When I plan my travels I often like to look for exotic locations. Preferably those that are far away from my own country. However recently I tried a different approach which turned out a successful experiment.
I noticed that whenever I am in my own country I feel the need to complain about it. It rains to much, it is to expensive, it is boring etc etc.. However when I am far away from home for some time I really miss my country. Its always warm here and I miss the Dutch rain. I don’t understand the locals and I miss speaking my own language etc etc.. Then often start listing up the great things about my country. Its generally safe and clean. There are not much horrific poison/danger animals who can kill or annoy you, the roads are great etc etc… Then I start thinking why don’t I enjoy those things when I am at home. I think the problem is that the country and environment are not new to me, but is this really true…
Then I came up with some idea why not buy a travel guide from my own homeland. This way I can learn how other people/tourists look at my country. They will look at it with the view from an outsider and will probably notice a lot of beautiful/fun things I had shut my eyes for long ago. This turned out to be true. I bought the Lonely Planet guide for The Netherlands and started examining it. I noticed it was really fun to read how other travellers/writers where experiencing my country and I learned a lot to about the history, exiting places to visit or beautiful things to see. Now I often walk around with my guide book in my hand and my eyes open. Often thinking ahh I never noticed that..
My travel advice to you
Do you feel bored about the place you are living in? Are you low on cash but still want to travel or have a vacation/ day trip? Try buying a guide book from your homeland and start travelling and enjoying your own country.
Are you planning to visit the Netherlands yourself? You can find The Lonely Planet guide for The Netherlands along with all the guides from other countries in book stores like Amazon. If you are Dutch and you want to buy it then my advice is to do it online as it seems to be a rare item in Dutch brick and mortar book stores.