Traveling My Way – Preparing for the trip

Part 5

So for now the plane flights are booked and paid for. The hotels are booked. The train travel is planned, booked and paid for. In the meantime I will be researching things to do in each city. I will also look at things along the route that look interesting. If we find something we will work this in while I am planning the train travel and work a little time in with the train plans.

Luggage

On our last trip we each took one suitcase. I will use a 28 inch Osprey Sojourn that doubles as a backpack. Rosita will use a 22 inch Samsonite High Sierra that also doubles as a backpack. This is what we took on our previous 2 week trip to Italy and it worked out well. We used them as rolling luggage most of the time except for once. We were in Vogogna and the train station was about a half mile walk from our hotel. The train station in Vogogna is unmanned and no one was working there when we arrived. Our train we booked was leaving a little before dawn as we had a tour booked in Milan to go see the Last Supper painting at 11:00. Right before we left the hotel Rosita mentioned that she has seen a homeless man at the restaurant the day before come in begging for food and hoped that he wasn’t sleeping at the train station. I told her that if he is he will be able to hear these suitcases rolling for our entire walk. So we pulled out the backpack straps, geared up and backpacked to the train station. We saw no one there but I have pictures of Rosita backpacking through Europe!

Since we were going to multiple locations we wanted something small and light. Because we were going to be traveling by train we wanted something that we would be able to hop on a train with everything in our 2 hands. We did not want to go back and forth and make multiple trips because trains in Europe don’t stay stopped for very long. If were going to one destination and traveling by taxi to and from the airport we would not have had these limitations, and could have taken the complete luggage ensemble.

What to pack

On our last trip to Italy we packed enough clothes for 4 to 5 days even though we were gone for 14 nights. One night was on the plane so we were in Italy for 13 nights. You can find laundrys that will wash, dry and fold your clothes, Some hotels will have laundrys in them and some hotels will laundry your clothes for you. While in the hotel check the prices before you send them off. We were staying in a nice hotel in Barcelona on our first trip. I called for laundry service and then checked the prices. The cost for washing and drying my underwear was more than I had paid for them. We went around the corner and found a very reasonable priced laundry. No one in the laundry spoke English and I was nervous that I would never see my clothes again until we went back the next day and found our clothes all neatly folded and packed in plastic bags. I have a friend that goes through his closet and finds clothes that he is about ready to throw out. He will pack these clothes, wear them on the trip and discard them. Now he has room to bring back some souvenirs. While planning our trip to Italy last year I went and bought 8 pairs of new black socks for the trip. I went home and found all of my old socks and was about to throw them out. Remembering what my friend did, I decided to pack my old socks, leave my new ones in the drawer to wear while back at home. After I wore the socks for a second time I would discard and make a little room to bring back souvenirs for our new granddaughter.

Language

This might seem like a small thing but I would learn at least a word or two of the local language when you travel. In 2011 Rosita and I went to Curacao. Curacao is one of the ABC islands and is 35 miles west of Aruba. There are 4 languages spoken there, English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamentu, the local language. Being a former Dutch colony and still being under the protection of the Dutch, Dutch is the official language but Papiamentu is the most common according to the Curacao Chronicle. I took the time to learn a couple of Papiamentu words. The only one I remember is Danke, which means Thanks. I remember that when I bought anything, I would say Danke. Most of times I would get a big smile and a Thank You, and a look like, wow you took the time to find out a little about us. Ironically, the word of Thanks in German is Danke, so I already have one down. If you have an iPhone you can go to the App Store and download Podcasts. On here you can subscribe to a few foreign language podcasts and listen to them while you are jogging, cleaning, traveling, etc and you will be a step ahead. Some of the things they teach you will be helpful and some seem not worth the trouble. One I listened to taught you how to go into a restaurant and ask for a table and went through all of the numbers. But if you go into any restaurant in the world and hold up 2 fingers they will know that you need a table for 2. And if you hold your crotch and jump up and down they will probably know you have to go to the restroom. Don’t overdo this one as you might get shown to the exit. Also in Europe, it is considered rude to bring your check to you and sometimes if is difficult to get their attention. I found that if you make eye contact and hold up your hand and made a writing motion, without fail, that person knew I wanted my check. When we went to Italy last year I learned how to say Thanks, you’re welcome, hello good bye, where is the bathroom. I even learned how to make a reservation and was successful in making a reservation one night in a restaurant where no one spoke anything more than a couple of words in English. I made it for 8:00 PM because I did not learn how to say the thirty part. Now while in Rome, Venice or Milan, everywhere we ate, English was spoken. I remember in Rome all of the Restaurants had an English translation below the Italian one. We ate at one restaurant that had several different menus with different languages. If you don’t know what the British Flag looks like, take a good look at one before you go as most of the english language symbols in Europe is a picture of the British flag. When you go to a train station and go to a vending machine to buy a ticket look for the British Flag on the language selection.

I hope this has been entertaining and helpful to you. The last part will be a short synopsis of how the trip went. This is my first attempt at writing a travel article, so if you made it this far, thank you and please leave a comment for me. I plan to continue this as a hobby and hopefully it will grow during the next couple of years into more.

Thanks for reading.

next Part 6 and the Final Part. The Actual Trip.

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