Travel Memories

What are your favourite travel memories? Why do some events and some trips stick in our minds, while others are soon forgotten? That's a question for a psychologist, I suppose. I suspect it has something to do with a positive or negative emotional charge associated with different things that have happened to us.

One thing I do know is that it has little or nothing to do with how much a trip costs. Some of my fondest travel memories are from trips where I was living on a strict budget. For instance, one summer I was able to stay in Europe for more than two months on a budget of about $500

. I had paid for my travel to and from Europe in advance, and for some of my lodging. Still, I had to economise and one of the ways I did so was by not eating much. I was the thinnest I have ever been as an adult. Losing weight wasn't my goal, but cutting back on food helped me spend a long time abroad. Of course, this happened a while ago, when $500 was still a fair amount of money.

One of my most vivid recent travel memories is of a trip I took to Berlin with an older friend who had never been there. It only lasted a week, but we made the most of the time packing in lots of museums, an opera at the Staatsoper and a concert at the Philharmonie. Still, my most vivid recollection is of the first night we were there, when we strolled along Unter den Linden enjoying the scenery and cold, crisp air.

You may find, as I have, that what you remember best has little relation to the amount of money it cost. But by building up travel memories, you will have something nice to think about if you ever reach a stage where you can no longer travel.