Word of Mouth for Travel Is Hard (For Me)
Trusting intimacy more, and ideas, information, and the Internet less
(from: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/g61070399/inside-out-2-new-emotions/)
A slight detour from our Pacific Northwest trip review (Part 1 and Part 2 here), but definitely relevant to the planning for it. It revolves around what I said regarding word of mouth a couple months ago.
As I’ve said before, I tend to get into the weeds of trip planning, and this trip wasn’t all that different, especially with multiple stops, bookings, modes of transportation, and urban/rural environments. It was pretty compressed and complex road trip. Analysis paralysis was definitely something I struggled with because of all the logistics involved. What started out with some ChatGPT prompts and Google Sheets ended up in rabbit holes that were longer and deeper than they should have been.
This really hit home to me this weekend when I watched Inside Out 2 with my two boys in the theater, which really explored how anxiety and overthinking can hurt us, with typical Pixar brilliance.
One of the early questions we had to answer was how to get from Seattle to Vancouver, and we had multiple options. One was simply to rent a car, though that meant finding either an in-town rental location, or back-tracking to the airport. The former would be more convenient but possibly more expensive, plus such locations tend to have limited hours. Going back to the airport would add time and a bit of Uber/Lyft/taxi expense, but we’d likely get better selection/pricing and they’re open practically 24/7. Another factor was although we’d be “in control” of our schedule and journey more, there was the uncertainty of how long it would take at the US-Canada border in terms of processing us through customs and immigration. There could be a long delay depending on traffic and processing capacity both ways.
Then there was seeing if a (round trip) plane ride would be worth it - long story short, nope.
I had heard about the Amtrak Cascades service between the two cities, and really wanted to consider it. I love trains, and am a bit of a romantic about them, and the Cascades was known for great views along the coast. However, I had concerns about this option because it was (a) not any faster than a car, and (b) Amtrak was known for sometimes serious delays, which I’d experienced a couple of times, both into Chicago Union Station. This seemed especially true for routes outside the busy Northeast Corridor, where they have far more frequency and business traveler use. Around the time I started trip planning, a few of people close to me (including my wife) strongly suggested taking Amtrak. Some of it was the experience and scenery that the kids would love, but my wife also wanted to avoid having me drive a car and the stress that could mean.
The OCD planner and researcher in me kept wanting to know and learn more, so I got onto a couple of Facebook groups on Seattle, Pacific Northwest, and Amtrak travel. I posted on them, both with overall trip planning questions and specifically on getting to/from Vancouver via Amtrak. The rabbit hole I got myself into seemed to create more doubt around using Amtrak, with landslides during winter season cancelling trains (we were going in the spring though), and perhaps just too much information that included both positive and negative reviews.
For weeks I kept trying to find “THE ANSWER” on Facebook groups and other websites. It was as if I was trying to find some shiny object to “prove” that we should or should not take Amtrak. All the while I had loved ones gently but enthusiastically telling me Amtrak would be great, based on their own or their friends’ experience.
I don’t know what it was, but I finally surrendered and decided to go with Amtrak. Not so much because I liked the other options, but I really did want to give Amtrak a chance and assuming no major delays, it would have been the best fit (and it ultimately turned out to work beautifully).
I’ll get into the actual journey and logistical details in my next post, but in short we went from King Street station in Seattle straight up to Vancouver’s Pacific Central the evening of our second full day in Seattle. Two days later we returned but got off at Bellingham and got a rental car to head towards Olympic National Park.
The lesson for me on this part of the journey planning was: trust your loved ones for deciding big parts of your trip, and let the Internet do what it does best, namely information on schedules, locations, and ultimately bookings. Travel is an inherently social activity, and it’s probably best to give space to your family and friends, whether or not they’re traveling with you. They know you better than any “Internet stranger” let alone any algorithm. Another thing I’ve realized is the “audience” or “target market” for a particular Facebook group or hotel or website isn’t necessarily aligned with you or those close to you/traveling with you. Searching a Facebook group for a specific travel area may be populated by contributors who are quite different from you.
It’s also important to remember, whatever actual people are providing feedback on the Internet, either as commenters on boards or advice directly to you, they don’t know you as well as your own family and close friends. There’s an intimate two-way connection between you and those closest to you, something that can’t be replicated with otherwise genuine people you see or interact with online. Intimacy can mean some vulnerability and discomfort in conversations up front, but trusting the the right people is more meaningful at the end of the day.
As I think about the next trips I want to have for us, I’m trying to keep this in mind more and more. What ideas I have in my head or what I find online is often not going to be what my loved ones want, nor ultimately what I want for a great experience.