Travel mechanics I

Travel Mechancis I

Oooooo-la-la

This post (and a few more that will follow) will recap a few lessons we have learned in the course of planning and executing this six-week European adventure. It has a large number of moving parts- eight countries, eleven cities, five different types of intercity travel, plus local transit and uber. We have taken full advantage of ultra-low fare options and are using Airbnb at four different stops. It has been super-affordable but it did require planning and investment early in the process. I thought that I would share it.

The big reason this trip doesn't look like a standard European vacation is... friends. In the course of our residency in Amsterdam 2000-2005 we made some good friends, scattered across Europe. They visited us in Amsterdam. We visited them. Until last year we had only returned once since moving away. The internet often was how we had first met, and kept us connected, but it was time to reconnect in time and place. When we lived in Amsterdam we were delighted when friends took us up on our offers to host them (including a few of these guys). Early on I started to reach out, and they, gratefully were up for an American invasion, at least in concept.

When did this planning begin? A year ago, during our last trip. Our return to the Netherlands and Belgium last year, after eleven years away, reconnecting with friends, was very satisfying. We wanted to make it happen again. Last year's trip, which also included a swing through Central Europe, gave us some confidence in navigating in strange cities and using new gig services like uber and Airbnb. That is all well-and-good, but it is our buddies all over western Europe that made this year's excursion even remotely conceivable. We are so grateful.

Six weeks? Really? Who has that kind of time? We do-- this year. Mark is currently in school and has a semester break. I am retired, with a decent pension. When Mark returns to full time work in the next year or so, big 'Grand Tour' travel will once again become more elusive. Getting from Albuquerque to Europe is fundamentally different from the East Coast in terms of cost and time. As this trip unfolded, the notion of adding one more place, a few days to see somebody else and not postponing for one more year became our guidepost. I finally checked the last possible super-cheap return flight and worked backward from there-- 19 June.

How much time to spend in each place? This trip has a few components- pent-up curiosity about unknown parts of Europe (Venice, Split, and San Sebastian) for tourism, and stretches of less-directed, more relaxed visits everywhere else, with more of a focus on the people we know and enjoying their cities. We really resist staying anywhere for just a night and did that only once this trip, in Ravenna. It really worked there, as it was a tourist visit in a small, walkable city with well-marked sites- a gem. Ravenna also made sense as we figured out how to get from Venice to Split.

Five or six days is our starting point for a location. Anywhere we go we like settling in, a feeling like a local, hitting the supermarket and grabbing breakfast and lunch foods. Having a good fridge, if not a kitchen, makes a difference, so getting an Airbnb apartment works for us for tourism. (We save money by eating there and then dropping money on a few special meals.) Having a few days someplace means that we can adjust plans if it rains. We also get to really drop the bags and relax. Transitions are stressy and, by scheduling the way we do, we compartmentalize the drama. We also don't plan much for our first day in Europe, and, often our first day in any new city, leaving some time to reconnoiter.

Timing- We departed for Europe this year and last on May 8th. Last year we had a good fare from Hartford on Aer Lingus. This year we left from Providence on Norwegian. That was as early as we felt comfortable planning our departure, given Mark had to finish his semester at school, then we had to get east. (More about that choice later.) Each year we had a big Italian tourist destination planned (Florence, Venice). We know that summers in tourist Italy can be crowded and stinking hot, so it was imperative that, if possible, we began there, to beat the crowds and the weather. Both cities were still crowded but the weather was OK, and we could navigate amid the throngs.

OK- that's a start. Next time I do this I will address the discounted world of European travel, and the various ways that we are connecting the dots this trip- more than just panes, trains, and automobiles.