Is now the time to travel?

Now is a great time to travel.

Almost everybody loves to travel. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford used to travel together in their RVs, cooking their food on top of their engines.

Whether you're thinking about taking a road trip in your car, traveling in an RV, or traveling internationally, now is the time to start making your plans and making your trip happen.

Summer is a great time to travel. The kids are out of school, you won't have to deal with snow and cold weather, and gas prices are even down slightly.

If you can travel before then, that would be even better. You'll avoid a lot of crowds. Of course, the best option is to do both. Plan a trip now and then another trip for the summer months.

Skip the tourist sites

Other than the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls, I would say to skip the tourist traps (I mean attractions) and spend time getting the feel of and experiencing the area you're visiting. When I'm traveling, I like to visit local coffee shops for a cup of coffee and a pastry to get the vibe of the area. You won't get any of that when standing there looking at a tourist attraction.

I like to go places where I don't have to pay

In my opinion, when you have to pay to see a site, it's a tourist thing, and there will be a lot of tourists there. I like to go places that are free in nature.

Below are some examples:

You don't have to pay to see Multnomah Falls. In fact, you don't even have to get out of your car. It's right off I-84, but it's well worth it to hike up close to the falls and feel the mist on your face.

Small towns

If there's one lawyer in a small town, he'll starve to death, but if there are two lawyers in a small town, they can both get rich. That's a funny (but true) joke among lawyers. There's so much to experience in small towns.

When you're in a small town, stop and eat at a local diner—whether traveling in the US or a foreign country. You'll learn and experience a lot about the area. And, usually the food is pretty good.

In Costa Rica, the small local diners are called sodas. Why, I don't know. Some people say it's because people used to stop there to grab a quick soft drink.

A little restaurant here couldn't be called a cafe because café is the Spanish word for coffee. That word was already taken. When I say they're little, I mean they're really small. Many of them only have two or three tables.

I have breakfast at one of these sodas almost every week. That's where I can mingle with the locals, practice my Spanish, and get the feel of the country. If you're going to have breakfast at a Denny's or a McDonald's, you might as well stay home. They're all the same.

There are Denny's and McDonald's restaurants in Costa Rica, but not in my little town of Grecia.

International travel

When traveling internationally, don't eat your meals at your hotel. I know it's convenient, but you'll be missing what could be the most memorable part of your trip. And don't spend your time (or money) seeing the tourist sites.

I wasn't far from the Taj Mahal when I was in India, but I didn't go see it. I assumed it looked much like the pictures I had seen. Instead, I spent $3 and rode a train for six hours to the base of the Himalayan Mountains, and I spent two days riding elephants through the jungle to see wild tigers and monkeys. (I didn't want to be walking around and come upon a tiger.)

Bottom line: Travel and experience the world. Even if you only have weekends to travel, I'm sure there are interesting places near you that you haven't seen or spent much time checking out. Whether you're planning long trips or short trips, it doesn't matter. Just go, and enjoy the adventure.