August 28th, 2017 | Julia Becerra.  Travel Destinations, Vacation Expectations and Commercial Brochures.

Traveling somewhere this Labor Day weekend?  Planning a Holiday trip? How much research does it actually go when selecting a travel destination?

Some of us, like to research places before we decide to visit them.   Sometimes we make an exception and make the decision based on a personal verbal recommendation from an acquaintance.  Based on either one, we create our own expectations about our upcoming travel experience.

Like in relationships a person sets expectations on the desired result and the type of the expectation set has an impact on the overall experience.

Unlike relationships Travel destinations usually come with recommendations or highlights on the form of a brochure and comments and reviews posted on  social media by fellow travelers.  This could be of an advantage but  on the same token it may not  be  quite that.

The different range of travelers, their own expectations and what they have  chosen to share or not to mention on their reviews regarding their experience in a particular place, can affect how another person creates his/her own expectations.

Let’s say for example that you are the type of person that goes to an all inclusive resort, to relax and have Caipirinhas by the pool.  Should you base your expectations  based on a review written by a fellow traveler that  is a Triathlonist  and chooses a resort for the amount of aquatic activities he/she can perform in one day on the open sea?  Perhaps no.

What about setting expectations based on the resort’s own brochure?  That could be a starting place but should we rely solely on that?

And then what about your attitude regarding flexibility and expectations management?

Those are also elements of the equation not only for enjoying the actual traveling experience but  to keep in mind later on, when making a review of the place you just finished visiting.

Well, at least all of that is probably what I have been reminded of during one of my recent travels.

During that vacation trip , I read about a wonderful biking tour on the Tuscany region of Italy. The description of it, talked about a nice trail :Sentiero della Bonifica ‘(http://www.bicitalia.org/it/percorsi/108-sentiero-della-bonifica ) ; a path that although a bit long, 62 km,  should be fun and relaxing to bike on.  “…The ride takes you to wonderful fields of olives and wine grapes plus seasonal flowers”. The brochure read.

I did some basic research and found a blog by somebody who had biked the trail.  He summarized his experience as ‘easy and totally enjoyable”.

With such description and the images of  biking through Tuscany that I have gathered from movies and brochures from commercial biking tours, I decided to make the trip.

My traveling group and myself took our road racing bikes to the start of the trail in Chiuso, a town of  Tuscany in #Italy. I was  excited and also a bit  nervous, since the touristic guide office had warned us that there would be no food or water supplies for most of the 62 km ride. The Weather was sunny and the forecast talked about temperatures close to 90 degrees.

We started our journey in the morning at around 9 a.m. After the first few hundred meters I was wondering whether or not we have taken the correct trail.  The dirt road was stony, rocky, uneven and full of holes.  We continued our journey, hoping our road racing bikes would hold.  The first few kilometers proved to be very challenging and quite distanced from the description given about the trail.   The road we biked on  was not a match to  the road described on neither the brochures nor the blog.

As we continued the ride wishing to reach the moment when we could enjoy the scenery, we realized we had to make a choice: either we focused on the very rough open road or we stopped to watch the nature around us.  No way we could do both.   Although I admit I am not an expert biker, the rest of the people on my group were,  and believe me we were all obliged to be focused on the rocky road  just so we could stay safely on our bikes and avoid any tire rupture or sudden fall.

The road continued and even when it got better at times, it was never the promised smooth ride to the Tuscany country side.

But the promise kept us going.  I kept thinking it has to get better, it cannot be like this all the time.  And that hope pushed me ahead.  I started enjoying the type of ride I was having. It was challenging.  It was different.  It required more focus and a different skill set. I liked that!

The Tuscany sun was up and the heat was too; so were our hopes of making it all the way to the end.  We made another stop at KM 32 . I Enjoyed the scenery and I  took pictures of my #bicycle.  My bike was  doing well although the terrain was not suited for it.

Where are the nice romantic trails I have seen so many times in the movies? I asked myself. Definitely not on that path, I thought when we reached our destination and  I observed very  little of what I had read about it.  What I did find instead was a path that brought me to a different travel experience.
Pedaling along that trail was  a journey through the natural beauty of the countryside, in a territory designed by the force of nature and the hand of man.

My expectations almost derailed me from the different kind of trip  I ended up having: one of adventure, of challenge.  One that provided me with other sense of satisfaction; the one of  being able to conquer the road even on an not-so-adequate equipment.  My initial disappointment got transformed when I looked at that achievement.

So yes, next time you plan a trip to an exotic destination, not only check the brochure of the commercial traveling places or tours specialist, but make sure to read a  blog or a comment of people that have lived the experience and that somehow share a bit of your traveling goals.  But most of all, leave a lot of space for the adventure spirit to take place; for flexibility to flourish  and for your inner desire to make the best out of every experience.

Setting expectations is part of the motions of planning a #vacation trip.  Keep them; but be ready to loosen up and let them  go a  bit  as the real experience takes place.

I would love to hear about your traveling experiences.  So go ahead write back or leave a comment!

While you do, I will get  back  on my bike preparing myself for the next adventure!

Thank you for reading my blog.

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