Meet Kristin
Born in the USA
Has been traveling since 2001 and has visited 7 countries
Travel styles Outdoorsy, Solo, Active, Language-learning
Interview
Where did we meet?
Answer: Peace Corps – Alto Parana, Paraguay
What was your first experience abroad? What effect did it have on you?
Answer: I traveled to Mexico with my college for a day/night to stay at an orphanage, do some work, and visit with the kids. It was a great trip, but it was very short. It was the start of my travel bug, and it encouraged me to sign up for study abroad in Spain the next year (which is what really developed my travel bug).
What’s the best aspect of traveling?
Answer: I love the sights. I love getting outside, ideally to quiet areas, but I also love walking around the cities. If there´s an opportunity to ride on a train and see a lot of the country quickly, I´ll jump on that.
What are the biggest challenges you face when abroad?
Answer: It used to be finding vegetarian food, but that has gotten a lot easier. If I’m traveling with someone, then what can be challenging is trying to balance the need for making the most of every moment and seeing as much as we possibly can with my need for some quiet time here and there.
You’re a vegetarian. How do you survive in the carnivorous world out there?
Answer: In most of the places I’ve traveled, it´s been easy. Cheese and bread in Spain and France. Fresh veggies and rice and beans in Costa Rica. Living in Paraguay was challenging because the people in the rural areas were not familiar with vegetarianism (“Oh, you don´t eat meat? Ok, well we have chicken”) and meat was in everything (chicken stock, pig lard, etc.). If I have access to a supermarket and maybe a kitchen, though, I can take care of myself.
What is reverse culture shock, and have you ever experienced it?
Answer: Reverse culture shock is a way of getting to know your own culture better after having grown accustomed to another. It can be uncomfortable when you are experiencing it, but it’s a great learning experience about your own culture that probably couldn’t have happened unless you left it for a while.
An example: I remember coming back to the US after living in Paraguay for 2.5 years and starting my new teaching job right away. One of my first ideas was to get a weekly Paraguayan tereré tea circle started in my Spanish class. With tereré, everyone drinks out of the same straw-type device. In Paraguay, there is no worry about spreading germs, or feelings of ickiness about sharing a drink with others, and after over 2 years of daily tea drinking with others, I, too, had adopted that mentality. Well, the idea did not fly in my classroom because parents complained to the guidance counselor before I could get the weekly tea circle started. Looking back on it now, 7 years later, I think it´s funny that I ever thought that would be ok to do in my class, but at the time I thought it was a fantastic idea!
What’s worse: wanting to go somewhere you always dreamed of visiting, or feeling nostalgic about a place you’ve already been?
Answer: Those both sound like good things to me! Both are such great motivation for me for getting serious about saving up and taking that trip.
Do you prefer solo or group travel, and why?
Answer: This is such a tough question for me. I am a very independent person, and I have grown used to doing so many things on my own (well, usually with my dog). And so, when I travel with others, I do have to give up the freedom I´m used to – to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. I have found, though, that this doesn’t mean that I just automatically prefer to travel solo. I had two solo trips recently to France. Each time, I tried to get people to travel with me, but it didn’t work for anyone’s schedule, so I just decided to go alone. They were good trips, but I did end up having more moments of loneliness than I had expected I would have. In the end, most of my favorite moments on those trips were with people I met along the way. It can be tough when you are seeing amazing sites, and you don’t have anyone to turn to and share the awe with. That being said, it was great having that freedom to do exactly the activities that I wanted to do. And I did have a fun romance come out of one of my solo trips!
If you had your own travel show, what would it be about?
Answer: Travel tips for all kinds of introverts!
What advice would you give prospective travelers?
Answer: Not every part of your trip will be enjoyable, so prepare yourself for that ahead of time. Sometimes people get the wrong idea by looking at their friends’ vacation photos, highlighting all the best moments. There will be moments when you are tired, or when you have a transportation issue, or when you get lost and are not sure how to navigate the streets. Or moments when you feel lonely. Or moments when you are not sure if you should have taken the trip in the first place. But once the trip has passed and you are left with just your photos and your memories, and you are able to process your time away, it’s usually the good memories that last, and many of the bad ones turn into funny stories to share with your friends and family.
And once you get started with your traveling. . .travel to new places, but don’t forget to also travel back to the old places you really liked. You’re not the same person you were when you first saw the place, and you may see things in a new light and notice things you didn’t notice before.
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