Welcome to Tuscany: Thinking Outside the Guidebook

Welcome to Tuscany: Thinking Outside the Guidebook

I was on my own for three weeks; just me, a cheap convertible rental car, and about 60 pounds of camera gear. It was the first time I had traveled alone to a foreign country, and I was expecting a very different sort of trip. My past travels to European and tropical destinations have been group experiences, either with family, friends, or as part of a tour. Barb and Josh agreed to stay home and let Dad go off to do his photography thing (at the cost of a family Disney cruise, I might add), allowing me to plan my expedition to Tuscany on my own terms.

The fact that I was alone made this a very different trip. Although traveling companions can be good from a coping and security standpoint, they inevitably color how a new region is perceived. If your traveling partner dislikes the French, is paranoid of pickpockets, or keeps their nose forever embedded in a guidebook, these perspectives indirectly become your perspectives.

In addition, everyone always has a personal quest that requires extra research and inquiry, if not an absolute change in plans. For me, it was finding a really good Bisteca Fiorentina while I was in Florence (translation: I wanted a good steak). This goal ultimately resulted in my seeking out the people who might possess this insider knowledge, consulting a few maps, and making an evening cab excursion. My wife's personal quest might be finding the perfect doll to give her niece for her birthday, or doing an extensive review of all the gelato shops in Siena. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's bad to have personal quests or wanting to experience specific things when you go to a new place. In fact, it's probably a requisite for making a personal connection between you and your new surroundings. I'm only saying that when you travel with other people, a group experience tempers your own personal response to the region. And my goal for this trip was to connect on a personal level, documenting my own unique perspective.

Copyright © 2005 by Dan Giordan