Today, I am questioning everything I have ever thought about how I travel. I have travelled all my life. I try to be a ‘good’ tourist, respectful of the locals, learn to say hello and thank you in their language, be aware of my surroundings. And I suppose, when I worked in downtown Toronto, I was often surrounded by tourists, but as the streets were already pretty busy anyways, I didn’t really pay attention to them.
Which means that the last four days have been a complete revelation to me. I left Orkney on the first of May at 7am – (as I was driving out of town, I should have paid more attention to the parade of empty coach tour buses that were headed to the cruise ship in the harbour to pick up the 500+ people disembarking – I might have glommed on to what was to come). When I returned at 9pm on May 8th, everything had changed. The first change I discovered was when trying to getting a free 1-hour parking sticker in the town, and LL finally had to say to me, “The sign says it’s only free for the first hour from October to April. As of May you have to pay.” Ah, I see.
We walked into town on Monday and the streets were busier than normal, but it didn’t really click. Even the number of people in sensible walking shoes with backpacks didn’t register. It was as we headed into the various shops to pick up groceries that I became aware of people ‘in my way’. Not intentionally blocking me, just oblivious to my need to get some turnip. Tuesday we were driving along a single-lane country road and a car coming towards us pulled into a passing place (I’m assuming she was a local) to let us by. As I moved forward, a car tried to overtake the local driver who was stopped, thereby blocking our way. Clearly not a local. We waited patiently while she backed up – she may not have understood the protocols. Yesterday a car with left-hand drive and Belgian license plates struggled with pulling out of a parking lot. And today, the parking lot at the Italian Chapel was almost full. Full! That just doesn’t happen here.
All of these people have seemed polite, and pleasant, and accommodating. But they annoy me. Not in an I’m-getting-angry sort of a way, but in a heavy-sigh sort of a way. All those years I thought I was being the best of tourists, the most respectful and considerate of travellers, it turns out I have been completely inconveniencing every local near me.
My mind has been blown.