I'm not a travelling girl

I got back from Boston (and Rockport) on Sunday evening. It was a great conference on user experience and the web but I was more than ready to be home. I've suspected for a while now that I am not a traveller at heart.

To start I don't love flying. I remember that I loved it when I was younger but now the stress of all of the airport dealings and then being crammed in with other people for hours just doesn't work for me. Although I did get to watch 2 movies since the flight to Toronto is long enough for that.

Hotels are also not a huge perk to me. Maybe all that "nesting" that an ex's mother accused me of has paid off since I enjoy being in my own space more than almost anyplace else. I like puttering around my kitchen and eating out more than once a week is too much for me. I like having the dog take up too much of the bed. I like knowing how to set the shower temperature without even thinking about it (even though at least one of the taps is backwards). And I even like my monstrosity sectional and my smaller than the new average television.

Before I went to Boston I didn't know that it had a reputation for being unfriendly. I struggle with the descriptor "rude" since that's not totally accurate. There were some people who were outright rude but mostly people were just "inhospitable". Answers to questions were minimal at best; there were no friendly suggestions of what to see or where to eat and for the first time ever none of the cabdrivers I rode with said a word to me. Two of them continued on their cellphones and one just looked put out that I was occupying the back seat. No one asked where I was from (other than other conference attendees) or offered any pleasantries about the weather (which was beautiful), sports scores or anything else.

Further up the coast in Rockport people were friendlier although not over the top. There was a more relaxed feeling there though and it was much easier to find things as it often is in smaller towns. I did arrive by train to discover that cabs only exist in the next town and are never really called which meant a 1 mile walk to the bed and breakfast and the same walk back before dawn on the day I had to depart. The lady who ran the bed and breakfast was kind of eccentric and the place was far from clean but had an eclectic charm. On my last night I found a spot that sold whole lobsters ready to eat - usually out back on the deck but since it was chilly mine got to come back to my room. The navy was in town but they all looked like high school boys so there was no risk of any of them joining me!

It is always nice to see other places and to appreciate them for their differences. The architecture was different and beautiful; Calgary seems to knock down anything old and here was a place that continues to build new homes in the old style! The fall colors included more reds than we see here. And you could smell the ocean.








But I am still happy to be home.