We don’t really rank / rate our trips with others, each one has its own set of challenges and rewards…. One could look like an all-inclusive, another the Amazing Race. We would much rather take time and words to reflect on what was good, different, worked, the successes and sometimes bungles! In some ways, a top down view of the vibe we got this time around.
A Controlled Itinerary
There are options for travellers that wish to control the risk / pace of travel days at home and abroad. Our flights / connections / transportation decisions this time around didn’t push as hard as normal. For example, we opted not to cram flights, connections, transfers for our major points of travel. Case in point, we took a direct flight from Halifax to Heathrow, regrouped and rested for the evening, then travelled beyond the following morning. We chose train tickets that did not involve transfers, just city to city travel points (Budapest > Vienna or Vienna > Prague). We built in “time buffers” to accommodate potential lateness and utilized direct connections to reduce stressful moments and leave plenty of time to react and measure next steps. In short, we planned our travel to be more relaxed. It costs, in time and monetarily, but also keeps things fun!
Maximizing Travel Time
All that said, it didn’t mean that you can’t have incredibly busy days. This was basically a four city tour over the span of 8 days… we handled a lot of connections as days bustled with attractions, lots of time on our feet, intercity commuting, and ensuring time to eat / sleep / people watch! We like it that way, maximizing our opportunities to see and learn, but also very much understand how that might not work for everyone. The only way to pull it off is a focused level of planning and research! Not sure what they did before the internet (travel guides maybe) but we’d be absolutely lost without it.
Art of Speaking & Listening
This was the furthest east we’ve travelled. We struggled to both read the simplest of items (menu / tickets / signs) and use anything other than our spoken English. We seemed to constantly be discussing the impacts of hearing different languages this trip… both on held / imposed stereotypes that we associate with others as well as, inversely, how we are perceived by them. Invariably, we were unconsciously deciding how to respond or react in every situation with cues gathered from spoken languages. A huge topic for another blog, perhaps, but while reflecting on this trip we note that multilingualism is underrated and reminded ourselves that it’s uncomfortable being labelled privileged. In essence, we didn’t test our boundaries as much as expose the selfish reliance on others to be responsible for communicating with us.
Travelling in Our 50’s
Okay… reality check. Turning 55 this year… aging like a robust wine I figure. Our health is good, we’re as physically fit as we’ve been in years, and we still feel the desire to see new destinations and make new experiences. Yet, we’re not the same travellers we were when we started these excursions in 2008. Now, there are other considerations… ones that help maintain while meeting the more demanding pace (we looked at multiple 25,000 steps days). Sleep is essential… doesn’t need to be long, just sound. Eating well keeps the engine running, and now more than ever garbage in yields garbage output. Remembering to be good to each other when things get “stressful” and the need to be super prepared is essential. So no, not the same, but yes, even more rewarding!
Being Connected
We’ve had many follow along with us virtually on this trip, as readers and writers. Our hope was to share the things we saw and pay our good fortune forward to others. From tips and questions to suggestions and encouragement, we have appreciated you travelling with us this time around. It’s helped us immensely as we work to process all we’ve experienced this week in some of Europe’s most picturesque and storied cities. Thank you (Köszönöm – Hungarian, Danke – Austrian, Děkuji – Czech)