How to Travel for Pleasure

Traveling for pleasure is about seeing a city that you don’t have to work or live in. It’s a chance to observe the nuances of daily life in a different town and enjoy its form rather than its function.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. For a balanced trip, take each country two cities at a time: one big city and one small city.
2. Replace thoughts of “which freeway will take me to work” with “where can I find a road that will be fun to drive on with my rental car?” In the UK, the answer is Devon, a county in the Southwest region of England, where the right side of the street is actually the left side. The roads are lined on either side by flowers, green fields, thatched-roof houses and stone churches that look spooky in the fog at night. Prepare to stop and pull over should you meet another car on the road: there’s only one lane, but it leads to the sea.
3. If you like theatre, don’t just go to one play: go to four or five. In London a night at the theatre is as ordinary as a night at the movies in the United States. From the balcony seats at Her Majesty’s Theatre, you can catch the actors changing their wigs in the wings while vendors toss you pints of ice cream from the aisles between scenes.
4. Find paradise in an unexpected place: the city. Sydney, Australia has a similar climate to Southern California, but as a metropolis is alarmingly clean and under-populated. Even more surprising are its alleys: try walking into one at night. Instead of finding yourself in mortal peril, you’ll more likely end up in one of Sydney’s stylishly understated bars that are far too cool to advertise with a sign.
5. Follow the cargo ship. While you’re in “California Down-Under,” go to McLaren Vale, Australia’s wine country. Australian wines are making their way onto American shelves even in California, where wine flows freely. Anything worth shipping halfway around the world is worth tasting at the source.
6. Rediscover a city that’s changed in your lifetime. Berlin, Germany has come a long way since the wall came down in 1989. Checkpoint Charlie is a good place to see in photos how tough it was to get across the Berlin Wall. Much less difficult, but oddly controversial is the more recent struggle to get across the street. Pick up a sticker and join the fight to save the Ampelmännchen, or “little lamp men.” The red and green cartoon characters that lit up the crosswalks of East Berlin under Communist rule came under attack by the stodgier stick figures of the West. It may be the only time you use the words Communism and cute in the same sentence.
7. Give new meaning to the phrase "one-stop shopping." The heartbreakingly beautiful town of Meissen sits on a hill overlooking the Elbe River. At the heart of the city is the Meissen porcelain factory, where renowned Dresden Porcelain is actually made. Take a tour of the factory and watch the artists at work as they sculpt each piece by hand. It's a gift shop with an art lesson and a view.