Travelers are like Sherlock Holmes? Say what! Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective: smart, remarkable, determined...and jerky. Like most travelers. We travelers have these characteristics without realizing it! Like Sherlock Holmes, we solve problems, and when we travel, be aware of surroundings. If you’ve ever said to yourself, I really want to be like Sherlock Holmes, or have just thought that he’s very cool; this is the post for you.

Here are four reasons why travelers are like Sherlock Holmes:

Determination

Sherlock Holmes is very determined. When we travel, we are determined to find the best in a place. When we’re hungry, we try to find the greatest food around. We’re determined to make our trip the best journey that it can be. When we have an idea of where we want to go, be, see, and we are unable to accomplish it...Oh boy.  For many people, travel can be a bucket-list sort of endeavor – something that has been longed for and planned for ages. That is determination! When we want to figure out something, the history of a place, what the best dish on the menu is, how much something is, we definitely do. Just like Sherlock Holmes. We don’t give up.

Jerkiness

We don’t try to be jerky as travelers, but sometimes we just are. We might take pictures at inappropriate times, walk too slowly (gazing at the marvels around us) so the people behind us are delayed and annoyed, speak more loudly when people don’t understand us, etc. Guess what? You’re acting like Sherlock! He can’t help it - he has people to see, crimes to investigate, people to save! Same as us, we can’t help the jerkiness sometimes. We also, sometimes, act like we own the country, need everything to be perfect - and when it isn’t, we may get stressed, say rude things, and act like a jerk. Just like Sherlock Holmes. (But we need to get over it.)

Awareness

Travelers are super aware. We want to take it all in and remember as much as possible. We use our 5 senses constantly. When you’re walking in a foreign place, do you ever just touch something randomly? A wall? A piece of fruit that a street vendor is selling? I do this all the time when I travel. I constantly take deep breaths, trying to soak up the smell of a place. I notice when the water feels different compared to the water I’m used to in NYC. When we travel, the colors seem more vibrant, the food tastes better, and even the sand or cobblestones feel better under our feet – just because we’re in a new and different place. Sherlock Holmes is just as aware. He notices things people would normally NOT notice. Just like us travelers.

Solutions

There are always those one or two difficult, annoying problems you have to face while you’re on a trip. It happens to everyone. To solve those problems, you find solutions…just like Sherlock Holmes.

You’re on a trip, and you’re trying to get into a museum, you had the ticket but somehow lost it. How will you get in to the museum that you’ve wanted to see for a long time? Either using your charm-speak to convince the ticket taker you had bought the ticket (and lost it). Or, if your charm hasn’t worked, showing him/her the website you had bought your tickets from, showing them the proof of purchase. Or, you’re coming back from a 5 day hike, you’re exhausted and can’t wait to get to the 4 star hotel you booked, and then you get there and find out it’s absolutely horrible, too much of a dump to stay in. You need to find a different place to stay tonight. One guarantee about travel – you will have many different problems - you just have to think through them. Just like Sherlock Holmes.

We may not be a detective, but we definitely have some of the traits of Sherlock Holmes. Travel is difficult, mind opening, exciting, suspenseful, and life changing. Just like one of Sherlock’s cases. Travelers are the Sherlocks of the world!

Anevay Darlington is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program

Photo courtesy and copyright Anevay Darlington