How To Talk About Places That You Haven’t Been To

Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.” – Irving Wallace

It happens to everyone. . Suddenly all the dinner guests are discussing a place that you have never been to. It could be Paris, Australia or Coachella.   It could be places you’ve read about, places you’ve heard about, places you’ve wanted to visit, places you’ve forgotten existed or places you have never wanted to visit. To appear to be a well traveled and cultivated person in the twenty first century, you want to join the conversation.

How do you talk about a place that you have not been to?

First, nod and smile knowingly while the other person is talking like you know exactly what they are saying. If they say something like All the food in Japan is amazing. Agree. People love to be validated.

You have to remember that it is not necessarily a place but a connection the person had to the place that he is talking about. He is talking about how he felt when he saw the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem or how delicious the food was at El Bulli in Spain or what a fabulous purse she bought in Florence. You have connections to places also. You know what that feels like. This is where you get to use your imagination – to make up a story that happened to you in Paris, to say you were so drunk at Coachella at that you passed out and so and so happened,

The more creative you are, the more interesting your story will be. The average person will not pick up on the inaccuracies and truthfully travelers are much more interested in telling their own stories and are probably just waiting for you to finish.

Children are very good at pretending. When children pretend, anything is possible. Pretending to have gone somewhere is generally harmless. It might actually encourage you to plan the trip. It might be just the thing you need to get you to travel more. The next time the conversation comes up, you will have been there.

Fly safe,

JAZ