stencilled in block letters. With the help of Google Translate he found out his word of the day was DISTILLERY.

“You don’t say” as a dumb-luck smile curled on his lips.

And thus began his discovery of the small town of Mezőberény. He chose this town to see what it was like to spend the weekend in the opposite of a tourist destination. There was no information about Mezőberény on TripAdvisor or in any guidebook.

He admits that stumbling upon an old distillery may not be akin to viewing the Sistine Chapel, but in some ways it is more exhilarating. Because it was his discovery.

Again, by “discover” I don’t mean being the first person somewhere or even the first outsider. Discovery is not a fact, it’s an experience. There’s a place you didn’t know existed, and then, suddenly you do. And you found it by taking the long route, peering around corners, knocking on doors, talking to strangers on buses. And so it’s yours.

Seth Kugel, Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious – Chapter 2 Organic Experiences

For me, ordering hot chocolate at a vending machine using my rudimentary Korean was exhilarating. Again, for me. That’s the beauty about these discoveries. They are unique. We create our own.

Seth calls these “organic experiences.” Throughout the book, he shares many of his experiences as a travel writer for the New York Times (from 2010 to 2016 he was the Frugal Traveller). For example, he detours off the main road to follow an intriguing road sign for a livestock auction in Texas and to explore small towns among pistachio farms in Turkey (where he ended invited into a family’s home for lunch). These experiences were not planned. Each time he bolsters up the courage to dive into an unknown scenario and chat up strangers to find his way.

Travelling organically doesn’t cost more money – in fact, it costs less. But it does cost planning time, and even harder, requires courage.

Seth Kugel, Rediscovering Travel – Chapter 2 Organic Experiences

The book is not a guidebook with itineraries or a Lonely Planet top 10 list of destinations. In fact, he does not even recommend following verbatim his own itineraries from his travel columns. He stands by his opinions, but if you follow someone else’s trip word for word “you might as well be on a bus with a tour guide.”

He urges the reader to “rediscover travel.” In a way that is unique to you. He’s not saying don’t plan at all, but don’t be afraid to go off script and be open to spontaneity (not unlike the advice from another New York Times columnist in Alone Time).

If you love old school maps like I do, you will love his story about buying a city map in Santiago, Chile when Google Maps failed him. He rediscovered the joy of a paper map you can mark up with a pen. With the whole city folded out in front of him, rather than zooming in and out on a tiny screen, he had a better appreciation of the city’s layout. With his map in hand he allowed himself to wander and began to intuitively understand where his hotel was in relationship to where he was going.

If he got lost he would ask a local for directions. In fact, it gave him an excuse to try out the local language and if he was lucky strike up a conversation. His best advice on how to approach strangers: “Smile and ask a question.”

His ingenious (and completely made up) “Travel Mode” for your smartphone has other tips for limiting technology usage.

Modelled on Airplane Mode, which restricts smartphone usage to functions that (allegedly) don’t interfere with an airplane’s instruments, Travel Mode restricts the use of apps that detract from travel while allowing free access to those that improve it.

Seth Kugel, Rediscovering Travel – Appendix I: Travel Mode

The mode restricts text messaging, emails and social media apps to a pre-determined Connection Time (say 1 hour in your hotel at night) so you can fully immerse yourself in your travels without distractions from home. Google maps are fine if you are driving (or lost in a dark forest) but otherwise try the paper map, wander and peek around corners. He is a fan of Google Translate to make it easier to talk with locals, but you must first learn 5 basic travel phrases of the local language (Hello, Goodbye, Thank you, You’re welcome and Where is the Bathroom). That’s just good manners.

My travels in South Korea were well before Google Translate. In a way I feel lucky many of my travel experiences were pre-smartphone. Otherwise, I doubt I would have tried to memorize the Korean alphabet (it’s 24 basic letters, really not too difficult). With no map of any kind, I was left to explore the confusing city streets, gradually venturing out further from my hotel, memorizing signs and markers like bread crumbs so I could figure out how to return. (I was generally nervous to approach strangers for directions, but I will try to follow Seth’s advice in the future and be more courageous!)

Not all my Korean experiences were as exhilarating as the CO-CO-A moment. Or even good. Travelling outside your comfort zone has it’s good and bad moments.

But when the time is right and given the opportunity, I would happily activate my “Travel Mode” again.