u/Recent-Muscle6340

While a Christian, there were all sorts of sentences and phrases that get tossed around and everyone is cool with but after leaving the faith, I hear many of those things said now and I just think "what does that even mean?" It's just nonsense gibberish and I feel even dumber that I just went along with it. This includes:

• "The Lord spoke to me" - he did? how? you mean you had a feeling? a thought? an urge? you read a passage of scripture? did you hear a voice?
• "Let's take back or claim our city/school/nation for Christ" - what does that look like? how will you know it's happened? when everyone is a christian? when everyone votes you're the dominant religion? when did you even have it before? when did you lose it?
• (in prayer) "Lord just be with the doctors/teachers/dead person's family right now" - if you're going into surgery and they pray "Lord be with the doctor" what does that mean? Will the doctor do better? Or if a person has died and you ask god to "be with the family" what does that look like? do they feel better? less sad?
• "Lord lead us/direct our path/guide us" - how? if something works out for you (you got the job, you got into the college, etc) does that mean god lead you there? Is it just saying whatever happens was "god's will"? do you make a list of options on paper and holy light shines on the right one?
• So many examples in the worship songs. The one I always remember is "This is the air I breathe" - what? The holy spirit is the air you breathe? what is everyone else breathing? what were you doing before you got the holy spirit?

I know there's a million more but these are the ones I can pull out now.

Been looking at slow travel posts and videos a lot lately and really interested. Looks like a lot of people are doing it at between $2k-4k/month. But I'm wondering if most people have A) sold their house, given up the financial requirements of keeping the home world or B) are trying to keep the home base and go out 2-3 times a year for 1-3 months at a time? I'm wondering how much the low cost of the slow travel changes if you're flying home multiple times a year and how much that all changes the math? I don't really see being able to give up the home base.

So I hear about all the microplastics in our bodies and how bad it is for us and I don't disagree, that's sounds like a bad thing. But I guess I'm wondering why, if we consume them in our food and drink, they don't go through our stomachs and through our intestines and then get pooped out the same way as if we swallowed a penny or some other solid object? Shouldn't this be a self-solving problem?

Just got back from 10 days in Paris with my family. We had a great time, and since this subreddit helped me a lot during planning, I thought I'd share a few observations for future travelers.

1. Be in shape

I knew we'd be walking a lot, so I tried to prepare. It was still more than I expected.

We averaged about 18,000 steps per day for 10 straight days.

I managed fine, but my wife wasn't prepared for that level of walking, and it became a factor in almost every decision. We were constantly asking, "Is this activity worth the walk?" By the time we got to Sacré-Cœur on the last day, it was a real challenge.

Make sure you’re ready.

2. Verify your cell phone data plan before you leave

This was probably my biggest unexpected problem.

I have T-Mobile and had previously traveled in Europe with no issues. This time I technically had unlimited international data, but it was limited to 256 kbps. In practice, that meant almost nothing worked reliably.

Google Maps struggled. Audio tours struggled. Sending photos was difficult. Looking things up on the fly became frustrating.

Don't assume your international plan will be sufficient just because you've traveled overseas before. Check the details.

3. Wandering around really is one of the best parts

People on this subreddit constantly say that Paris is best experienced by simply walking around with no agenda.

They were right.

Most days we had one scheduled activity and then spent the rest of the day wandering, sitting in gardens, eating outside, walking down (not up, see #1) the Champs Elysees, watching people, strolling through neighborhoods, and generally just existing in Paris.

Some of our best memories came from doing absolutely nothing special.

Leave room in your itinerary for that.

4. The Metro is fantastic

The Metro made everything easy. We never used a bus once.

Our weekly pass covered both the Metro and RER trains, and our group split up several times without any issues. Everyone could get where they needed to go and meet back up later.

I also got the physical card because I found it much easier than using my phone (see #2).

And the CityMapper app is a must. Used it constantly.

One thing that surprised me was how often I saw people jump turnstiles. It seemed incredibly common and nobody appeared particularly concerned about it. I did have a worry that someone might try to crowd in with me when I scanned and went through but no one ever did.

5. Staying outside central Paris is perfectly fine

Our original Airbnb near the Eiffel Tower canceled on us while we were literally at the airport.

We panic-booked another place farther out, near the end of Metro Line 11.

At first I was disappointed. In hindsight, it barely mattered.

Because the metro is so great (see #4) if you can get near a station I don’t think it really matters where you stay.

We could get anywhere we wanted easily and saved some money for being further out.

6. Don't assume the Versailles train is a sightseeing ride

We visited Versailles.

The palace exterior was impressive, though I found it less interesting inside than I expected. The gardens are really the best part.

Since we were already tired from all the walking (see #1), we bought tickets for the little tourist train thinking it would take us through the gardens so we could see everything comfortably.

It doesn't.

It simply transports you between a few locations within the estate.

For our group of six, that was €54 spent on something we really didn't need.

If you're physically able, I think you're better off simply walking out toward the Grand Canal and exploring at your own pace for free.

7. Food is everywhere—and “just fine”

One thing I worried about before the trip was finding the "best" places to eat.

That turned out to be unnecessary.

Good food is everywhere.

We had several very nice dinners, countless cafés, bakeries, and quick lunches. Nothing was bad. But if I'm being honest, I never had that life-changing meal people sometimes describe.

Everything ranged from fine to good.

The best part was eating outside. The sidewalk dining is great.

And even better was how much I enjoyed not dealing with tipping culture.

8. Normandy was incredible—but not what I expected

I'm a huge WWII history buff, so Normandy was non-negotiable.

Full day experience, guided tour, not cheap, but was worth every penny.

What surprised me was Omaha Beach.

In my head, I expected something frozen in time. Instead, it felt like a normal beach town. Families were swimming, people were sunbathing, and homes lined the shore.

Of course that makes perfect sense—people live there.

But it made it harder than I expected to mentally picture D-Day.

Utah Beach actually felt closer to what I'd imagined.

The American Cemetery, however, was every bit as moving as I'd hoped.

9. The hammam may have been my favorite experience

While the rest of my family attended a show at the Opera Bastille, I slipped away to a hammam about a mile walk north.

It’s normally for women only but men were allowed on Sunday so it worked for me.

Three hours of steam rooms, pools, saunas, and relaxation, with a one-hour massage in the middle.

Such a unique experience.

If you're open to trying something different, I highly recommend it.

10. The language barrier was more noticeable than I expected

Before the trip, I'd often read: "Just say Bonjour and everyone will switch to English."

That wasn't really my experience.

Many people spoke some English, but often not enough for helpful conversations. And yes, I understand that the fact that they could speak any at all far superior to my non-existent French.

But communication was definitely more challenging than I'd anticipated.

Google Translate helped quite a bit for menus and signs but not as useful in an actual conversation.

Even the tour guides we used spoke fluent English, and again it’s super impressive that they can do it, but because of the accents and different pronunciations, even those were just hard to understand. It didn’t ruin the trip or anything, just different than I’d perhaps expected.

11. The Seine cruise was overrated

I thought the evening river cruise on night one would be the perfect way to start the trip.

Instead, it felt crowded and underwhelming.

Our boat was packed, which meant we were stuck on a lower level with limited views. Much of the time I felt like I was staring at the riverbank wall rather than the city (although we did keep trying to guess where Lady Gaga had done her opening ceremony performance).

The best part wasn't the cruise itself—it was getting off afterward and being right at the base of the Eiffel Tower illuminated at night.

12. One observation about taxes and public services

Not looking to start a political argument—just sharing an observation – feel free to skip.

Before the trip I had been reading about the French Revolution and on the flight over I watched the Ken Burns documentary on the American Revolutions (amazing btw). Since taxation was a major issue in both, I found myself paying attention to what people seemed to receive in return for their taxes.

I saw world-class public transportation, subsidized lunches, universal healthcare, lower-cost higher education, earlier retirement ages, and discounts or free access to sites for seniors, kids, the handicapped and the unemployed.

It made me think about what we get in America for our taxes (and other “extra costs”) and really envy what the French and other European citizens benefit from.