Some time ago my friend Maruxaina nominated me to one of those blogging chains where you need to do something and then nominate 3 others to do the same thing. I don’t really like that sort of thing, but this one I found funny, so, here are the 9 things I’m pretty bad at when I travel, even though I am a travel blogger:

1. Follow the path or an itinerary

I love to plan and design the route I’ll follow, the places I’ll visit, when why and how… But once I’ve set foot in my destination, I know all of that won’t be accomplished. I’ll find a craft spot or a cafe, a new site or a temporary expo, I’ll  ask the locals for their favourite spots and review my travel guide again. That’s why I love all-day pases, open tickets and travel apps that re-arrange your route.

Just one exception: never late to an appointment or reservation.

2. Diet

Ok, this one goes for the travel life and the daily life. I love experiencing new flavours and textures and I’ll try anything at least once, even when I’m not able to pronounce it. I believe that food and travel are deeply connected and what I’ve tasted around the world has taught me many things.

BUT, I don’t like airport food (some exceptions apply like some good restaurants at Mexico DF airport) and I don’t experiment when flying, if I don’t know the food they’ll serve, I just go vegetarian.

3. Calling back home

I might phone my parents, grandma, sister, friends… a couple of times a week. But when I am a couple of miles from my house I just forget about calling. Maybe a whatsapp every once in a while. My mom has even taken my instagram account as a proof of life ;)

4. Bargaining

I simply don’t do it. I know the theory (every time I say I can’t haggle, somebody explains the whole process to me…) but I don’t like it. I believe that everything has two prices: yours and mine. It’s an offer vs demand model, if your pricing matches mine, I’ll buy it, if your price is higher, I won’t.

I don’t have a theory on whether I am a better buyer persona or not because of this, but I don’t have to buy something at every place I visit either, so it doesn’t bother me that much.

5. Run from A to B to C to …

I love to travel, but I don’t like to run from one place to another. Some people call it #slowtravel, or even ageing ;) For me it’s simple: if I don’t get to see it all, more reasons to come back.

Besides, it allows me to discover things I wasn’t planning to visit, like Daisho-in at Miyajima, and stop at a local cafe if I feel like it.

6. Pack my bags (with time)

I hate packing. I didn’t like it as a kid and now it’s still a reason for procrastination. In a perfect world, I would travel around the world luggage-less. But I guess I don’t have enough money for that (yet).

7. Travel without technology

Call me geek, techie or addicted, but I can’t travel without gadgets. Me, who refused to carry a cellphone around when I was 18, now I carry many things around so I don’t feel disconnected.

8. Not asking

Yes, I am a silent traveler when I am in Spain, but just as soon as I cross the border I ask anybody I see about where to eat, what to see and how to get to…. It’s not because of the roaming and the lack of wifi spots, neither because I mistrust travel apps (although some are pretty bad.) It’s about talking to people.

And I prefer to walk around looking to the buildings, the mountains and whatever that’s around, than looking to a gadget that will take me from A to B faster.

9. Unplugging

Yes, I told you before, I’m addicted. I need to check my email at least twice a day, publish on twitter or instagram, read the news… Please tell me how you do it, because I can’t just unplug (unless there’s no signal at all.)

Well, this is my list, what’s in yours?