Mid Tier Travel? What that be tho?

Travel can’t always be a life-changing experience. Sometimes you go somewhere, do your thing, plan it well, visit the sights, and yet you come back the same. Life = not changed. You = disappointed. But at the same time, the trip didn’t traumatize you. It didn’t shake you to your core and destroy your faith in the human experiment. You traveled. The trip ended. Life goes on. Your trip stays in your memory but gets revisited as a meh-mory.

That’s what we in the business (just me) call mid tier travel. Sometimes a trip doesn’t blow you away. There can be many a reason for this. That same trip didn’t ruin your life either, it just left a dull taste in your mouth. There’s reason for that as well. Either way, that’s mid tier travel. And that’s something to embrace. Look at the glass half full because it is half full and you come to appreciate the mundanity of it all.

Or maybe we’re just growing accustomed to subpar experiences and disappointment. But damn it, that’s neither here nor there!

I’m going to share my experience of a trip that left no taste in my mouth and why this type of thing shouldn’t be unexpected or discouraged. Not every trip can be a winner, or a loser. Some just exist. And those excursions still have a place here in the annals of mid tier traveldom. Here’s why you should accept mediocrity sometimes, based on my example.

In this episode of Mid Tier Travel: Stockholm, Sweden! Let’s casually stumble in shall we?

(yes)

How Stockholm should be

When you imagine visiting Stockholm, you must imagine swashbuckling through lively streets, peeking at chic art and inhaling chilly air as you traverse the colorful old town to the sound of one of ABBA’s classics. Yup that’s all possible. Stockholm does definitely attract a wrecking crew’s worth of visitors. And who can you blame them?

As Sweden’s capital, Stockholm is filled is filled to the tippity toppity with avant-garde property. Think of the Drottningholm Palace, the ABBA Museum, the charms of historic buildings and subtle corners on a refreshing winter’s eve. All that splendor and color. All that hip IKEA-linked minimalism waiting for you in the city’s hotels and restaurants. It doesn’t make for a lackluster impression on the part of the city’s viking ancestors. No, when they drafted this place, they wanted you to come and spend your money there, boatloads of it. That’s Valhalla.

You imagine a clean, safe city, the same cold but subtly inviting air many places in this part of Europe carry. Nothing to worry about. No reason to be disappointed. I may have once said lovers of bank accounts should be wary of these Swedish streets but still, I was like you. Young, innocent, expecting a fun ride of a trip, calm and quiet like any other. You have all the reason to love Stockholm. So, why didn’t I?

My Experience

I went to Stockholm on the tail end of a trip northeast of France. Northeast being from where I was in the south of France. Northeast this time meaning Germany, Denmark and then Sweden. Sweden was never a country that particularly attracted me, it must be said. However, if I’ve learned anything it’s that no country is without its charms. Here was a place well spoken for. I wanted my jaw to drop too when I saw it, so I wouldn’t shut up about it.

Yet the whole trip was mired by issues. The days before in Denmark were a sign of things to come. Weird tension already there. I enjoyed Copenhagen more than Stockholm but there was an unshakeable elephant in the room (it’s unadvised for humans to try and shake the elephant mandem in general btw). And to be fair to either city, it wasn’t even their fault.

Let’s cut to the chase, the trip to Stockholm was hampered by personal things more than anything else. I want to make that clear because obviously you cannot always remove personal demons from your trips, and that shouldn’t deter you from traveling. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how great the destination is, we, as people, bring what he have to bring into it and take what we take from it through the lens of that heavy baggage.

I was supposed to see a girl in Stockholm, I had planned the trip around coming to visit her. And in the end, she spectral forced me. I don’t wanna say ghosted because truth be told it wasn’t your classic ghosting. More like Scooby Doo pretend foolishness. Like dodging rather than disappearing. Needless to say, I visited the city alone, which is normal for me, but it hits different when you plan to see someone else.

Now normally, I would have attempted to regroup. I would never want to give someone else power of my trip and I tried to enjoy it as best as possible. Hell, people had cancelled on me before. Usually, it works out in the end, especially somewhere like here. Things in the city were undeniable. Yet I couldn’t deny that gaping hole eating away at me, depriving me from obtaining the full enjoyment I should have received from such a northern venture. (see how I be using big words despite the sadness bruh? I = GOAT contender?)

The Highlights tho

Of course, this is still a world city! It’s a top tier destination, not an inherently mid tier one! I shacked up right by the colorful old town, known as Gamla Stan. I remember entering those warm scented streets and remarking on the weird dress of the locals. What the hell is the fashion here? I’d forgotten that I arrived on Halloween night!

Maybe that’s why I was spectral forced, come to think about it.

Nevertheless, Gamla Stan does stan itself and deservedly so. I love history. I love old cities. Hell, it’s one of the key things bringing me back to European nations again and again. And this one is no diffy my giffy. Gamla Stan truly blew a young duck away and turned me into foie gras. Sweden had never seemed to me like a country rich in historic places and yet… it was the opposite of me in terms of richness. You already know what that means…

After Gamla Stan, I explored the rest of the city as best as possible. The metro is simple and easy but that’s not surprising in a European capital. Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum is a wonder in of itself. There were bears there. I mess with bears heavy! Also, like historic Swedish things there too I guess but there’s bears damn it! Bears! You feel as if you wandered an old frontier village when you enter Skansen. You won’t wanna leave like it’s holding you for ransom either!

What am I even writing at this point?

Speaking of points, my point is that despite the sorry state of my mind when I visited, Stockholm’s never been caught lacking in the sights department. I could never forget the Vasa Museum, home to the gigantic eponymous 17th century vessel that sank in these very waters. It literally took my breath away and gave me life all in one glance. You don’t even need to be a naval nerd of drowning specialist to enjoy all the museum has to offer. Even someone as stupid as me had a great time there.

Even if I didn’t have a great time in gen gen…

What Could have Made it not Mid Tier

This trip could have been better planned for sure. I went in the fall, the beginning of November, when my ass was seconds away from total freezedom. I could barely keep hold of my skin, the icy chains of destiny gripping me too hard (that was like poetic). That can’t be denied. However, much of the blame has to go back to my personal goings on.

In hindsight, the trip turned out to be my failed candidature for elite level simpdom. I chose a country I wasn’t necessarily dying to see and went there to see a girl. The foundation was evidently not strong enough to justify my enjoyment when things turned south. There’s always going to be variables while traveling and I should have been better prepared for that. I should have added more to the plan and not let the lust for female validation overcome a young brutha like that.

Beyond that, a lot of travelling, and especially solo traveling, relies on the mental. You have to be mentally strong enough to go it alone, and when that’s not your intention, there will be consequences. For me, every amazing sight I saw in Stockholm was tainted by the annoyance I had due to the haunting I received (I be tryna find every way not to say ghosting). If I had been able to remove that from my mind and look at the city objectively, I would’ve been able to appreciate one of Europe’s great capitals. That’s all on me.

Additionally, there is a level of immersion I usually do when I enter a city that I just didn’t do here. I couldn’t convince myself to go into a restaurant and try local delicacies. I didn’t engage with any Swedes. I stayed in the bubble of my disappointment and got shocked when it suffocated me. No doubt that my mood influenced those decisions. Interacting with the local culture is one of the premier highlights of any trip. I did eat this like Swedish burrito thing whose name, like fulfillment, escapes me now.

Super Deep Philosophical Takeaways

Naturally, these disappointments don’t erase the positives experiences I extracted from Stockholm, Sweden. That’s why the idea of a mid trip is so important. I can never say I regret visiting Stockholm. Was it the best time? Maybe not. The cleanest foundation? Clearly also far from the case. However, as time has gone by, I realized that there is value in this trip, and it struck me as an example for any would-be traveler.

I wasn’t always this enlightened of course. In the initial aftermath, I felt incredibly let down by this trip. I thought it was a waste of my time, money, and emotions. I went back to France fatigued. It couldn’t compete with my other trips to other countries. And then I realized the real question I should have been asking. So, it couldn’t compete with the others. But then again, why should it?

If every trip is amazing, there is nothing special or unique to them. You end up needing that variety to make the truly life changing trips stand out. At the same time, there’s no shortage of travel horror stories. Some trips are better left forgotten. This luckily wasn’t that. That’s also something to be grateful for. My takeaways for travels are such. Anyone wishing to travel, anyone planning trips, anyone with an inch to go out and explore the world, be ready and open for things to go awry, and be open to things not working out.

In travel, I figure it’s always worth it to look on the bright side and be positive. Plus, at worst, you get to have a good middle of the pack section for arbritary travel rankings you wanna make one day 😉

Conc. Lusion

Alright! Sooooo, ya boi’s got to reiterate that this post is primarily and entirely based on a young broke Duckboi’s adventures in Stockholm. That’s the thing about mid tier trips like this. It’s all relative, all subjective, all contingent on variables; the way travel always is. Let’s say I go back to Sweden ten times. Out of that I bet 8 or 9 would be thrilling adventures. It just so happened the 1 time I went, it scored a 5. That’s okay.

I just want to conclude that a young grippa is not out here tryna insult the Swedes at all. I like Zlatan. His goal against England is probably the most impressive goal I’ve ever seen. Real ones know what I’m talkin ’bout.

Either way, there is glory in mid trips like this. Why? Because it’s human. The trips are reflections of our lives (assuming that everyone reading this be on that human timing), filled with imperfections and idiosyncrasies that give every moment a different flavor. Trips like these can feel dissuading, disappointing and disillusioning, but the more we accept their probability, the sooner that travel bug within can finally grow into a butterfly.

So don’t clip those wings yet. Long live the mid.