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Post by workingclassdog on May 14, 2018 19:10:46 GMT
Last time I went to Europe I was around 20-21.. packed probably a carry-on, flying standby (airline employee) no money except a credit card and no plans. Not even a place to sleep. It was a fun trip with a friend, we stayed at a youth hostel and I couldn't even tell you what we ate. LOL.... This time.. a WHOLE different ball game. Clothes, food, sleeping, itinerary, list for dh who is staying home with younger dd, list for myself, medical cards, making copies just in case, new clothes, and on and on and on... Kinda makes me wish I was 21 again! And here is a funny.. I overslept for my flight home, got to the airport, got on a plane standby, get on other plane and it was me and one (very cute) guy on a 747. There was not a single person on that plane except the crew. Can you imagine that now??? It was a total blast.. drank, played cards, drank and who the heck knows how I even made my connection back home.  (The only reason I ever came up with an empty plane was that it wasn't on the schedule and they were taking it to JFK for a flight needed there..  ) |
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Post by ntsf on May 14, 2018 19:28:09 GMT
I went to europe for a month when I was close to 40. took a backpack, stayed with several people I had met on a GS list, went camping..called home 2 times that month. kids were with dh and grandma.
we are going to europe next month.. and other than flights and hotels.. nothing is really planned. we are just going to wing it. hoping to pack light. I guess I have retained the whatever style of travel. this time, it will be dh and me.. so not quiet as free to do whatever.
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GiantsFan
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Posts: 8,704
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Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on May 14, 2018 19:32:18 GMT
I'm the opposite. My first trip out of the US was back in the early 90's. It was a business trip and I took a complete change of clothes for each day, including shoes and matching purse. Two suitcases, garment bag and my carry-on. All for five days of business and two extra days of touring.
Now I pack with a color scheme, mix and match outfits, plan to re-wear some stuff and bring minimal shoes. When cruising, I bring one formal dress and wear it multiple formal nights.
My lightest packing was for five days in Maui. We each brought only a backpack. We bought whatever extras we needed there.
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Post by JustCallMeMommy on May 14, 2018 19:33:53 GMT
To me, lots of planning extends the trip, so I'm perfectly happy being an over planner. I think the free-style trip would stress me out!
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Post by mrssmith on May 14, 2018 20:21:58 GMT
To me, lots of planning extends the trip, so I'm perfectly happy being an over planner. I think the free-style trip would stress me out! I'm also a major planner. DH and I split up the planning. He does restaurants and I do the sight seeing. We plan out what we're going to do each day. It keeps us sane and helps us manage going on vacation with 2 kids. He will also make note of interesting restaurants as we're walking around to go to for dinner. I was also on a fairly empty plane back from Europe once. I was in the middle section of 3 seats so I was able to lie down and sleep. It was great. |
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Post by annabella on May 14, 2018 20:44:14 GMT
I'm surprised you went with just a credit card 30 years ago. Europe has traditionally been a very cash only place. Back then I thought everyone traveled with Cashiers checks?
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Post by mustlovecats on May 14, 2018 20:47:50 GMT
I'm surprised you went with just a credit card 30 years ago. Europe has traditionally been a very cash only place. Back then I thought everyone traveled with Cashiers checks? Travelers checks, not cashiers checks. |
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Post by workingclassdog on May 14, 2018 20:54:52 GMT
I'm surprised you went with just a credit card 30 years ago. Europe has traditionally been a very cash only place. Back then I thought everyone traveled with Cashiers checks? It might have been cash that I took off my credit card.. I can't remember. I just know I was flat broke and probably had no business going so far without some kind of plan. LOL... This time around planning is making it better for me though. I don't obviously go overseas (as my millions of other posts suggests) that much. So the planning is going to make it less stressful once we are there. We have laid out the ground work to do or not do.. but it would bug me to death if I didn't plan and then miss something major that could have been avoided. I guess I really didn't when I was younger other than just going somewhere. Of course, there was no phone/internet to do research on. My biggest blunder (I took two trips in that time frame) is when I went to Munich and the only thing I really had on my to do list that I REALLY wanted to see was seeing Dachau. Well the ONE day I was there, it was closed. So this time after we go to Paris and back into Germany, our first stop is Dachau and it's opened every day now.  My husband's grandfather was there helping when they tore down part of the entrance. |
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Post by workingclassdog on May 14, 2018 20:56:24 GMT
To me, lots of planning extends the trip, so I'm perfectly happy being an over planner. I think the free-style trip would stress me out! I'm also a major planner. DH and I split up the planning. He does restaurants and I do the sight seeing. We plan out what we're going to do each day. It keeps us sane and helps us manage going on vacation with 2 kids. He will also make note of interesting restaurants as we're walking around to go to for dinner. I was also on a fairly empty plane back from Europe once. I was in the middle section of 3 seats so I was able to lie down and sleep. It was great. This is how we are splitting up our trip.. I am doing the 3 days in Paris and my daughter is doing the rest of the planning in Germany. I asked her yesterday how she was doing. I got a blank stare.  |
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Post by malibou on May 14, 2018 21:36:07 GMT
So, inquiring peas want to know, cute boy and you on a plane for hours, in your twenties, are you a member of the mile high club?! Just teasing.
I spent 2.5 years in Germany in my late teens, early twenties, but only really travelled on weekends, and never with a plan.
In my late twenties I took a trip with my soon to be dh and did Paris, roamed about Germany and then hit Prague. One day shy of three weeks with a backpack each. Since then there have been many more trips to Europe, and almost all of them have involved a carryon, and no plan. We could do it differently, and on occasion we will stay put for a week at a time, but there is something extra thrilling about winging it with just a backpack for a couple of weeks. I feel so intrepid.
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Post by workingclassdog on May 14, 2018 21:40:18 GMT
So, inquiring peas want to know, cute boy and you on a plane for hours, in your twenties, are you a member of the mile high club?! Just teasing. I spent 2.5 years in Germany in my late teens, early twenties, but only really travelled on weekends, and never with a plan. In my late twenties I took a trip with my soon to be dh and did Paris, roamed about Germany and then hit Prague. One day shy of three weeks with a backpack each. Since then there have been many more trips to Europe, and almost all of them have involved a carryon, and no plan. We could do it differently, and on occasion we will stay put for a week at a time, but there is something extra thrilling about winging it with just a backpack for a couple of weeks. I feel so intrepid. OMG I never thought of it like that.. SO funny. I was really a very very shy girl so yeah, no mile high club going on. I just don't know why we didn't roam around the airplane more and check out the upstairs. Now that was dumb. Pretty sure there was still a bar up on the top. If I could or would travel more frequently then I would definitely be more of a winging it gal. OR at least more winging and less planning.. |
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Post by 950nancy on May 14, 2018 21:54:00 GMT
We are going to Mexico soon. I have alerted the credit card company, the phone company, and I have printed out my International packing list from the computer. I also just finished a one page list of information for puppy sitting. Ha! I won't pack until right before we leave though. I have to be a rebel in some way.
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Post by workingclassdog on May 14, 2018 22:56:21 GMT
We are going to Mexico soon. I have alerted the credit card company, the phone company, and I have printed out my International packing list from the computer. I also just finished a one page list of information for puppy sitting. Ha! I won't pack until right before we leave though. I have to be a rebel in some way. Oh that is SO me.. I never pack till the night before.. cause I might need something and then back and forth into the suitcase.. yep let's be rebels! I gotta look up this International Packing list.. ummmmm |
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Post by AussieMeg on May 15, 2018 0:51:52 GMT
Me going to Hawaii at 21 - bought a carton of cigarettes and a bottle of Kahlua duty free at the airport. I drank the whole bottle of Kahlua on the first night (which lasted until daybreak). The carton of cigarettes lasted about a week, then I had to buy more. We slept until noon and hung out at the beach all afternoon before partying all night. Oh, and on the flight over whenever we wanted a smoke we walked up to the back of the plane and lit up!  Gross!!!! Yeah, my trip overseas just before I turned 50 was considerably different!  Co-incidentally (or maybe not!), that trip to Hawaii in 1989 was the last time I ever drank alchohol!  |
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Post by melanell on May 15, 2018 12:50:57 GMT
These days you'd take the chance of making some border agent very nervous if you showed up with no money & no plans. They might think you were trying to stay!
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Post by gryroagain on May 15, 2018 14:44:37 GMT
I am still a total fly by the seat of my pants traveler...except customs and visas and flying totally freak me out now. Dunno why. I used to fly for work in my 20s and I was fine, but now it makes me a hot mess of anxiety. It is t so much the plane as the visas, customs, security- really freaks me out for some reason.
My oldest DD and I recently went to Vietnam and I drove her berserk with my flighty “let’s do this! Get on the back of this motorbike let’s go!” Attitude. Don’t think she will travel with me again but that is ok, DH already will not and frankly I prefer to travel alone😂
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Post by bc2ca on May 15, 2018 14:57:20 GMT
In my 20s, I headed to Europe with a ton of traveler's checks and a very rough plan as to which direction we were going. We often crashed in the homes of new friends we met along the way. Relatives in the UK knew we might show up on their doorstep because my parents wrote to them. There was no internet or inexpensive phone calls home. We went months without contact. When heading home, so many friends just asked strangers at airports if they were checking their 2 bag allotment and if they weren't asked them to check through an extra bag. No one traveled Eastern Europe back then, so I'm super excited to get to Prague this summer. Now I don't go without a plan and reservations, but as JustCallMeMommy said, it is all about extending the trip. Planning is half the fun for me. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on May 15, 2018 15:36:48 GMT
Big differences in the way I travel now. I've always been a planner so that's still the same, just easier with the internet. In my 20's I carried way too much stuff, while now I minimize as much as possible. I could do carry on but most of the time don't bother and just check a bag. It's nice not to have to fight for space in the bins.
In the past, we didn't bother with reservations other than plane tickets, even once we had a child. We'd just show up at our destination and check with the kiosk at the station for hotel suggestions. If there wasn't one, then we'd grab a cab and ask the driver for suggestions. Some of the best trips and places to stay have resulted from that lack of hotel reservations! Now we have reservations before we ever leave home. Part of that I chalk up to ease of the internet for researching, the other part getting older and just wanting to get straight to the room and rest after the trip.
The one thing that hasn't changed, no matter how hard we try, is over planning our time on the ground. We say every time we are going to cut back on what we do and just relax, but once we get there we want to see/do everything. HA! After we get back from vacation, we need a vacation to rest up! I'm leaving with DD on Thursday for a 10 day trip. There are actually 3 days with no plans! Progress!
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Post by worldwanderer75 on May 15, 2018 16:44:25 GMT
Oh man! I backpacked around Europe for a summer when I was 21 with 2 of my girlfriends. We had no plan, slept on trains, in youth hostels and just wandered around Europe and had a fabulous, life changing experience(in the late 90s). I called home TWICE during the entire 7 weeks with a prepaid calling card. NOW I live overseas with my family and my mom FREAKS out when we travel. I just have to laugh, she somehow had no issue sending her very naive, inexperienced 21 year daughter to Europe with no plan and no way to call home but stresses about her 40 something daughter traveling with a cell phone that always has data, a fabulous international health insurance plan and tons of travel experience now.
We definitely have more solid travel plans now but that's largely due to the size of my family (me + DH + 4 kids) but we often wing it. We spent 10 days on the Amalfi coast last fall and did not have a single plan when we arrived other than a rental car and an Airbnb reservation. It was one of the best trips we have taken. We're headed to Paris next month and have more solid plans/reservations since we are traveling during high season.
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)
My husband's grandfather was there helping when they tore down part of the entrance. 
Gross!!!!
