The Perks and Pitfalls of Traveling with the Crowd

Deciding where to go on your next well earned vacation can be just as challenging as picking what meal to order at your favorite restaurant. Do you play it safe and get the chicken parm, which is consistently delicious but not exactly exciting, or do you finally order the seafood dish you talk about every time but ultimately back out of ordering when the waiter comes over?

You know what to expect when you place your order for chicken parm — how long it will take to come out of the kitchen, the best pasta option to pair with the sauce and how much bread you can eat so you won’t be too full to finish your meal. This level of comfort is similar to that pseudo-local feeling you get when visiting the same vacation spot multiple times. You know how long it will take to collect your bag at the regional airport, the tourists traps to avoid and cuisine you can only sample there.

So how do you break out of your shell, throw caution and safety to the wind and decide that this is the time you go somewhere new or order that dish you’ve never tried before? You let yourself get swayed by that elusive daily special — something that is limited time only and if you don’t jump on now you’ll never get the chance to try again.

This my friends is the beauty of traveling for a specific event. Event X is being held in location Y on date Z. None of these variables are up to you — you either show up or you don’t.

Sometimes It’s Okay to Be a Tourist

In the past, I would have rolled my eyes at the idea of seeing a place for the first time when a large event was also going on. I want to experience it like a local, not surrounded by 5,000 other tourists I probably proclaimed.

This past January, Gabby brought up the idea of going down to New Orleans for Jazz Fest, a music and heritage festival held every year in the Big Easy. Since it was the 50th anniversary of the festival, they were pulling out all the stops — The Rolling Stones were headlining. With hundreds of performers and more than 400,000 guests estimated to be in attendance, this was no small event. Having never been to Louisiana, I was apprehensive for my first time to be with so many others. I mean, think of those crowds. It sounded insane.

Entrance to Jazz Fest

But I had always wanted to go to New Orleans, and yet I never had. So as you do when life goes over that day’s specials, I took the bait.

Now, before I get too wrapped up in all the fan fair, there were certainly some downsides to traveling for a major event.

The Pros from the Cons

The price of lodging skyrockets. The cost of hotels within the city limits priced themselves out of our budget but we were able to snag an affordable airbnb thanks to Gabby’s early planning, although I did just check and the same house is listed for half the price. Sure there was no soap to be found (hand or dish) and we could not get postmates or doordash (or even Dominos) to deliver to us because of our location but Verna, our host, greeted us with a meal of fried chicken, red beans and rice, and greens so no complaints.

Next reason — plans change. After securing tickets to the sold out Stones set, they canceled. While we were crushed, they quickly replaced them with Fleetwood Mac. Crisis averted we thought. A few days later they canceled as well. We were left scrambling to reassess our plans. Fortunately for us, our tickets could be used on another day of the festival and because of southern hospitality we were able to swap our Drunk History Tour to another night to accommodate the change.

Look at that whirlwind of emotions

Let’s talk about the people. I know I already said this but man — there were so many people. Since we knew this was going to be the case, I had many months to emotionally prepare for the packed-in-like-a-sardine feeling that goes along with large crowds. And there were times when I was screaming inside because the family in front of me decided that the middle of the sidewalk was the best time to stop to take a photo. But these large crowds did something else — they raised up the energy of the city. Everywhere we went was instantly a party and people having a good time just makes you want to join in. The heat, humidity and open container laws probably also played a part.

With a yearly event like this, the city knows how to prepare. And New Orleans is no stranger to festivals (maybe you have heard of the largest party of them all — Mardi Gras). In addition to the tourists as far as the eye could see, the streets were full of street performers, artists, musicians, psychics, palm readers, and magicians. We even saw a dog wearing sunglasses act. Each performer was able to draw a crowd, some larger than others, of excited onlookers happy to throw a few bucks into a hat on the ground.

The food and drink scene in this city is legendary, and for good reason.

1. Home to the Ramos Gin Fizz, one of the most delicious drinks I’ve ever had.
2. Bananas Foster was invented, and I’d argue perfected, here.
3. Carl’s Fried Chicken, a four-decades old recipe only available on Mondays at the Fountain Lounge in the Roosevelt.
4. Beignets.

While Jazz Fest was the catalyst for visiting the city, it only made up a portion of our vacation there. The rest of the time we were able to wine, dine and explore to our well planned out heart’s content.

Eurotrip Anyone?

A few summers ago, Gabby and gang used Tomorrowland, a large electronic music festival held every year in Brussels, as an excuse for a two-week European vacation. The festival itself was worth the long haul. Flawless planning and design meant 100,000 people could happily enjoy the giant festival and the crowd only enhanced the vibe of what turned out to be the festival Gabby deemed the “once in a lifetime experience you want to have again.” Next time I intend to be included.

Just a handful of people enjoying a show

Sure, the promise of one epic night and the impending doom of hitting 30 inspired them to fly across the pond, but it was also an excuse for Gabby to plan like she’d never planned before — and drag two Europe virgins to food, alcohol, and history heaven. They may also never have discovered the magic of Belgium and how much they need to return (with me).

Festivals are not always the best way to travel, especially if you’re looking for off-season deals or a relaxed trip to get some quality quiet time. But if you are practiced at elbowing your way through a crowd, they can be an excellent way to experience new music, food, culture and be a part of something larger than yourself. They are also a great excuse to get your ass up, fork over that credit card and finally go to that place you’ve been talking about but somehow never found the time, or courage, to order.