Comments on: Another Travel Skill You Need

By: NomadicMatt

NomadicMatt — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:59:10 +0000

I hardly ever fly into JFK so I’m not really sure but it’s still too long for me.

By: Crystal Place

Crystal Place — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:01:23 +0000

So true Matt! Great article, and as someone who also spent a good amount of years in Boston too, I have to agree completely!

I’m (finally) on the road again (just for a couple months), and I was just talking with someone yesterday about needing to gain back that great patience I had when traveling years ago. A 3 hour wait until the next train? No problemo. I have this great book I’ve been meaning to chill out and read… Thanks for the article.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:29:37 +0000

Just an hour on the tarmac? Really? Thats the average at JFK

By: Luba

Luba — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:49:09 +0000

Ah patience – not always my best virtue but one I try to work on. I do believe if you can’t change your situation, changing your attitude shifts the energy from – to +. Definately something to be said about not sweating the small stuff. Perspective is a useful tool!

By: NewWrldYankee

NewWrldYankee — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:26:31 +0000

I always thought patience and adaptability went hand in hand. What is more important to me is lack of fear. I’ve had some experiences traveling with people afraid to ask for help, directions, or tips while traveling. It always stymies the fun and slows everything down. The best info I’ve gotten on trips were from other travelers and locals. But thanks for reminding me to be more patient I just discovered your blog and working my way through archives, but will be around more often!

By: Lola

Lola — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:41:37 +0000

Solid advice. Patience really spurns other traits like adaptability and open mindedness.

Stumbled!

By: Anthony

Anthony — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:53:33 +0000

The one thing I remember from 6th grade math, besides getting detention, was this “patience is a virtue”. That is what my teacher would say to us, while slamming a gavel at the same time lol. You have to be patient, otherwise, you try to rush things and they lose their importance.

By: sforshner

sforshner — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:47:40 +0000

That is such great advice. And it is so true that being from Boston can make you impatient. I am a constant speed walker for no reason.

Also, I really liked your post on Brave New Traveler
http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/19/white-skin-why-racism-in-asia-isnt-quite-what-you-think/

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:02:09 +0000

Well said! I have a hard time with this one too. I would add preparedness to your list of skills needed. You can’t prepare for everything, but preparing for most things will definitely reduce stress levels.

By: Ant

Ant — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:50:46 +0000

Another good skill is escapism. SO many travellers become consumed by travel, and when you meet them in a bus or a bar they bleat on about “travel, travel, blah blah, travel”. Sure, we all love to travel, we’ve all been there, going there and bargained for the t-shirt but the traveller who has learned the art of escapism (not, I hasten to add, Houdini style) is much more appealing to me than the patient one doing The Lotus by the pot plant. If they can conjure up a conversation about their life, pre-travel and involve themselves in one of your own then they have superior skills in my experience.

Let’s be honest, some of our most neediest moments for patience have been while listening to the backpacker who travelled round South America last year, who did everything anyone else had done and more, and better, and cheaper, and then he married her. “And then I did this, and this and rah-blah-blah…” Nigh on every other person hearing him drone on, will be draining the resource of patience much more than when they had to stare out a local street chancer.