I’ve decided to throw out some occasional #TravelTuesday tips here on HeidiTownwhen the mood strikes me. After our weekend in Vail, the mood struck. After several years of extensive travel around Colorado I’ve come to realize that the best way to get to know a place, to really get to know a place, is to stay for three nights.
So this is my #TravelTuesday tip for today: To really get to know a place, book a three night stay
An overnight stay is great for a quick anniversary or birthday get away. You can dine somewhere fabulous and visit a couple shops. A two-night stay allows for a bit more exploration, but it’s still a whirlwind trip, especially when you add in actual travel time, driving or flying. It’s not always possible, but when we have the time, I prefer a three night stay and here’s why.
Day one is a travel day. Even if you are traveling somewhere close to home, travel time is tiring. Once we’ve reached our final destination and we checked into our lodging establishment, we rarely have a lot of extra energy left for exploring. If you have booked a three night stay, however, night number one can be a relaxing evening. Maybe you’ll take a stroll through downtown or the resort, but you won’t feel obligated to see everything.
For us, the second day at any location is usually jammed packed with festivalling (yep, I made that word up) and by the end of that day we’re tired. If we aren’t attending a festival, we spend day two exploring. This may involve checking out the local museum, shopping, hiking or doing an activity such as zip lining. Often it involves all of those things, and by the end of day two, we’re downright exhausted.
On day three we enjoy sleeping in and perhaps indulging in an activity offered by the hotel, a yoga class or pool, for instance. Then we set out to explore again, but we aren’t in a hurry. We may hang out for a couple of hours in a coffee shop (usually doing a little work – since Ryan and I are both self-employed). We casually browse art galleries, stopping to talk to owners about the featured artists or about the best place to grab dinner.
That evening we usually end up dining at a favorite local eatery, and sometimes we even go back to our room early to catch a television show, as was the case this past weekend when the season premiere of Game of Thrones was on Sunday night. It’s as if, by day three, our lives have melded into the local life.
A three night visit isn’t a long enough stay to write a book about a town, but it definitely gives me enough time to get to know the genuine character of a place.
Bonus #TravelTuesday Tip: Many Colorado resort towns offer awesome “stay two nights and get a third night free or at a reduced price” specials. Three nights is also a way to avoid holiday or ski traffic in the Colorado Mountains and it’s so fun to still be on vacation when all your friends are back at work on Monday. There are just so many reasons to love a three night stay.
The World is a book,
and those who do not travel see only one page.
~Saint Augustine
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