Sticking With It

Sometimes, things do not meet our expectations. At that point, we are left with two options: either keep on keeping on . . . or give up.

We had that sort of experience a few months ago. We decided to go to the opera on our last night in Budapest. We looked forward to the event all week-long and expected it to be a wonderful wrap-up our stay in that amazing city. I listened to a podcast about experiencing operas before going, as I had never been to one. Actually, I think I went to one in Abilene, while in graduate school, once. But whatever it was thrilled me so much that I looked at my phone all night long, checking sports scores.

The podcast described how wonderful it is to experience an opera that is done in a language foreign to your own because the real treat of opera is being captivated by the emotions of the music and the characters. I was expecting that and then was blown away by the inside of the Budapest Opera House:

I was looking forward to a great evening. However, the first two acts of the opera were a bit of a dud . . . to me, anyway. We debated leaving after the first act. Then I was ready to get out of there after Act Two. But, fortunately, Lauren wanted to stay. So we did. And I am glad we did.

By sticking with it, Act Three wrapped the story of Rigoletto up well. Things finally made sense . . . or sort of. The opera, of course, was sung in Italian. There were subtitles. But since we were in Budapest, the subtitles were in, um, Hungarian. Some English words in the program helped set the scene a bit. But the difficulties in translation made me angry and frustrated.

But something about the third act caused me to chill out, take it in, and enjoy it. I wish I had been more open to the experience earlier in the evening. Nonetheless, I am glad we stuck with it and enjoyed the best part of it.

We were in a situation where we had to decide whether or not to stick with it. We did and were glad we did. We have also had times where we decided to head out, in similar situations. And we are glad we did that, as well, such as trying to see Central Park in NYC. I really, really, really wanted to see it. The day we planned to do that it was pouring. We walked up there, were miserable, and decided to go no farther than the edge of the park. And by doing so, we enjoyed some of the drier, less wet sites of Midtown.

How do you decide? Unfortunately, I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all approach to making decisions with travel, particularly when an experience isn't what you thought it would be. The best thing you can do is follow your instincts, your gut. Often, something deep down within us is trying to tell us what we should do, based upon who we are, what we like, what we don't like. The key is trying to listen to that and then (sorry to be cliche) following your heart.