Wednesday, 18 March 2015

Being a tour guide in your own country

Living in a foreign country means I can add 'tour guide' to my resume.

Don't get me wrong, I love having visitors, but I hate being a tour guide.

I'm more than happy to take my visitors to a local mall, gardens, historical site, building etc but I'd really love it if when we got there, they took the lead. I find it tiring deciding on where to eat, what shop to go into. I don't know where the best coffee place is, I don't have a memory bank of where the nearest toilet is at any given time and I can't recommend the best place to eat because a) I don't eat out much and b) it depends on what you want to eat and how much you want to pay.

Most of our visitors travel on their own, when we do have couples to visit, they hire a car, we give them a map, sim cards, a key, tell them what time dinner is (they don't have to eat with us, just let us know) and off they go.  I can then have some time off, catch up with some cleaning or just have some 'me time'

You see I spend so much time on my own, that even though I crave visitors, it all gets too much for me. It's all or nothing and I'm no longer used to being on the go 24 hours a day since the kids left home and on a daily basis I only have myself to think about so all of a sudden having someone else around 24 hours a day is tiring.

I'm not good at living in a foreign country, I don't seek it out, nor do I relish the whole process of making friends, finding new places, exploring. I don't actually enjoy it. It's just something that I do, I have to do. The only other option, which has happened before, is to give up and just sink into depression.

It would be nice when visitors come for them to say 'right, I've done some research and I'd love to explore a, b and c. Would you like to join me and we can explore somewhere new and different together?' or even 'I'm sure you're probably bored of taking visitors round the same places every time, is there anywhere new you'd like to see?'

But it ain't going to happen is it? If it does, it'll be because I've suggested it and as usual I'll be the one stood at the front with the map working out where to go and how.


2 comments:

  1. Ok! You have deal: We'll explore something very different when we descend on you. 😎

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    1. to be fair we have had some very good guests including the lovely @mediocre_mum who was more than happy to 'get lost' with me as most of Dubai was new to both of us, and if you're ever out here on holiday do give me a yell and I'll show you some places off the beaten tourist track

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