A Vacation Relaxes You, Travel Tests You

Stacey Brotzel, who was hosting a conversation with traveller Sharman Hnatiuk, had just recalled seeing a small boy come out of a dump in the Philippines with his "handful of little metal." Brotzel said the image was imprinted on her brain, then said the return to comfort felt strange, that maybe the readjustment was "a little bit too easy for us." Then Brotzel asked, "What should you expect out of travel?"

Hnatiuk drew a distinction. "To me, traveling is a sense of adventure," she said. "There's going to be ups and downs, good and bad for sure."

By vacation, Hnatiuk meant relaxation. She described a short booked stay with every day scheduled, built around resting in warm weather and eating well.

By travel, she meant something less controlled. She called it "an opportunity to push myself, try new things," she said, adding, "You can learn what you can live with." She said she does things abroad she would never do back home, sometimes in uncomfortable settings. As an example, Hnatiuk said, "I packed more for that trip than I did for seven months in South America."

Hnatiuk added that the test does not require a distant country. Brotzel suggested someone could have a life changing moment while floating in Lake Okanagan, and Hnatiuk agreed. She pointed to a friend who had just returned from Newfoundland, where seeing puffins and icebergs was "so impactful" for her, in Hnatiuk's words. Hnatiuk said she thinks it is "trying something new, something different, and at times just getting out of your comfort zone."

She described watching Kapkari in Uzbekistan, a game played on horseback, as "amazing." Hnatiuk said, "I didn't want to leave." Of that day, Hnatiuk said, "I will never forget that day."