Tentative summer plans

[wiseheart]

Sooo, I went to the website of our usual travel agency to see what they have to offer for this year and what can I risk, considering my bad leg and tha fact that Mum will be in tow. The website is sorely outdated, so I'll have to get to the office in person and ask, but I found a few package holidays I'd like.

The one of them I'd like most is a 6-day-trip that will start in Paris, touch 3 of the prettiest castles along the Loire, cross Burgundy, with an emphasis on Dijon and Troyes (another town I wanted to visit badly ever since I read "Life in a Medieval Town"), continues on to the Champagne (Reims!!!) and then returns to Paris just in time to board the plane.

Of course, it has the serious disadvantage that we'd have to fly, something I'm still deadly afraid of, and I might have the rotten luck that they won't even launch this particular trip this year, but it would be a pretty one.

Another possibilites would be the trips named "Romantinc Germany" and "Magic of the Alps", as well as the one which would go to Alsace and the Black Forest.

So many great choices, so little time (and even less momeny) *sighs*. Of course, we'll have to think very hard about our health in the first time. But we try to go to pleaces where we haven't been before, especially Mum, who can never tell if she'd be able to go anywhere in the next year.

Comments

[sammydragoncat]

Hopefully you get to go on the trip you want (even though it will envolve air travel).

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Air travel is my worst nightmare. The mere knowledge that there's ten kilometres of nothing beneath me is enough to give me a panic attack. I'm fairly agoraphobic, so...

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you're afraid of flying; that certainly complicated travel plans! Is there any way you could substitute a train trip in place of the plane trip for that French tour? Obviously it would take longer, but if time's not an issue that might be an alternative worth looking at.

All of the trips in question sound wonderful, though, so I'm sure you'll have a good time wherever you end up going.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

These package holidays are very tightly structured, which is why we like them - the travel agency takes care of everything, all we need to do is to give them our hard-earned money and board whatever means they've chosen to take us to our destination. So, no alternate train route, I'm afraid.

Last year we went to Hamburg privately and took the train. Which has the disadvantage of being a very long trip, and as we couldn't get a cheap sleeping wagon, we had to sit 18 hours in the train. Mum was half-dead afterwards and I wasn't very active, either.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

That's too bad that they won't allow a substitute way of getting to the first destination, but I'm sure it makes things simpler for them, so it's understandable. Maybe you could get your doctor to prescribe a small dose of tranquilizer to help with anxiety if you end up having to fly?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It's not so bad, really. I don't get panic attacks or whatnot, I don't even get airsick, I'm just truly uncomfortable.

And, to tell the truth, the very thing I like in these package holidays is the fact that they take care of everything. I hate dealing with every single aspect, especially as you have to do these things in advance, and it's hard to get away from work at any sensible time. And when I do, then the ticket office/whatever is still or already closed.

Going to Hamburg on our own last year was twenty times more complicated than booking a week-long trip at the travel agency.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

You're definitely right about packaged holidays being convenient! While I don't always mind putting together a trip on my own, especially since the Internet has made doing the research and booking things a lot easier, sometimes it's nice to leave that hassle to someone else - which is why my Iceland and Greece trips are both tours. All I have to do is show up ( and for the Greece trip, book the airfare and one night in a hotel). Planning a holiday is definitely work, even if it can be enjoyable!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Those trips sounds a lot of fun. Good luck finding one at the right time and everything.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I love travelling, especially with Mum, even though her age and condition provide us with some restrictions.
We always prepare ourselves for the holidays almost a year in advance: selecting the destination, finding the right trip, buying foreign currency in very small quantitioes whenever the exchange rate is good for us, putting some cash aside each month and so on. That way, it doesn't come as a shock when we actually have to pay for everything. *g*