Can you relate to this?
Meeting up with a friend who lives near you:
1. Contact
2. Schedule a time and place.
3. Meet.
Meeting up with a friend when traveling:
1. Contact.
2. All hell breaks loose.
Okay. Maybe all hell doesn’t break loose.
But arranging to see people is 5-10 times harder when one of you will be coming in from out of town.
Yes, that is a made up number for something there’s no tangible way to measure.
The point is that, despite the fact that you have tons of options for contacting people near or far instantly and for free, the communication somehow breaks down beyond your metro area.
Before her trip to Phoenix, my friend Janell mentioned it was challenging making plans to see her friends here. I was surprised at first, but then I realized I’ve run into the same problems when I’m getting ready to travel. (Janell did get it worked out.) (But it was 5-10 times harder. Probably.)
Phillip and I are going to visit family and friends in Colorado next month. We haven’t set the details our agenda yet, so that makes me really want to get this figured out before things get wacky.
Is it harder to schedule because you are less familiar with your out-of-town friends’ schedules? Sometimes it’s hard to even predict your own schedule when you’re traveling. Do we put too much pressure on everything being perfect when we’re meeting up with someone we don’t get to see regularly? Does it just feel like more work to contact someone who’s far away (even though it’s really not)?
What do you think it is? Have you figured out a way to make this a little easier?
Just discussing something similar–how locals sometimes know less about events happening in their town than tourists.
I wonder if folks feel a burden to entertain and lack ideas? Next time O travel to my home town, I think I’ll try: “I’m going to this festival while in town–come with me,” or “I’m visiting this great new restaurant while there–come try it with me.” No expectations of scintillating conversation when a novel experience is on offer, but it happens anyway.
Happy trails!
Yes! I’ve been on both sides of this! Phillip and I have talked about making a big list of things to recommend for people who are visiting, because otherwise your mind can just go blank. (Of course, ask us what to do in Tucson or Sedona or somewhere we don’t live, and we’re full of ideas! ;)
I like your plan of finding things to do before you travel and inviting friends/family to join you.
A big issue is that if someone can’t meet with you on a certain day, it’s a bear to reschedule if you only have a 5 day window of time to work with. If the visit happens to fall on a weekend, the weekend can get awful crowded fast!
So true! Not having a lot of time to work with is definitely part of the problem.