5 WAYS TO WANDER: You Deserve a Day Off (Even on Vacation)
25 April, 2025 | Welcome to 5 Ways to Wander. 🌍✨
Here are today’s 5 ideas to get you wandering…
#1 This Week’s Travel Hack:
👣 Plan a “No-Plans-Day” in Your Itinerary. Instead of cramming every hour with plans, give yourself a blank day on your trip. Don’t book tours, skip the checklist, and just wander.
Follow your nose to a cafe. Walk down a street because it looks interesting. Ask the cashier for lunch recommendations. Let the city surprise you. These are often the days you remember most.
Trust the French to have a word for this: flâneur is someone who wanders aimlessly with the intention to appreciate one’s surroundings, without a specific destination or purpose.
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#2 Destination of the Week:
🇮🇹 Bologna, Italy. Bologna wears its history in red-tiled roofs and hearty sauces. Home to Europe’s oldest university, the medieval beauty has streets lined with porticoes, leaning towers, Aperol spritzes, and that exuberant yet laid back Italian vibe.
The city’s highlight, though, is its food – particularly the ragù alla Bolognese. Yep, spaghetti Bolognese but make it minus the spaghetti and bursting with flavors. It’s the real deal, and nothing like the jar you buy from the supermarket.
Fun Fact: Bologna’s buildings are known for their quintessential reddish color, earning it the nickname “La Rossa” (“The Red”).
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#3 Cultural Insight:
😴 Spanish Siesta: More Myth Than Reality? The idea of Spain shutting down every afternoon for a leisurely nap is charming… but not exactly true.
While small-town businesses might still close for a few midday hours, in big cities like Madrid and Barcelona, the siesta is more of a nostalgic concept than a daily ritual.
Historically, it was less about napping and more about escaping the midday heat – especially in Spain’s scorching south. Today, with modern work schedules and air conditioning, most Spaniards power through their afternoons just like the rest of the world.
That said, a post-lunch “sobremesa” (lingering at the table for conversation) is very real, especially in the retail sector. So while you might not find many people napping at 3 p.m., don’t be surprised if a small shop doesn’t reopen until late afternoon.
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#4 Travel Quote to Ponder:
✈️ “Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo.” ― Al Gore
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#5 Question for You:
❔ What’s one phrase or word you learned in a foreign language that you’ll never forget, and why?
Hit reply and tell me.. I’d love to hear!
(I recently learned the German word “Dampfplauderer” – It describes someone who talks a lot but doesn’t say much of substance. Can’t say I haven’t met my share of Dampfplauderers in life 🤷♀️)
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