In college I was fortunate to spend a summer living in Ireland.

While I was there, I chose to avoid doing typical tourist activities while I traveled and I don’t regret my choice.

In college I was fortunate to spend a summer living in Ireland.

While I was there, I chose to avoid doing typical tourist activities while I traveled and I don’t regret my choice.

By staying away from the famous Temple Bar and Brazen Head pubs, I avoided paying 8 euros for a pint and by avoiding the guided tours of the landmarks in James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” I found something more alluring than a day-trip snapshot.

I found the rhythm of Dublin and, to some extent, that of the rest of the country.

I was able to explore being on my own for the first time in my life. I had been away from home before but never for three solid months and never without the option to turn around and head home whenever I felt like things had started to get a little outside my comfort zone.

Nothing untoward happened on my trip, but I was able to learn to be a more self-contained when it came to things like cheering myself up or venturing into unknown territory, geographical or otherwise.

But when I returned from my trip, I was inevitably asked about shamrocks, shillelaghs, and Guinness rather than the more intimate details I had learned along the way.

Recently, I’ve thought more and more about how one’s perception of a place is usually vastly different from the actuality of a place.

My journey abroad opened my eyes to the larger world around me and sparked a love for the Irish language, literature, and culture that has not abated in the years since I was last there.

With summer finally feeling as though it has arrived, and people planning, taking, and returning from vacations near and far, I hope they, too, are taking a moment to step beyond the tourist-busy streets to find the local flavor of their chosen vacation spot.

Because it may open up a world beyond their itinerary.

Or begin a journey that takes longer to complete than a week or two and a trip through airport security.

Pam Robel is the paginator for the Columbia Basin Herald. She has lived in four different cities in the last six years and hopes to continue her travels whenever she can.