The tourist who has his nose in a guidebook instead of enjoying the sights around him is a cliche. In truth, some of us lose touch with reality long before we board that plane or train.In the days leading up to my family's recent trip to France, I had plenty of work to do. Nevertheless, I convinced myself that weeding and putting down 76 cubic feet of mulch would persuade potential burglars someone was home—and likely to emerge with a roaring leaf-blower if anyone messed with the locks. (Update: No one broke into the house while we were gone. Was mulch the major deterrent? Hard to know for sure.)
If I acted like a tourist at home, you know I stood out in France. Like many others, I caught jump-in-front-of-monument disease—a virus that spurs visitors to leap into the air when posing for pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame.
At home, it's rare that all my family members are seated and ready to go at the beginning of a meal, so it's pointless for us to raise our glasses in a toast, especially one glass is bound to be empty while another is so full it will slosh out its contents if lifted. In France, at every meal except breakfast, we toasted our luck in being together in a breathtaking country. Some onlookers probably considered us goofy. Other might have thought us easily pleased. No matter. We were together and in France—reasons enough to celebrate.
What about you? Ever do something nutty in the name of home security? What's the most touristy thing you've ever done?
