Of all the phrases you don’t want to utter, “Wait, stop, I didn’t get my passport back!” is fairly high on the list. Not quite up there with “OK, I’ll throw myself on the grenade” but well above “The next round’s on me.” The realization that this essential travel document has disappeared is especially unwelcome when you’re jammed in a sweltering bus in the no-man’s-land between the border-control stations of Albania and Montenegro, and you’re fairly sure the guy who collected the passports doesn’t speak English. Selfishly, I could rejoice in the fact that the missing passport wasn’t mine or Rich’s, but I couldn’t help worrying for the young Dutch student who’d lost it. We’d been chatting with him and his girlfriend since our departure from Shkodër, Albania, swapping travel tales, learning about their studies in Amsterdam, explaining we were currently halfway through our Mediterranean Comfort Food Tour. As on other border crossings in the Balkans, the bus attendant collected all the passports and disappeared into the guard station while we waited on the bus. He eventually reappeared, handing the stack to the nearest passenger, who was supposed extract their own and pass the others along. As the Dutch couple, Rich, and I were sitting in the very back row, I was only too aware this provided ample opportunity for anyone on the bus to thumb through our personal travel information and/or pocket one of our passports. When the last of the passports had been claimed and our seatmate’s wasn’t anywhere to be found, he alerted the bus attendant in a voice that was surprising free from hysteria and calmly ambled forward to sort out the problem. His insouciance became all the more remarkable when I learned later, after the passport had been found in the Albanian border station, that this would have been the third time he’d lost one. He told us that according to Dutch law, three lost passports means you won’t be issued another for five years — a life-changing possibility that he just shrugged off with a grin. “Didn’t happen. Why should I worry?” “This is what I love about traveling with young people,” Rich said as we waved goodbye to the Dutch couple in Podgorica. “They’re so adaptable.” Over dinner that night he returned to the subject. “You know, when you get older, you don’t always think as fast, so it’s natural to try and make your life as predictable as possible. You want to control everything around you. And you can’t. In fact, you can’t really control much of anything. The Buddhists know that, and so do most young people. Somehow we forget that truth as we age.” The subject of age came up a lot during the five months of our Mediterranean Comfort Food Tour. Six weeks into the trip Rich turned 75, and my 68th birthday came around the day after we returned home to Seville. We’ve finally accepted the fact we’re no longer spring or even summer chickens; we’re winter chickens. It’s a sobering thought, and one that seems easier to accept gracefully when we’re on the road. Life has a beautiful simplicity when you’re traveling. The fuss and clamor of everyday activities subsides. You don’t have to worry about going to meetings or fixing that leak in the roof or getting your cholesterol checked. The concerns and projects that propel our days go into hibernation for the duration. “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me,” wrote Jack Kerouak, “as is ever so on the road.” Of course, journeys bring their own challenges, including the kind of mind-stretching problem-solving exercises that keep our synapses firing. Forget Sudoku and Lumosity. Try figuring out the controls of a Greek washing machine, that streamlined Italian shower, or the Turkish coffee maker. Wrap your brain around the Cyrillic азбука (alphabet) or grapple with the fact your bus to Montenegro is marked Mali i Zi, the Albanian name for that country. Even the relatively simple task of fitting your life into a new Airbnb apartment gives your brain a brisk workout. Every time your brain does these kinds of mental push-ups, it strengthens some of its synapses, those 100 trillion minuscule gaps across which chemical messengers travel, enabling the brain to function. “In the last twenty years,” wrote John B. Arden in Rewire Your Brain, “there has been an overwhelming amount of evidence that the synapses are not hardwired but are changing all the time.” This characteristic, known as neuroplasticity, means that “the brain changes its synapses when you remember something new.” That’s right, you’re boosting your brain power every time you recall how to get from your hotel to that great little bar around the corner and then root around in your memory for clues about whether the local word for beer is birrë, cerveza, or pivo. We don’t have to go out of our way to find mental challenges on the road. Even if the Albanian customs officials don’t manage to misplace our passports, there are endless small hitches, glitches, and hiccoughs to contend with and a constant stream of new information to absorb. The good news is that every time you do remember route details, historical tidbits, or where you left the car keys in the new Airbnb, you can congratulate yourself on making your brain a little stronger and more youthful. My brain will never again be as flexible as those of the twentysomethings from Amsterdam we met on that bus, but my memory … wait, what was I saying? Just kidding. My memory is at its best when I travel, when I think and write about my journeys, and as I plan future trips. I can only assume that’s because I’m doing something right by my 100 trillion synapses. I am counting on them to do right by me in return. YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY Don't miss a single loony adventure, travel tip, video, or recipe. Send me your email and I'll keep you updated.
14 Comments
Kay Funk
10/15/2019 04:22:15 pm
Loved this. I can almost feel my brain working especially when we are in Hungary and I'm looking at a menu or trying to decipher the "instructions" on a train message board. Then we are off to Spain and I have to remember my limited Spanish.
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Karen McCann
10/15/2019 05:15:18 pm
You're so right, Kay, those menus and train station displays are real real brain teasers! And the problem is that going from one country to another, just when you start to get the hang of one language, you have to forget everything you've learned and start grappling with another. Good luck with your Spanish! No doubt it will come back to you when you need it.
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10/15/2019 04:29:42 pm
Wonderful read! Thank you Karen. Agree with all your comments. Travel makes my senses come alive..........challenges, tingles, shifts and sorts. I am planning on traveling until the end!
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Karen McCann
10/15/2019 05:52:26 pm
So glad you plan to keep on traveling, Nancy! For us, it's essential to our mental wellbeing. As you say, challenges, tingles, shifts and sorts ...they're what keep us all going!
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Karen McCann
10/15/2019 05:56:40 pm
Thanks, Steve. I'm so glad you liked this post. It certainly came from the heart. I know you're a good traveler yourself, and you've always shown a lot of flexibility and adaptability. Speaking of which, I hope your transition to the West Coast is going well and you and Pia are enjoying this new chapter in your lives. Hope to see you back in Seville one of these days, amigo!
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Christine Land
10/15/2019 06:34:03 pm
We are a couple of over 70's Australians travelling through Europe by train for 3 months without the benefit of a second language. Have struggled with Italian washing machine but won the contest, and feel we should have kept a journal just on how many ways to turn on a shower and flush a toilet. Took us a whole night on our phones to book the Bernina Express but finally did it. Felt so good. Always buoyed up by your blog.
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Karen McCann
10/22/2019 11:22:04 am
Cristine, I hope you do keep a journal, or maybe publish a small book explaining how to wrestle these machines into submission. It's amazing how thrilling these small victories feel! Good luck to the two of you on your journeys.
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Bill
10/16/2019 12:16:41 am
Welcome back home. Appreciated your path to maintaining critical thinking by doing what you love - travel. Sheila would like to be on your blog email list. I will send you her contact info directly. Thanks and happy birthday, and great pic of you and Rich with Brent and Michelle. Cheers. Bill
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Karen McCann
10/22/2019 11:24:23 am
Bill, thanks as always for your thoughtful comments. I've added Sheila to the mailing list, so she won't miss a single one of our loony adventures. It was great seeing Brent and Michelle here in Seville; they are truly intrepid travelers!
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Kitty
10/18/2019 02:50:20 pm
I am glad up in the frigid north of Canada my brain is still working. Seeing polar bears up close and dog sledding are the big adventures. I wish by brain was better at helping me constantly having to bundle up and undress. I didn't know I could still have hot flashes. Lots of comfort here but well done bison burgers don't quite make the grade. Elk meatloaf was better.
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Karen McCann
10/22/2019 11:26:07 am
Polar bears and dog sledding are tremendous adventures, Kitty, although it doesn't sound like you got much joy from the bison burgers. Good to know you are still roaming the world, having fun, and trying new things. Happy travels, amiga!
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Sally
10/29/2019 01:02:52 am
As a "fall chicken" this post is an inspiration! I've been feeling a bit too set in my ways lately and I think this is aging me. I love that traveling takes me outside my comfort zone and forces me to learn how to make do in a new situation. It's been awhile since I've had opportunity to travel but I think it's time. Thanks for the reminder, I'm going to start planning a trip. Thanks!
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3/10/2022 05:07:14 am
This is a very informative—edifying article to all. Thanks a lot! Continue to post!
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As my regular readers know, I never get free or discounted goods or services for mentioning anything on this blog (or anywhere else). I only write about things I find interesting and/or useful. I'm an American travel writer living in Seville, Spain. I travel the world seeking eccentric people, quirky places, and outrageously delicious food so I can have the fun of writing about them here.
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