Vibe

I’ve been fortunate as each of us have to be able to travel extensively both professionally and personally. We’ve attempted to tally the total number of countries to which we have all been and due to Marc’s Navy career and Ed’s professional global reach the number and diversity is pretty impressive.

Travel is great for many reasons but two experiences recently have clarified for me one of the appealing aspects of going to other cities. The vibe. I realize that sounds really surfer-dudesque so allow me the opportunity to explain.

In talking with Ed last week, he had just made his first visit to Cleveland. He was excited to report that it was an unexpectedly nice city. When I asked why he liked it he was able to point out some items like nice people, cool restaurants but was fuzzy on other details. It is the other details, which you can feel when you are in a place but are hard to describe, that is the city’s vibe.

The second example was going for a run late last Sunday night in Iowa City. The students are filtering back into our community and there is this big pulse of energy in our city. It is nervousness, excitement and confusion all rolled into one big power plant of energy. This is Iowa City’s vibe. As much as many community members like to complain about the students I think it is pretty awesome to have the energy and vibe that comes along with classes starting this fall.

The problem with vibe, or perhaps better stated the problem with many of us, is that we don’t pay attention. We scurry through a new place with headphones on, PDAs blinking and buzzing, and don’t soak in the energy and vibe of the new place. We only go from the airport to the hotel to the meeting place and don’t wander with no destination to feel what the new place is trying to tell us. It truly is a missed opportunity and a great lesson for all of us seasoned travelers.

The best vibe: San Francisco and New York City. San Fran has this really intimate neighborhood feel. Decidedly California but not the entrapments of SoCal. I love San Francisco. New York City, the energy is crazy in that place. It is like a 24-hour a day can of Redbull.

What do you do to feel the vibe of a city? Do you take advantage of your travels? I’ve got a busy Fall that will take me to many familiar and new places, I’m looking forward to paying attention.