The importance of not being rigid when traveling

It was when I had been in London for only a day that I realized I wanted to change yet another part of my trip.  Except this time, I wanted to cut an entire part out instead of just changing dates around like the past changes had been.

The fact was that I wasn’t really excited about going to Tel Aviv anymore which I found particularly funny because I was probably the most excited about going there when I planned the trip.  

There were a few reasons why I wasn’t particularly psyched: 1. I had met people from Israel so far on my trip and they had offered to meet up with me once I got there, but I wasn’t sure most of them were that sincere. 2.  I thought I had given myself 6 or 7 days there when, in reality, I had only given myself 5.  3. I didn’t feel like I had spent enough time in England with Philip’s family and the friends I had there. And 4. The ladies I’d met in Rio (remember, the ones who said I was their missing piece?) were going to be going back the same day I was supposed to go to Tel Aviv.

People I met in Cusco: were they serious about meeting up?

Let’s pick the above reasons apart.

#1: I don’t mean to say that the Israelis I met weren’t genuine, but most of them were people I’d met for less than 48 hours.  We hadn’t bonded that much and at the end of the day, I wasn’t sure they’d drop what they had going on for someone they hardly knew.

#2: 5 days was simply not going to be enough time to see everything that I wanted to see in Israel.  6 or 7 days would have been tough, but 5 were impossible.  If I went for 5 days and only got in half of the things, I would unlikely go back to Israel until I’d gone other places I wanted to go around the world.  That meant I might not ever do some of the things whereas if I went to Israel at another time (and with more time) I could do and see it all.

I love these guys!

#3: I really love hanging out with Charlotte, Anna, and Al and I typically only get to see them once a year when they’re in D.C. to see Philip and Natalya or when I’m rarely over there for a quick stop.  I really wanted to spend some more time with them.

I'll get to see 2 of these 3 ladies in Manchester!

#4: Nicola, Hayley, and Dennyse, the ladies I’d met in Rio, were awesome.  I’d bonded with them more than any other girls so far on my trip.  I really wanted to go see two of them in Manchester (Dennyse is still traveling) so we could become actual, solid friends, not just the “oh we’re all traveling and having fun and therefore are friends” friends. I hoped we could build relationships that were a little more substantial.

So that is how I came to completely delete Israel from my itinerary.  After spending $400 to change everything around, I still don’t regret my decision.  I think that when doing this sort of trip, you need to follow your instincts and just go for what you think is best... assuming it doesn’t completely break the bank!