English
Ever heard of the familiar saying: “Mother always knows best”? A saying that many of us have heard over and over again at every stage of our lives. First during those youthful years when we were sceptical and unconvinced by any advice given to us, regardless if it came from our mothers or Father Christmas. Then becoming young adults and crashing into a mess of bills, taxes, and frozen pizza before slowly starting to find our bearings and realizing that maybe mum had been right about certain things after all. And finally, evolving into independent, rational, strong adults who are now so convinced by the fact that, by some weird miracle, our mothers really do always have the best advice and solutions to everything that we now call her directly instead of seeking out advice on the internet’s hypochondriac forums
So, to celebrate mothers and motherhood on Mother’s Day, we have decided to create this article in their honour. As we mentioned earlier, mums know exactly what to do in any given situation, so we have decided to apply Mom’s advice to the art of travelling!
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“Take a jumper”
This is very good advice, always have a warm item of clothing with you. However if you are going to the Bahamas, chances are you won’t be needing your warm woolly jumper. So instead, pack a light vest, cardigan or a dinner jacket that will allow you to keep warm in the airplane and will help you get through a chilly evening without feeling like stuck-in-a-maze Jack Nicholson. Bonus advantage: dinner jackets will allow you to fit in perfectly at any restaurant.
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“If you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all.”
Well, in this case, if you are travelling to a country with a foreign language, chances are you’ll barely be able to mumble words such as “lost” “soup” “train” whilst maintaining a perfectly confused expression. So the chances of insulting someone verbally should be pretty low. Except, maybe if you are talking to someone who takes offense at being called a soup.
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“You should call home more often.”
It is easy to get lost in the moment when travelling and understandably, most people like to disconnect completely when they are abroad. However, calling family or close friends from time to time is a kind way of reassuring them and letting them know about your adventures and the places you’ve visited. But staying in touch doesn’t only refer to your close family and friends, it is also about the people you meet during your travels, most of whom probably have a lot in common with you. Sadly, most of the time, we end up with numbers scribbled on napkins and never get in touch again. So, follow mum’s advice: if you meet nice interesting people during your journey, make plans to keep in touch and use technology! (It doesn’t have to be a call, it could also be a WhatsApp message but having mum say “You should WhatsApp more often” is just too weird)
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“Find the humour in anything.”
Extremely important advice. Travelling is a wonderful experience, but it is not exempt of Murphy’s Law and sometimes things can go terribly wrong. Just remember that it is extremely likely that you will find solutions to your misfortunes and that, in the end, everything will work itself out. Just stay positive and try to rationalise the situations and try to work out calmly how to solve the problem and what your options are. Remember, events that don’t go according to plan make great anecdotes! Maybe, with time, you’ll look back on the incident and have a good story to tell and a humorous approach to the whole endeavour. Just remember, don’t panic and keep positive
Except if for some reason you’re stuck on a kayak with your sister (the horror) in the middle of a Canadian Lake in Banff so far out that you can’t hear the instructors yelling and signalling you to come back to shore because of a storm advancing rapidly towards the site, all this whilst you are failing miserably to coordinate your paddling efforts with your sibling, meaning that you are both paddling in opposite directions like a bunch of retarded penguins – which results in the kayak spinning pathetically on the same spot. And then, to top it off, one of you manages to lose her paddle…. – Yes, this did happen to me and my sister and I can assure you it was terrifying at the time but now we look back and laugh about it. Because, let’s face it, it is a pretty pathetic situation to be stuck in
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“Be good”
As the Dalai Lama said “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible”. So trust people, see stuff, don’t let your fears or worries get the best of you, people are a lot more friendlier than you think, even though it may be hard to believe sometimes with all the terrible events we see on the media. But let your guard down and have faith in people’s good nature – always be vigilant of course! But not untrusting, I really am certain that you will find there are many more loving, kind-hearted people in the world than hateful ones.
