The second is the atmosphere soaker-upper. Their perfect day involves grabbing a coffee, drifting around city streets, eating lunch in a park and chilling there for the rest of the afternoon. They’re not concerned about how many of the world’s masterpieces they see, whether or not they make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower or how impressed their friends will be with stories of Henry VIII’s torture techniques (FYI, one involves your foot, an iron boot, wood, hot oil and fire. The result? A boiled off appendage, gangrene and an agonising death. Pleasant.)
I fall into the former category, Ted is one of the latter. It’s an electric combo. Me: “We’ve been sitting here for two hours. I’ve got three art galleries to see today!” Ted: “just relax bro, we’ll get there.” I’ve sort of learnT to curb my excessive lists entitled “things to see before departure – we may never come back”, and Ted’s sort of come to grips with holiday timetables.
But London is one place where compromise won’t be necessary. Because I’ve been here before! And, being the box ticker that I am, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral: all done. While Ted meanders his way around them, I’ll go to my “B” list entitled “We lost a good man: things I ran out of time for last year.”
The B file looks rather like that of an atmosphere soaker-upper (except that they don’t make lists). Here’s a city in which you can live 10 years and not see everything. But this time I won’t attempt to transform a chip-scoffing, smartphone-toting crowd into a malnourished and blood-baying one as I time-travel back to Anne Boleyn’s treason trial at the Tower of London.
Nope, I’ll fair revel in the present day rowdiness. First on my list is Olympic mania. Walking the streets and checking out Hyde Park should do it. Any type of food and drink consumption with friends comes next, and then, nothing! It’s an unnatural admission, but I just want to see where the days take me (let me know if you have any suggestions though).
For a box ticker, revisiting a place is liberating and perhaps the only way to experience travel from the converse perspective.
Do you fit a particular travelling type? And do you revisit old haunts in a different way to your first time?
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I am absolutely traveller 2. On my last trip we went with a girl who was a box ticker and she got so frustrated with our "go with the flow, see where we end up" attitude, that she ended up going off by herself for a couple of days!
I prefer getting off the beaten track, and exploring the real side of a city, as opposed to being trapped in a crowd of tourists who only see through their cameras. We usually just set aside a day, and tick off all the bullet points, and then we don't feel so guilty about drifting along for the rest of the trip!
I now have children.
I have become one of the kind of travelers that I used to laugh at.
Sad but true..........
Three suggestions - Churchill's war rooms, the Cortauld Gallery and the London Transport Museum. All fascinating and easily walkable in central London with plenty of opportunities for eating, drinking and street entertainment - eg at Covent Garden where the Transport Museum is located.
I'm mostly a box-ticker, however I always put days or afternoons in the itinerary to atmosphere-soak!! Eg. 3 Days in San Fran coming up soon: Day 1: Pier 39 & City Lights Bookshop with wandering around in between, Day 2: wander around Golden Gate Park then head to the Legion of honour Fine Arts Museum, Day 3: Sonoma Wine tour (inc. Muir woods & golden gate bridge photo op. I think a mix of planning & wandering is always a good idea!
haha Ted reminds me of my brother....super cruisy. Are all musos like that?! You sound like a good match - balanced! I think I am more of a box ticker...although I'm slightly ashamed to admit that because I think the atmosphere soaker probably sees more of the real city as opposed to the tourist traps. But some things must be ticked right? you can hardly go to Beijing and not see the Great wall and Tianamen Square?! (where we went recently). Enjoy London - best way to atmosphere soak is to spend afternoons in the pubs... (try the Windsor Castle in NottingHill/Kensington - great garden bar).
Im defiantly a box ticker but i like to have a few chill days in an area to experience the vibe of it.
anyone else reckon that one of the buildings in the second pic looks like a giant tampon?
For a first time in one of the big cities its hard not to be a box ticker of sorts, you cant really go to Paris and not see the Eiffel tower, or Rome and not see St Peters. A mixture is a good way to go but you don't want to miss out on seeing those amazing sites because your to busy wasting your time sitting on a bench 'soaking up the atmosphere'.
I'm definitely a box-ticker on my first visit to a new place. After all, I may never pass this way again. But yeah, revisiting provides an opportunity to soak up the atmosphere.
That said, I have a trip to Europe coming up next month, and this time I am a lot more laid-back about it, even though I'm visiting several places I've never been. My sister is coming with, and she's usually the cruisy type, and the roles have been reversed. We're not spending more than a few days anywhere until we get to the UK, so I am reluctant to try to pack too much in, while she's busy researching everything to the nth degree.
That said, there are still a few 'B file' items to do in Paris and London...
@ um... #8, the locals charitably refer to it as 'the gherkin'. :D
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Pray the rain returns and immerse yourself in The London Library. You might never leave.