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Sunday and Monday after our return, Mary and I tried to get over our jet lag and general fatigue from such a long trip. It took us four days to get back to normal.
But I wanted to take some time to pass on to you some of my observations and the things I learned from our journey.
1. Regardless of the cost, have your smart phone converted to an international phone so that you can use the phone in Europe and most importantly receive data off the Internet. Free WIFI Is extremely rare and unreliable. It's often unavailable, even at hotels and sometimes when it is available it can be so slow you'll think you're using a dial-up service. I paid as much as 15 euros a day for WIFI at a hotel. In addition, after paying €15 a night for Wi-Fi in your room your Wi-Fi connection can only be used by one device at a time. So if you're traveling companion wants to access Wi-Fi on their cell phone you will have to log off first.
Free, easy to use Wi-Fi is always available at any Starbucks in Europe. But, you can't live at Starbucks.
2. If you're driving in Europe, bring your own GPS device or spend the extra money to rent it from your rental car company. It will be impossible for you to navigate streets in large metropolitan areas without GPS.
3. Never allow a rental car company to give you a stick shift diesel automobile. Ask for either a diesel with an automatic transmission or a gasoline vehicle with a stick shift. Diesel cars are terribly underpowered at low RPM. Trying to shift gears in traffic on the hills in large cities became a problem.
4. Never put regular gasoline in a diesel automobile! Double check that you have the right hose every time. But if you do, make sure you have full insurance on the rental car.
Get ready for the price of gas in Europe. During our visit, the price averaged around $7.50 for diesel and up to $8.50 for gasoline.
5. When arriving at a city that you have never visited before, take a bus tour on the first day. This will allow you to locate those things which you were interested in seeing in depth on subsequent days. The bus tours are also a great activity on rainy days.
If it's available, always hire a personal tour guide. It's not that more expensive and the personal touch is very pleasant.
6. Pack as light as you possibly can relying on laundry services at hotels to keep your clothes clean. This will allow you to travel through Europe without dragging two suitcases full of dirty laundry behind you. Most hotels have a in by 7 AM - out by 7 PM laundry service. No matter how long your trip will be, you should be able to reduce your packing to one carry on size suitcase for you clothing and one backpack to carry your electronics, cameras, passport, and valuables, et cetera.
7. Bring lots of power adapters with you. They cost less than three dollars in United States but four times that in Europe and take up very little space in your luggage. No matter how careful you are they are constantly disappearing. If you'll be hiring a rental car, bring power adapters for the cigarette lighters. They are inexpensive, and come equipped with two USB plug-ins per cigarette lighter. This will allow you to recharge up to four pieces of electronics while you're driving.
8. Find a good travel agent in the U.S. that you will be able to contact 24/7. I used American Express travel services. No matter how well you plan, incidents will happen. Trying to handle them on your own in a foreign country is very difficult if not impossible.
9. Use your credit card as often as possible. You'll get the best conversion rate through your bank. When converting cash to another currency, convert only what you need for the moment. Otherwise you'll end up with several hundred dollars in foreign currency from multiple countries when you return home.
10. Get an inexpensive digital camera which is WIFI capable. It will fit in your shirt pocket, and you'll be able to download all your photos directly to your computer back home, Picasa, Facebook, or even email your photos directly from your camera. Even if your camera is lost or stolen, your photos will be safe in your home computer or in the cloud.
11. Don't bring a laptop computer with you. Instead, bring a I-Pad or Kindle Fire with WIFI access. This will give you full-sized access to the Internet when you need it but will take up very little space in your luggage. Remember - pack small. And both of these devices can store books for reading.
You can also download full copies of guide books for each country you will be traveling in at reduced costs. I bought five hard copy Rick Steeves guide books at $24@. The electronic versions for my Kindle Fire were $12@. In addition, the books are bulky and add to the weight of your luggage. Make your life easy, go electronic!
- comments
Andrea Ball so no life lessons beyond the logistics of traveling?
leslie you are rick steves II!