On a recent trip to Ireland, our AirBnB host, Morgan, was shocked at the schedule my friends and I had put together. We had plans to see iconic places in all corners of the island over a five-day stretch. Drive times were only a few hours total, which seems normal to me as the island is smaller than Kansas.
Morgan, like any good rural citizen, was so excited to share recommendations of beautiful sites and great culture in the area. Similar to many folks in the Midwest, he had pride in his local area and wanted us to see what made it so great. It was understandable that he was disappointed we weren’t going to take time to explore the area and really experience his corner of rural Ireland.
Our approach to the trip was very American as we wanted to see a little bit of everything — somewhat like a travel sampler platter. We wanted to visit all the iconic and historical sites that are on popular must-see lists.
We knew packing the big stops in would take flexibility so we only booked items that required advanced tickets like tours. On our first day in country we had two tours booked to help keep us moving so we could adjust to the time difference and avoid jet lag.
Time was not on our side that day. Parking took much longer than expected, which probably had a lot to do with unfamiliar signage and my extra caution during this first experience of driving on the left side of the road. Then our 45 minute tour led by a student at Trinity College lasted an hour and a half. This was a bit of a preview of many encounters with the Irish, who are delightfully chatty. That is great for conversation and bad for schedules.
The second tour was rocky from the start. A Halloween parade was causing chaos in the area we were to meet our guide. When we finally started our tour, it lasted an hour longer than advertised but we didn’t mind because the host shared wonderful stories of growing up in a historic city and gave us a taste of the Irish gift of Blarney.
Our journey was filled with wild beauty from the Cliffs of Moher to Giants Causeway. We expanded our cultural understanding at UNESCO World Heritage sites and enjoyed Irish music and folk dancing. We experienced local food and drink at pubs along the way.
Over the five days we spent zipping around the island, it became clear that Morgan may have been right about us needing to slow down and not try to do too much. Each day we encountered things that slowed us down from restroom breaks to pharmacy stops and unexpected photo shoots when the view was breathtaking or a perfect double rainbow appeared suddenly.
It didn’t take long to learn that our group moved slow; we savored experiences and relished the present. When I stopped worrying about checking places off my list, it created space and freedom for us all to enjoy the present.
We still probably wouldn’t meet Morgan’s idea of a proper holiday but we lived in the moment appreciating the experiences happening now instead of worrying about the things we had to skip. This trip proved goals and ambition are great but there are more important and enjoyable parts of life than exhausting your energy checking boxes.
And now I have a great reason to make the trip to watch the K-State Wildcats next August.
“Insight” is a weekly column published by Kansas Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization whose mission is to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service.
