Tuesday Travel Tip: Guard Your Time

(Gathering of friends in Christchurch, New Zealand)

It's so exciting to revisit a place where you know a lot of people. It can become an endless series of coffees, lunches and walks in the park. What I have found is that if I do too much of that, I end up with shallow relationships with lots of people instead of meaningful relationships with a few people. Thus, when I go to a place where I know a lot of people, I don't always advertise that I am coming. Before I arrive, I set up large blocks of time with a few people so that we share real experiences, not just a quick meal where we each give a hurried overview of our lives. Once I am there, I may set up a gathering for the group of people I am not seeing one-on-one. The list of people I see may change from one trip to the next, but I find that over the years I'd rather have deep, sustaining relationships with a few people, so I make time for them and guard that time.

If it's a short trip, I may never even tell large groups of people that I was there, but instead spend more time with a few close friends. Of course there is always the possibility when you "sneak" into town and that you may be spotted. On one recent trip to Minnesota, friends of friends that I'd stayed with on a trip to New Zealand spotted me at the The Mall of America. They texted the mutual friend, who texted me, and the jig was up. We all laughed about  how I thought I'd covered all my bases but never considered that friends from New Zealand might be at the Mall of America.

Apparently my international fame has reached new heights. Until yours does, guard your time on your trips so that you have time for the people that you came to visit.

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