The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Travel

Hi, Cicerone. We are different, I am not interested in tours with other people. Not that I am not interested in other people, but I get to travel so rarely, I wish to listen to my own choices for destination, and to have the freedom to stay more days in one place, or go off on a non beaten path.

I have some experience in travelling as one person, in one country besides the US, where I have also done that.

I have also travelled with one other person, lover or friend, on several trips to Mexico and Italy.

The experience is different. If a person has the mental stamina to do it alone, there is some joy to be had in connecting as yourself to people in a new country, or area.

In my pov, it is far far better to go into the good night and day without a crabby travel companion.

But my personal travel time is limited, I do not have funds for - even now - the next trip. So it kills me to see trip time wasted....

I don't mind wasting it there, I mind wasting it with the folderol of being there as a tourist.


Sigh.
ossobuco

Well, c.i., I just want to underline (nearly) every word of the above answer:

The only 'organisations"I use for travelling is e.g. a (an online) agnecy for the tickets for the charter flights, booking room, a house, a ferry etc online.

My experience of (admittingly not at all so many as you did) my travels is that being alone (= the two of us or a small, independent group) is much more enjoyable and 'educational'.

But this really is just a very personal point of view.

osso and Walter, I know exactly what you mean about the sheep mentality of group travel. I have personal experience with groups of up to fifty people, groups of up to 13, my wife and I traveling with my brother and his wife, and solo travel. I will never again travel with large groups where they herd you from place to place on a large bus. There's always some knucklehead that will be late, and the whole bus has to wait. Most of my group travel is now done with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) of Boston, where the group never exceeds 16, and can be as small as ten. Their sister company, Grand Circle Travel, is where I was introduced to OAT. My last solo trip was to Europe a few years ago, when I purchased a Eurail pass at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, and traveled through Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany for fifteen days. The freedom of solo travel gave me the opportunity to spend four days in Barcelona for my first time there, and I was able to immerse myself in that beautiful city to see the majority of famous buildings, parks, and museums. My last large group travel was to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji for twenty-two days, but what surprised me most about that trip was my ability to not feel homesick after the typical fifteen days in a foreign country. At this stage of my life, most of my travel (if not all) will be with small groups or solo. My next trip will be with OAT to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands for seventeen days on April 30, 2003. I think there's a place for group travel and solo travel. It's a matter of balancing the pros and cons. c.i.

I have never tried group tourist travel, although I might
one day, I imagine that it could be much fun and also have
the added enjoyment of meeting new people - and with VERY
foreign travel, it may well be much safer that way. Usually
I enjoy planning all the little details of my travel - almost as
much as I enjoy the trip itself. When my 1st grandson was
born - in Maui Memorial Hospital - our entire family flew over
to be there for the occassion - both her sisters, her one
brother in law, her 2 moms .... but nature does not listen
to the best laid plans of mice or women. Even though I had
allowed for us to be there OVER a week before her due date
and the week of the due date and over a week
AFTER the due date.....Jade was still born on the island of
Maui 2 days before we arrived. The plan was that she would
hop over to Oahu, and meet us there & since there is a big,
modern, women's hospital in Honolulu, & we were planning
for her to deliver in Honolulu.(primarily because there were
no doctors on Maui who did epidurals) The result was that she
ended up with essentially natural childbirth. (for which she was
in no way prepared) Thanks to all my reading and studying up
on the islands we planned to see, I knew where the best snorkel
sites were, some of the best restaurants - including one called
Ono Hawaiian Foods that served the real thing. Not at a fancy
expensive luau, but in a small friendly family owned restaurant
very near Waikiki Beach. I was VERY DISAPPOINTED by one of
the common tourist traps on the far side of Oahu which was
not at all what it was cracked up to be, they educated & showed
many different Polynesian cultures, but not really enjoyable.
I was absolutely blown away by the most beautiful Buddhist
Temple & grounds that I found on the back side of Oahu. In
fact - it remains one of my fondest memories of the trip, along
with a snorkeling site on Maui that was mainly in an area of
volcanic rock - so there was no sand to cloud the visual experience
of the endless variety of the most beautiful fish I have ever seen
(& it is SO nice that they sell those little throw away waterproof
cameras nowadays ) Both my niece and my daughter had been
living on Maui for quite some time, so they showed us all around.
We just took a chance on a restaurant on the dry (west?) side of
Maui, right near a dock next to the ocean - it turned out to be
one of the best dining experiences, the best meals and it came
with a full moon and a perfect view. The much touted Road To
Hana, was a little too much driving for me. We got about half way,
& even though the scenery IS BREATHTAKING - it is pretty much
more of the same - for a couple more hours, so we got a shaved
ice (best I ever had) and headed back from where we came.
We saw Diamond Head - nothing to write home about, but makes
a terrific tourist photo with that in the background. What we did
that was unusual was to drive up and up as high as we could go
on Maui until we were above the clouds - I would have liked to
do the tour where you hike down into the volcano and spend an
overnight camping experience up there, but with a newborn the
timing just wasn't quite right. I loved it, and would gladly do it
all again. But it IS quite an expensive place to visit.
Each year, I usually plan a minimum of 4 trips to the Smoky
Mountain Nat'l Park, tent camping of course, nothing equals
sleeping out in beautiful weather next to a babbling brook,
no insect or mosquito problems. The only thing that CAN ruin
a trip there is getting rain. But that I solved with the largest
tarp I have ever seen. I string a rope as high up as I can in
a tree on one side - then do the same on the other side &
THEN, spread out the tarp over the rope, half on each side. As
you pull the rope on each side - up goes your canopy which
can cover not only your tents & picnic table but also your
fireplace. Never had another soggy vacation in the Smokies.

babs, Our father was born in Maui. He passed away when I was very young, so I didn't get a chance to know him. pueo is also from Maui, but he now lives in Guam, because of his job. We have visited Maui quite a few times, but our last trip there was almost fifteen years ago. We did the parasailing, the helicopter ride, and drive to Hana. You probably stopped at Nagata's grocery store, the last shop before the drive to Hana, to have your shaved ice. I have a Hawaiian cousin that lives in Honolulu, but I didn't learn about her until only a few years ago. We now keep in touch by email. I love camping, but my wife doesn't like sleeping in tents. I did Afraican safaris the past couple years, and we stayed in tents with inside bathrooms with tiles, running hot water, and flush toilets. Ernest never had it so good! I enjoy group travel, because I meet so many interesting people. I have friends all around the world and many states in the US. I keep in touch with five tour directors I've had on trips; one in India, one in Tanzania, two in Egypt, and my tour guide of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, who lives in Phoenix. The assistant tour guide I had in Nepal sent me one email, but haven't heard from him since. I have also traveled solo to Europe and SE Asia. I even spent one month in London about fifteen years ago, and stayed in a B&B. c.i.

One correction: I did a solo trip to London on March 17, 2003, for the A2K London Gathering. It was fantastic meeting up with Walter, Gautam, kitchenpete, Steve, McTag, and Fiona. I also took in three shows, and had revisits to the British Museum and Library, the V&A Museum, the Imperial War Museum, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's, the National Gallery, Tussaud's Wax Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, and the ye olde Cheshire Cheese, our meeting place for the A2K group. I was also able to visit Tate Modern, Somerset House/Courtauld Gallery, and the London Eye for the very first time - and probably last, because this will probably be my last visit to London. Enjoyed the freedom of traveling solo. I even walked over nine miles one day. Came home exhausted, but happy. c.i.

Last summer we were travelling to visit relatives in Michigan. When we got up to get our boarding passes, we discovered a horrible thing - our oldest daughter hadn't been ticketed!!!

We called the awards office (we were using miles) and they explained that for some reason her ticket never got processed. They could issue another one but only for a different flight. Thus, we wound up splitting up, I took two kids and my wife stayed with her. Amazingly, we took different routes, my flight was delayed in Dallas, and we wound up at our destination at exactly the same time.

Anyway, very stressful to say the least.

cjh, What's the odds of having that happening again to anybody? LOL You're born lucky, I think. c.i.

Yeah, we really lucked out on the whole deal. I'm surprised she made it through security with us.

Hey Osso,

How about a cooking tour of Crete. Wild greens galore.Organic produce and carismatically colored chefs. More details later.

Istanbul Turkey,

It was back in the early eighties when I boarded that bus heading south to Izmir. Just before leaving a chocolate salesman came on board with lovely business envelope sized chocolates with a beautifulll picture of Swiss mountains. I bought 3 for the road. Once we started off I realized the package was full of 2 layers of cardboard to bolster thickness and the chocolate was nothing more than chocolate flavored wax.

Algis, You've been had. c.i.

c.i. I DID stop at that place and I had the absolute most
wonderful banana flavored shaved ice in the universe,
so far. The road to Hana is where I got some truly great
photo ops also. I'll have to put a few of my favorite travel
photos up on this thread, what do you think about that
c.i.???? Would it be interesting? I have some great ones
and some that just suck!! However- if we each put
up a photo about somewhere we have visited, & described
where we were, and all that good stuff - I think it would
be so much fun & also will keep this thread going on and
on forever. What do you think of this idea??

babs, Excellent idea! BTW, which public domain, free, photoshare site do you use? I was using picturetrail, but they stopped their free service this weekend. I must find another one before posting on A2K. Look forward to seeing your photos. c.i.

Good deal C.I. So, your Dad was born on Maui and Pueo
was born there also - my 1st grandchild (grandson) Jade,
was born there too. We all went because my oldest
daughter was having a baby - we planned it all out based
on the baby's due date. Well at least we got to stay for
almost a month. My grandson Jade will be 7 years old this
coming summer - so it's been about 7 years since I've been
to Hawaii. Did you ever eat at Ono Hawaiin Foods in the
Waikiki Beach area? Real hawaiin food, just like they eat
frequently. It is a tiny little place, definitely not a tourist
trap luau - the patrons are all Hawaiins.The people there
are so pleasant, so friendly - it reminds me of Mexico - I
never met one single person either in Mexico or in Hawaii
who was rude, in a hurry, or an angry raging driver or
anyone remotely resembling an American. The site you
can use to put up your photos is called Topica. In fact, you
can join The Ravens Realm from here - that is how I did it.
Post your photos there, then you can use them here, there,
and anywhere. And best of all, it's free.

We spent a week in Madrid a couple of years back, and absolutely loved it. Friendly people, good food, reasonable prices, a good public transportation system, and all the history you could ask for. We also managed day trips to Segovia and Toledo.

We also loved Malta, for mostly the same reasons.

We didn't enjoy Budapest so much, but that was my own stupid fault. We went in late November, and the weather was identical to what Chicago would have at that time. Absolutely miserable. I should have known better. I bet it would be beautiful in the late spring or summer.

Jim, Too bad your timing to visit BudaPest. When I was there, it rained a little, but the weather was fine otherwise. We did the cruise, visited the island, but the most interesting was the visit to their Parliament building - one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. We stayed at the Best Western hotel, and did a day trip to a small village that reinacts the life of over 100 years ago. Seeing the Roman ruins all over BudaPest and bullet holes in buildings from WWII was also quite interesting. BTW, because of the rain, I bought a baseball cap with SF Giants on it, and I live in the SF Bay Area. I still have it.. c.i.

babs, I don't remember Ono's, but many years ago my brother in law was stationed at Hickham Field. We visited Hawaii often back then, because we had a free place to stay. As a lt colonel, his base housing was quite impressive. I also loved it, because he loaned us his car, and every time we passed the security gate in front of the base, we got saluted. I was an enlisted man in the air force back in the late fifties. We were introduced to many restaurants in Oahu, and we may have eaten at Ono's, but I don't remember. c.i.

Flying back from Cancun, on a pretty big plane that had monitors on the celing that told you speed, height, ect. We dropped from around 31K feet to 18K feet in a matter of what seemed like about 1 minute or less. Felt like the plane was going down, people were gasping really loud, a couple of screams....no good times. Think they had to drop under turbulence. Then, on the same flight, we had to make an emergency landing after that, someone on the plane had a seizure or something. The landing sucked, we went down so fast.

Now I have to get sh!tfaced when I fly.