This is something like Part 3 of 3 (or, maybe Part 3 of more!). Here are Part 1 and Part 2, neither long.
I’m journeying home from Germany after a week away from home. It was an enriching trip, educational, enjoyable, even a bit restful (though I miss my son and wife very much).
I’m going to keep this one short, mostly because I’m quite tired. Some reflections:
- Traveling can be an incredible way to learn; what I learned in a week about Germany and Europe (and their history), food, and myself is hard to sum
- I am not really into museums, and I think that is okay; what I learned the most from were: ordering bread at bakeries; asking butchers which sausage are good for hiking; going to a football game; walking around a beautiful city around 5:00 pm
- I think the learning-related elements of travel can be augmented by reading (or watching videos about) about the region and country one to which one is traveling
- In general I want to reserve conference travel for trips to different (from what I know) places in the US—and international trips
- I was surprised anxious about speaking German; I feel (over-)confident speaking Spanish, and was more confident speaking some Italian because of its similarities to Spanish, but I never had a single stressful moment around speaking German (I learned a little bit, but practically everyone with whom I interacted spoke English or was familiar with English-speaking travelers)
Maybe this is due to COVID, but I can hardly recall a more rewarding week of travel. Thanks once more to my cousin in Munich, my friend who invited me, and my wife and mother-in-law who made the trip possible.