tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Mar 10, 2014 13:16:23 GMT -5
I sat down this weekend, gathered all the ideas by country and put them into a single document. Holy crap! So many places, and that's before adding the things I know I want to see Thanks again for all the ideas and help. I'm sure I'll be asking more questions as things get closer. One thing I'll really need to start looking into will be where we stay--figure out if it would be better to base ourselves in a room for several days, going out from there, or if it would be better to travel, getting rooms as we reach new places. I think cost will play into a lot of that (transportation vs room). I'm an advocate of the pick a base and sight see from there approach. Staying two or three nights in each location. Packing and unpacking and loading and unloading luggage is a pain. Why do it more often than necessary? Every time you move out of a hotel room is an opportunity to leave something behind. Reduce the probability by reducing the number of opportunities for an Oh, dang! to happen. Having a car full of luggage increases the probability that your car will be broken into and things stolen. (Tip, if the lot sparkles with broken glass, that lot is frequented by thieves breaking car windows to get at the cars contents. Use another lot. It will probably cost more to repair the car than to replace what you had stolen.)
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bobosensei
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Post by bobosensei on Mar 10, 2014 14:00:17 GMT -5
You guys are seriously awesome! Yes, like Bonny mentioned, I'd had a thread in the travel section as well (a while ago), but with it being a "separate board" and the big "don't bump old threads" banner, I thought I'd try here for more ideas. A coworker almost has me convinced it's really easy to drive over there, so, who knows, I may "risk" it in some of the less populated areas to get around faster. Just have to weigh the price of a rental and gas to the train and time. If I were to go that route, I might stay stationary for a few days, visit some areas that way (and have a good place for doing laundry). I may have access to some bases over there as a civilian, but not positive.
One thing I love to do is just walk around and get completely lost for a while. I eat a ton on vacation, but don't gain weight because of all the walking we do. It is very easy to drive here, although I will admit Ireland and England take some getting used to with the opposite side of the road stuff. Germany, France, and the rest of the places you list are extremely easy although I wouldn't personally choose to drive in Paris or a lot of the other big cities if I could do the train or subway instead. Your itinerary sounds exhausting to me. I think you have way too many possible places listed. It is not relaxing to me to have to drive a long way or take the train or bus every day or even every other day to a new location. I prefer a few days in each place. For what it is worth DH and I drove from about an hour NW of Munich to the Normandy Beaches in France. We took two days to drive there, stopping for a night in Brussels which was half way because we just can't get enough beer and chocolate We drove all up and down France weaving from the WW2 sights into wine country stopping for 2-3 nights at each place to make a "base" for exploration. I only did about 2 weeks like that and it nearly killed me. I am glad we did it looking back, but I don't think I could have taken it for 4-5 weeks. Too much time travelling from place to place even if we were only in the car a couple of hours each day.
You will need a military or DOD ID card to get on military installations over here. The ID cards get scanned when you are stopped at the gate, and you have to be registered in the system (that requires military PCS orders) in order to be able to come and go from the installation. If for some reason you got past that you have to show the ID again to be able to buy anything anyway.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Mar 10, 2014 14:39:48 GMT -5
You will need a military or DOD ID card to get on military installations over here. The ID cards get scanned when you are stopped at the gate, and you have to be registered in the system (that requires military PCS orders) in order to be able to come and go from the installation. If for some reason you got past that you have to show the ID again to be able to buy anything anyway.
I have DOD civilian ID, but it would be non-work related so I don't know what all I can/can't do yet. I would be able to book through the AFV club though. And, I know the trip will be exhausting, BUT, it may be the last big one with the kiddo, so I'm up for it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 17:48:46 GMT -5
I get that you want to do a ton of things, but I too feel that maybe this trip is a bit *TOO* ambitious. You know your son better than any of us, but I can't help but wonder whether a slightly less arduous trip would make him more likely to repeat the experience. It may be the last "big one", but it doesn't need to be the last one, and maybe not "overdoing" it (which is relative, I know) would leave him hankering for more.
Dunno, just a thought. I am definitely of the TSkeeter and Bobosensei set. I prefer at least 2 nights in each destination, because as much as I love travelling, I don't like knowing that I travelled that day, and I also need to travel the next day. With the check-in and check-out times for hotels, that means you really will be CONSTANTLY on the go.
I know you are hell-bent on Poland, but, it is really is the furthest from ALL the other countries. Otherwise, as I've said before, I'd really suggest flying to Poland and back (to wherever). Or, arriving in Poland, or leaving from Poland.
ETA: To give you a perspective. Our close friends are Polish. They have a dog that can't be left, and 3 (older) kids. To save money, and because of the dog, they drive from Paris to Poland and back, several times a year. They always stay in a different city in either Germany or Austria to break up the trip. It's the halfway point. So, Poland is really twice as far from Paris as either central Germany or central Austria. PLUS, you're wanting to visit family in the south of France. So, add another 1300 miles. Personally, I would prefer meeting up with the family, they may not be around forever.
Doing all of that is REALLY a HUGE HUGE HUGE trip. Or else, you do those "extremes" (geographically speaking, ie south of France and Poland), and you give up some of the stops in between (Belgium for example).
But I REALLY think that "something's gotta give".
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Mar 10, 2014 18:07:10 GMT -5
You guys are seriously awesome! Yes, like Bonny mentioned, I'd had a thread in the travel section as well (a while ago), but with it being a "separate board" and the big "don't bump old threads" banner, I thought I'd try here for more ideas. A coworker almost has me convinced it's really easy to drive over there, so, who knows, I may "risk" it in some of the less populated areas to get around faster. Just have to weigh the price of a rental and gas to the train and time. If I were to go that route, I might stay stationary for a few days, visit some areas that way (and have a good place for doing laundry). I may have access to some bases over there as a civilian, but not positive.
One thing I love to do is just walk around and get completely lost for a while. I eat a ton on vacation, but don't gain weight because of all the walking we do. It is very easy to drive here, although I will admit Ireland and England take some getting used to with the opposite side of the road stuff. Germany, France, and the rest of the places you list are extremely easy although I wouldn't personally choose to drive in Paris or a lot of the other big cities if I could do the train or subway instead. Your itinerary sounds exhausting to me. I think you have way too many possible places listed. It is not relaxing to me to have to drive a long way or take the train or bus every day or even every other day to a new location. I prefer a few days in each place. For what it is worth DH and I drove from about an hour NW of Munich to the Normandy Beaches in France. We took two days to drive there, stopping for a night in Brussels which was half way because we just can't get enough beer and chocolate We drove all up and down France weaving from the WW2 sights into wine country stopping for 2-3 nights at each place to make a "base" for exploration. I only did about 2 weeks like that and it nearly killed me. I am glad we did it looking back, but I don't think I could have taken it for 4-5 weeks. Too much time travelling from place to place even if we were only in the car a couple of hours each day.
You will need a military or DOD ID card to get on military installations over here. The ID cards get scanned when you are stopped at the gate, and you have to be registered in the system (that requires military PCS orders) in order to be able to come and go from the installation. If for some reason you got past that you have to show the ID again to be able to buy anything anyway.
I'm with bobosensi, outside of Paris, it is easy to drive in France. Although my earlier post talked about our guide providing Paris-Normandy-Paris shuttle service and the hassle of driving yourself in areas you are not familiar with, if you want to drive, France is not at all hard. (Part of the reason I liked the guide/shuttleis our group was too big for a single car. So we avoided the cost of renting two cars and trying to shepard two cars through unfamiliar territory.) On our first trip to France, we took, I think, the Rossey bus from the CDG airport into Paris, and a cab from the bus stop at one of the train stations to our hotel. When we left Paris and headed to Valence, we took a cab to Orly airport, picked up a rental car, and took the ring highways around Paris and to the tollroad south. While DW worked, I took the car and wandered around the Valence area. On our return north, we found it pretty easy to make a stop at Beaune, get to Versailles to spend a couple of nights, then back to the airport using just a basic map, with DW serving as navigator (She does well. We rarely miss a turn and embark on an adventure.). Then on the Orly bus back into Paris for a few more days. Driving yourself would be even easier with a smart phone or gps. While in Paris, we walked or used the subway to get around.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 18:14:03 GMT -5
Although my earlier post talked about our guide providing Paris-Normandy-Paris shuttle service and the hassle of driving yourself in areas you are not familiar with, if you want to drive, France is not at all hard.
Also, much of the point of taking a guide for the landing beaches is having the guide, rather than having a driver.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Mar 10, 2014 19:25:25 GMT -5
Ok, how I normally do trips... I find most of the interesting sites, knowing there is NO WAY to hit them all. Then, I figure out what I/we MUST see. Usually, that is a handful of sites/museums/cities. I pick a place (or places) to stay based on those sites. Then, I look at where all the other sites are relative to here and start to narrow down what is easiest to get to. If it's difficult to get to, I have to decide if it's worth it. If it's not worth it, I cross it off the list. Then, even when I'm there, I take everything as it comes. I usually have a couple days with no plans at all (on my shorter trips). That way we can wander around, sleep in, take care of laundry, whatever strikes our mood. I make sure we have time for the things we said we MUST see. Our 11 day (?) trip to London had these things: Ceremony of the Keys Meet Ratchets and Whocanibe Imperial War Museum A live theater show British Museum King's Library (that one, just to get my SIL to be quiet but, honestly, we would have skipped it if it wasn't easy) A "ghost tour" The London Eye (because DS was disappointed we didn't do it last time) Now, the list of "wants" probably had another 50 things on it. Some of those we got to do, some of those we didn't. Each night, I'd sit down and decide where the "main attraction" would be, and see what things on the list would be nearby. Toward the end of our trip, we booked the train to Dover. Anyway, all this right now is just "stage one"--figuring out what all is there, really starting to think about things more. Seeing what we are EXCITED about seeing, and what would "be nice" to see. I'm really not crazy My guess is, we'll have a list of "must sees/dos" in each country, and how long we dedicate to each country will be based on that. But, the "must see" will likely be about 10 places, and I really feel like 5 weeks will give us plenty of time to see those 10 things, with everything else being "extra". Right now, our MUST is simply: Auschwitz (not a pleasant place, but we both want to see it) See family (if I can get that arranged) Get "salted licorice" in The Netherlands (because my son is weird, and that is the ONE thing he has brought up on his own and not said "whatever" to, I don't know what book he read got him to thinking about it. I told him he was a nut, but he was happy I said we'd make the time.) Meet debthaven (if we can) Everything else on the trip is a "want", and we'd be ok missing it. Some are really big wants, and I'm 99% sure we'd see those, but the world won't fall apart if we don't As for the kiddo (in addition to the fear of flying. And elevators...) I haven't brought it up in this thread, but he is "educationally diagnosed" as autistic (Asperger's). He has never been "bit by the travel bug" like I have, and he'd be happy staying in his own cocoon if he could, so it's my job to drag him out, while I still can. I also think it's a little weird for parents to pay for their adult children to go on vacation, so I don't see that happening; I know other families do it, but it's not my normal. He struggles with doing any little thing that is new to him, and that's in our own little town, with me "making him", because I can. That is why I don't ever see him doing an overseas trip again. I do understand how it seems a lot! But, believe me, I know there is no way we'd even attempt to do all the things suggested/thought of. I just can't set priorities if I don't know our options. If I knew that showing up in a town and getting a room would be relatively easy (and not extremely expensive), I would not pre-book any rooms except the first couple nights and the last couple. That way, we'd be completely flexible. But I fear not being able to find a room when we get to a city. I'm still up in the air about how we'll do that. I'd love to be able to say "I'm really enjoying it here, let's stay another night", or "I'm done, let's go". If I didn't have the kiddo, I'd go with no booking a room more than a day ahead, OR, leaving a few nights without a room booked between cities.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Mar 10, 2014 19:31:39 GMT -5
Although my earlier post talked about our guide providing Paris-Normandy-Paris shuttle service and the hassle of driving yourself in areas you are not familiar with, if you want to drive, France is not at all hard.Also, much of the point of taking a guide for the landing beaches is having the guide, rather than having a driver. We definitely want a guide for the beaches. The driving wouldn't be for the whole trip, just if it makes sense for certain parts. The coworker had talked about how they had stayed in one place in Germany, and everything they wanted to do was within about two hours (just in different directions). Definitely public transportation within any cities. But, maybe renting a car for a week here and there would make more sense for us...? One thing I'm thankful for is the internet and wi-fi!!
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Mar 10, 2014 20:20:37 GMT -5
You know Apple, I may have said this before but unless you have a permanent base I find traveling for more than two weeks to be overwhelming. As incredible as it seems, after our two week trips in Egypt, Turkey and Italy, both DH and I were ready to go home. There's just a burn-out to how much one can absorb.
Maybe you can set up two weeks of traveling WWII sites in France, Belgium and No. Germany and then spend a week in So. France R&R with your family? Fly in and out of CDG. Save So. Germany, Austria and Poland for another trip?
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Mar 11, 2014 8:45:10 GMT -5
You know where I wouldn't go? Anywhere where people didn't understand me when I shouted English at them. I'd also be sure to bring my collection of Hawaiian shirts.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Mar 11, 2014 20:52:05 GMT -5
milee -- thanks for the tip on Ex Officio. I'll have to start looking them up. I also get a travel magazine that has some quick wash/dry clothing, so will have to keep my eye on clearance sales. I prefer to do the trips in the spring, but one good thing about summer is less clothing to haul around. I would not have thought of ebay. Any more clothing recommendations? I'm fine with washing things in the sink and drying them on a line overnight/over two days. I may have to learn how to wear a dress, seems like that could be easier in some cases xia -- Czech Republic is on the list now (forgot about it!). Even if it is mostly just a pass-through (will have to see how we do on time). The Ludice Monument looks haunting. @athena53 -- the bike tour may have to wait for a second trip, but looks fun. My son isn't the most coordinated and it's been a while since he's ridden a bike... muttleynfelix -- kids are crazy expensive, aren't they! Some days I think my son misses out not having siblings, but I could not do half the things we do if I had another child siralynn -- did you do Dachau as a tour? Or did you just take a bus there? It is one of the places we will likely visit. steph08 -- Auschwitz is the main reason we will see Poland. I wasn't sure if we should just take a bus in, visit, and leave, or try to stay in Krakow a day or two. Communication is going to be one of the things making this trip difficult already, so not sure how much time/energy I can invest in it for this time around. Did you do the Normandy tour with the WWII Museum at Caen? I'm undecided how I want to tackle this part, it seems so far from everything else. But, if I do start in Bordeaux, that may change it. Chicos has a travel line as well. I just picked up pants, skirt, jacket and top for less than $200.
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