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Post by Eagle on May 16, 2009 16:01:05 GMT -5
My travel adventure for this year is fast approaching! I wanted to post a few details here, to both explain my absence from the Boards for a few weeks and provide an area to post trip reports. I'll be departing on 28 May, which is only about 12 days away!
This year I decided to explore France a bit more. The country tends to have somewhat of a different "character" in areas like Provence and the Dordogne, so it will be good to explore those areas in more detail. Having a guide with a Master's Degree in Art and French history (and can speak four languages!) should provide a very "educational" travel experience (if past tours and Guides are any indication, this will be an excellent trip!).
Due to time constraints imposed by my "work" situation at the moment (which will no longer be of any concern after 31 March next year), I decided that an organized tour would be the most efficient travel method to see France (given the limited time frame). I'll be taking a Paris & The South of France tour offered by a well known U.S. travel firm, which starts in Paris and covers pretty much the length of the country, ending in Nice. I didn't want to mention any names, but most of the group here will probably know which travel firm I prefer. I've found lately that combining a guided tour with at least an equal amount of self-guided travel has been a great travel method for me, and something I'll probably continue doing on future trips.
At the end of the tour, I'll be heading into northern Italy on my own (I always look for an excuse to get back to Italy!). This time I'll be concentrating on the area around Stresa and Milano, hopefully with return visits to Locarno on the famed Centovalli Railway and Varenna / Lago di Como (I've been craving Laura's Ravioli at Albergo Olivedo!).
The Backpacks are mostly loaded, so now it's just a question of waiting (at times that seems like the most difficult part of any trip!).
Cheers all!
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Post by WillTravel on May 16, 2009 16:07:29 GMT -5
Eagle, that sounds like a great trip.
I haven't been on a complete tour, but I agree with you that having a knowledgeable guide is a great experience. I try to find such tours wherever I go.
Do you mean you are retiring next year?
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Post by Eagle on May 16, 2009 16:22:32 GMT -5
WT, YES, that means I'll be retiring next year!
I was originally supposed to retire in September 2009, however several of us were asked if we'd be interested in staying until March 2010 (possibly to have experienced staff during the Winter Olympics?). Of the four that are eligible to retire, two will be going in Sept. and two of us will stay until March.
In some ways I'm looking forward to retirement, but of course I wonder if there will still be money for travel? I also wonder what kind of a "lifestyle adjustment" it will be, as work has been a big part of my life for the past 40+ years?
I guess we'll see......
Cheers!
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Post by WillTravel on May 16, 2009 16:27:47 GMT -5
Eagle, maybe you can still work part-time as the mood strikes you? It was very considerate of you to stay until March. I myself am trying to figure out what I want to do for the Olympics. In a way I think it would be a good time to get away on a trip.
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Post by Eagle on May 17, 2009 1:16:26 GMT -5
WT, I'm not sure there will be any possibility of working part-time, at least not in the same job. I'd have to do some "number crunching" to figure out if the extra wages would put me in a higher tax bracket? I've heard some comments from retired people indicating that it's not really worth it to bring in extra income, as a significant portion goes to taxes.
I suppose it was "considerate" to agree to stay an extra six months, but I also wanted to make sure that I was properly positioned for retirement in a financial sense. Therefore it will probably be a mutually beneficial arrangement. However, another six months of 12-hour shifts will be very tiring, especially at my age. I keep reminding myself that the extra work should give me at least one more "mega trip", so that's part of my motivation. Hopefully I've made the right decision?
Yes, I agree it would be good to get away somewhere when the Olympics are in progress. Although they're being held in this area, the tickets are extremely expensive and anywhere there's that many people in one place, I'd prefer to be elsewhere. A return trip to Hawaii (and some sunshine) would be a nice break at that time of year. After suffering a serious leg injury as a result of ice, I'm not a big fan of winter or winter sports!
Cheers!
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Post by WillTravel on May 17, 2009 2:30:16 GMT -5
Anything you can do to get another trip in sounds good to me  . I agree that 12-hour shifts sound tough, though. As you know, I live in Vancouver so I think things will be quite disrupted for the Olympic period. I didn't try to get any tickets, and I'm not particularly interested. |
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Post by herrbert on May 17, 2009 12:07:25 GMT -5
still no Spain Eagle?
On an Olympic note: Madrid had it's visit last week, for it's bid for the 2016 Olympics. I remain sceptical as 2012 will be London, and I just don't believe it will be in Europe two times in a row. But it would be a good boost for the economy here.
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Post by Eagle on May 17, 2009 12:43:54 GMT -5
herrbert, I haven't forgotten Spain!!! The same tour firm offers a Spain & Portugal tour, and it's definitely on my list. I'll probably get there next year (with any luck).
Due to the narrow "window" of time that I had for holidays this year, my choices were somewhat limited. The only two possibilities for the dates I had were the France tour or the Adriatic (Croatia) tour. Both were about the same length of time (two weeks or so), but the deciding factor was the availability of flights. My flight choices for Paris were much easier (and somewhat less expensive) than for Ljubljana, so that's mostly what I based my decision on. The easiest connecting flight I found for Ljubljana was Belgium Air from London Gatwick. It was a bit expensive, but after a long and usually tiring trans-atlantic flight, I'd be willing to pay a bit more!
There are a few areas that I'm really anxious to explore further, and Spain is one of them. The other is Eastern Europe, and I hope to get to that in the near future as well. I'm also interested in seeing Scandinavia and St. Petersburg/Tallin/Helsinki at some point in the future. So many places I want to see - hopefully my travel budget will allow that! The St. Petersburg trip will involve a Russian Visa, so I'll have to find out how to obtain one of those?
Hope you're enjoying Spain!
Cheers!
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Post by WillTravel on May 17, 2009 13:11:40 GMT -5
Eagle, if you want to go to Ljubljana in the future, the best combination of ease and expense may be to fly to Venice. After a nice visit to Venice, from there you can get a train ride that's just over 4 hours (although most train journeys are longer for this route).
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Post by herrbert on May 18, 2009 15:40:06 GMT -5
I am glad you haven't forgotten about Spain. I will be sticking around for a while, and will be glad to be your personal cityguide for a day or so.
There are a couple of beautiful places to see here. I'm taking advantage of the good weather to see some places here, but the next trip is to visit my family and friends in the Netherlands, but somehow that doesn't strike me as a holiday.
In summer there should be enough flights to some on the cities on the Adriatic coast, like Pula, which isn't too far away from Ljubljana. From Venice you can also make a stop in Triest before travelling further.
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Post by Eagle on May 19, 2009 0:34:39 GMT -5
herrbert,
I can appreciate your sentiments. It's always nice to see family and friends, but sometimes the demands of visiting "everyone" and attending various functions gets to be a bit tiring.
I've never considered stopping in Trieste. I'll have to do a bit of research to find out what sights there might interest me? Thanks for the suggestion.
Cheers!
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Post by jennifer on May 19, 2009 18:32:27 GMT -5
Lucky you! Have funnnnn I'm jealous |
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Post by Eagle on May 28, 2009 1:21:02 GMT -5
Thank you all for your kind wishes! I'll be departing for the airport in a few hours, and hopefully I've got everything sorted for the trip.
I'll try to check in here when possible during the trip, but I'm not travelling with a Laptop this time so computer access may be a bit sporadic at times.
Happy travels all!
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Post by jennifer on May 31, 2009 15:00:36 GMT -5
once more, have great fun, keep us posted et bois du bon vin français!
xoxo
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Post by Eagle on Jun 1, 2009 10:28:40 GMT -5
Hello all,
I'm still in Paris but will be departing for "points south" tomorrow morning (Tuesday). It's been a blur of activity so far!
I'll add to this post later, as my time is a bit limited tonight. One thing I can say for sure is that I'll probably be shopping for a Netbook as soon as I get home.
Cheers!
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. I agree that 12-hour shifts sound tough, though. As you know, I live in Vancouver so I think things will be quite disrupted for the Olympic period. I didn't try to get any tickets, and I'm not particularly interested. 
