Europe Tour 2016 Planning

Planning. 

When I first moved to San Francisco forty years ago I shared the infamous apartment at 1244 California. It was the tail end of the crash pad era. We put up visitors from Europe. There always seemed to be someone on the couch in that apartment in the Seventies. They were appreciative and wanted to return the hospitality. I had addresses to stay in Amsterdam, France, Italy and Germany. Every year I would say to myself this is it! I’m going this summer, but then things would start happening.  

I’ll admit I’m very bad at planning, especially travel planning. Another thing is that I have to admit I was having too much fun in San Francisco when I first moved out there. For some reason I always thought that I had to make the trip in the summer. The summer would blast by, and then I’d think it was “too late.” 

There was a golden opportunity to go when friends of mine worked at the stock options exchange in Amsterdam. They were there for a couple of years, but I never got it together to get there.  

It was a big frustration of mine. I should have gone years ago. When people talked about their travels in Europe I would drift out of the conversation. When I saw Rick Steves’ shows on PBS I would wonder: Is this the closest I’ll ever get to going there? I did live in San Francisco, the most European of cities in America, but I was also told there was nothing like “the real thing.”

I did go on a great trip to Ireland in 1999, but I didn’t have much to do with the planning on that one. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I got to see my father’s home town in Kerry on the Dingle peninsula. Bally David. (Baile na n Gall in Gaelic.) I finally saw the places that I had heard so many stories about while growing up. I have done some traveling in the United States, especially California, but I was an inexperienced international traveler.  

The terrorist attacks in France got me thinking. The attack on the Bataclan night club was especially infuriating to me. A talking head on CNN said that the attacks would have a devastating effect on the European economy, especially tourism. How much would fear change people’s travel plans? The odds of being in a terrorist attack were compared to being struck by lightning, but people are funny. It was predicted that many would stay away from Europe. I’ll admit it’s a bit opportunistic, but maybe now was the time to go. They’d be glad to see my tourist dollar. Soon I’d really be a senior. I was inspired by Iggy Pop: “It’s now or never!”     

My life coach, Charles Kiefer, presented me with a challenge. What is the one thing I really wanted to do? Forget about expenses and money, the timing and the other reasons and rationales that would prevent me from doing it. Just think of what that one thing would be, and start planning to do it.  

It was simple. Travel in Europe. That would be my top pick. Charles helped me start planning. What was my budget? Where would I go? Where would I stay? What were my musts?” I started looking at air fares. 

At first I tried to mastermind it. There’s no shortage of travel information on the Internet. Airfares looked cheaper than I thought they would be, but they weren’t dirt cheap. It was still a bit of a fantasy. What would I do once I got there? I imagined myself just walking around. Sure, I’d see some of the sights, but the idea of just being over there seemed enough to me. Should I stay in hostels? I read that they weren’t just for the young travelers of the world.      

Rick Steves’ “Europe Through the Back Door” was a big help. I was surprised that he suggested consulting with a travel agent, especially if it was your first trip. There was so much information on flights and hotels that it was confusing me. My e-mail was bombarded with special deals. I didn’t have to get the greatest deal in the world, but I would be working with a limited budget. 

Then I got an e-mail from Jerome. He was a friend from the North Beach days. He was living in Montenegro. If I was ever in his part of the world, he’d be glad to play host. This was intriguing. It would save me hotel money and give me a break from figuring out the travel details for a part of the trip. I knew he would show me around. 

A Google search of: “Europe Cheap Travel” led me to “Europe on a Budget.” I had wanted a company with an office in San Francisco that I could go to with questions. I called and spoke to Leatta Perdue of Travel Central. She explained that the company had just moved to New Orleans. I figured it wouldn’t make that much difference. 

She asked what I was looking for. What were my “musts?” Where did I want to go? How long would I want to stay? I told her that I would stay in budget hotels or hostels. I just wanted a place to sleep. I wasn’t looking for a room with a view. I didn’t need a pool or a spa. My original plan was Amsterdam, Paris, Rome and Montenegro. The Montenegro leg threw her a bit. I had to explain that I knew someone there. She had some doubts about my budget, but said that she would take a look. 

  My sister Joan is an experienced world traveler. She should have been a travel agent. She advised me that Florence was a must, and that I should seriously consider going to Venice. She had other great advice about packing and traveling in Europe. 

About three days later Leatta called me back. She had put together an itinerary. It sounded too good to be true. Paris, Montenegro, Rome, Florence, Venice. I would be staying in hotels every night. She warned me that they would be “budget hotels.” She had arranged for me to go on twelve tours! Among them were Versailles, The Eiffel Tower, a special look at the Roman Forum, the Uffizi Museum and the Duomo in Florence. There would be day trips to Cinque Terre and “The Best of Tuscany.” 

Here’s a link to my itinerary. I’m not sure if it’s still active. https://axustravelapp.com/shared/itinerary/a98af77e-dd29-416c-92da-7389bffb05c5

It was very exciting and a bit mind boggling. I sucked it up and put down a deposit. There was really no turning back after that. 

Rick Steves’ book had some practical advice for inexperienced travelers. Make sure you have a passport! He says to take one bag. You’ll need half the things you think you’ll need, and you’ll be carrying your bag around more than you expect. I even bought the Rick Steves’ travel bag, and it was well worth the money! It was a conventional piece of luggage for air travel, and it could be converted to a backpack.  There were many little compartments. 

It seemed like a long time until the date arrived. I read up on where I was going. There was still a bit of fantasy around the trip. Turner Classic Movies showed a series of  Brigitte Bardot films. It was a painless way to brush up on French.

I got more guide books and tried to locate at least what area my hotels were in. Where were the “meeting points” for the tours I would be taking? It was exciting to read about the cities and sights I would be visiting.    

I would fly August 29 and land in Paris on August 30. The flight home would be more convoluted. I would fly from Venice to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Los Angeles and then Los Angeles to San Francisco. The layovers made the flight cheaper. I wasn’t too concerned about the flight back. 

A friend said that it sounded like “a great vacation.” I didn’t think about the trip that way. To me, it was more like a pilgrimage. I was going on my own twisted version of the Grand Tour!  

They say you learn more about yourself than anything else when you travel. I was anxious about that first flight. I kept imagining one last stumbling block. Would I forget the tickets? Miss the flight? Would there be some kind of disaster that would ruin the big trip I had finally planned for? What if there was a huge traffic jam on the way to the airport? What could go wrong? 

Nothing went wrong. I made it through security. There were no last minute disasters. I was on my way to Paris. 

I have a hard time flying. I’m not afraid of flying. I just hate being trapped inside of a tin can. A three hour flight seems to take forever. This was a ten hour flight on Delta. I was able to walk around the plane a bit. There was the excitement of being on my way. I kept going over my itinerary. Would I really be seeing all this?