I didn’t grow up where I live now and all of my family is still back home. To them, where I live now is lively and glamorous; it’s a place they used to save up for and go on vacation to when I was a kid. To me, however, the tourist stuff is hectic, overpriced and should be avoided. To them, it’s a destination but to me, it’s just the jumping off point.
It’s always weird to see your life through the eyes of an excited tourist, but that’s what you do when relatives are in town.
My mom booked two rooms at a hilariously out-of-date hotel for me, my husband, my brother, his girlfriend and herself. We found our balconies offered little privacy…
“As a connoisseur of air conditioning units, I find the view quite exhilarating.” – my brother
… and not much more in the way of a view.
They arrived late, so after learning that most of the drawers in the room were fake – I pulled out the top drawer to see why the bottom ones didn’t open and I called my brother in through the adjoining door to see my discovery, he rushed in holding the same drawer from his room – we went out to dinner. My mom said she wanted to “go where the locals go” but turned down every suggestion because they didn’t have kitschy themes, celebrity endorsements or mechanical bulls….
The next morning, we walked down to see the whole reason people travel to this place. I showed her how to be a strange woman who takes pictures of her outfit at the inconvenience of everyone around her (i.e. my job), then helped her do the same.
Dress Modcloth
Shoes Keds
Bag Modcloth
Earrings Craft Arts Market/ nicolegagnon
Photo credit Matt Harrison
The details, according to my mom:
Dress “Shopping with [a young family friend]”
Shoes “The Internet”
Then we made our way back to the local world and to Rise Above for an amazing vegan brunch (and free past-their-prime flowers!) while the other tourists had their brand-name pancake breakfast with fanning and dust tea at the hotel.
