Additional Guidebook Pontifications

I have been doing some more thinking about this intercultural guidebook that I may or may not ever actually write. Though, you might be interested to know that I have actually started it, so I dare say I hope it will be completed in some fashion at some point in the not-so-distant future.

I find that announcing your goals publicly can be good motivation for follow-through.

So, I have one more general observation about the guidebooks which are already in existence in abundance. My latest query does not have to do with their overall heft, as inexhaustible as that topic seems to be. Instead, it is a rather more subjective reflection. (By the way, I wrote "subjonctif", instead of "subjective" in that last sentence there before re-reading the sentence and experiencing a flicker of doubt as to its correct-ness. Light-bulb moment: another chapter for the guidebook = intercultural living erasing chunks of knowledge about your own language/culture before you are able to fully grasp that of the "other"culture and thus you find yourself speaking some mish-mash of incoherent drivel as you struggle to navigate your new environs. I think I will call that chapter: "Welcome to Language Pergatory". Forgive the religious reference).


But back to my subjective observation. Here it is: guidebooks really stress me out.

There is just so much to see and do in any one city, town, or province, and trying to figure out what to select as "musts" and what to leave out is a really anxiety-inducing activity for me. I want to see everything "worth" seeing, or else why would I go? As you maybe can tell, I am sort of an "all or nothing" type. Upon reading chapters upon chapters of possibilities and proposed itineraries, I start to become highly anxious thinking about all the activities, monuments, and sites that I will inevitably not be able to experience. And it also seems that just when I have calmed myself down from one of these ludicrous self-induced stress-sessions, a new problem arises. For example, have you ever decided that you could skip something, only to discover that some blasted guidebook "expert" has placed 5 stars of importance next to that item you so recently dubbed as "skippable"and thereby throws you straight back into the throes of that stress-sesh from which you were only beginning to emerge?

No? Me neither.

Obviously, I am totally neurotic. Some of you are reading this and thinking, "Umm, what is the problem here, exactly? Medication might be a good idea." And others of you are thinking, "Oh, my GAWD, me TOOOOOOO!!!!" After all, this blog is not the first place where I have shared my personal quirks, and I happen to know that there are plenty of others out there who also start sweating as they wonder why they are such a "bad" tourist before any of the touristing has even begun.

This entry is dedicated to you fellow-anxiety nutters. The rest of you can just carry on, blissfully missing entire countries without batting an eye.


This tendency of mine goes along with my husband's theory that whenever I have nothing "wrong" in my life at any given moment, I immediately conjure up potentially disasterous situations on which I can focus my emotionally and physical energy and thereby maintain some amount of misery in my life.

Again, some of you know just what I mean here.


Why I/we cannot simply enjoy these rare moments of happiness is beyond me. It is an asinine way to live. And so it is equally as redonky-donk to not actually just enjoy what ever sites we may be able to see on any given trip without worrying about all that we cannot see.


I mean it is not like we are collecting stamps or something. The whole purpose here is not to acquire something. It is to experience new things, to simply live life, and enjoy time spent in different environs from your "norm." It is not as though we will be losing money, integrity, or intelligence by missing a monument here and there.

We might be missing a day elbowing Japanese tour groups out of our line of vision, but I can live with that if you can.

So, in my WIP guidebook, I will definitely be devoting a chapter to the point that stressing out about what you will not see is a ridiculous waste of time when traveling. I think you have to repeat to yourself (calmly and patiently) that you are never going to be able to see everything. You are never going to have the time, the money, and/or the energy to see every last nook and cranny of every amazing place in the world. And, I mean, if you miss seeing the Mona Lisa because you decided to have a baguette picnic in the Jardin du Luxemboug on a gorgeous day, rather than to wait in line at the Louvre, it actually does not mean that you "missed out" on something in Paris (well, except the aforementioned experience with the Japanese tourgroups). Quite the contrary, in fact: you will have truly enjoyed your moment in Paris.

And besides, if you really HAD to see the Mona Lisa, just go home and hit up Google Images for a good clear shot Da Vinci's work.

Isn't that what the internet is for anyway?

Well that and porn.

So my guidebook will not be conventional, but I think it will be useful. I picture it being short, maybe 10 chapters, and thus not inadvertently herniating any disks. I picture it offering insight, guidance, and (I hope) humor. It will probably focus on France/Paris, though will pull inevitably from experiences in other countries. Anyway, I think it will be something I wish I had before moving to Paris. So now I have to follow through since I have talked a blue streak about the dang thing. That said, I will definitely let you know how it shapes up.