Cruising

Taking a Test Run on Your European Vacation

BART Ticket Machine

Just a few weeks ago, a friend was asking about our wedding anniversary trip to Europe back in 2014. Said that he wanted to take his wife on a similar trip in the fall of 2016 for their 25th wedding anniversary. I told him that I would be happy to help them put together a trip, but that I expected him to do a test run before that.

What, a test run? Yes, since we learned so much from our first trip to Europe in 2013 which made out trip in 2014 so much better, I realized that my friend needed to really experience traveling the way we did so that he could avoid the pain of hauling 2 large roller bags and 2 carry on bags and 2 personal bags like we did in 2013. I even remember watching a Rick Steves video where he suggested loading you bags and taking short weekend trip to get the feel of how much a pain the excess baggage can be. (Here is a link to the Rick Steves video as well as other packing light videos.)

It does not make sense to most of us because we generally travel in the US and are only hauling bags from the baggage claim area to the rental car bus and from the bus to the rental car and from there to the hotel room.  When we traveled to Europe, we used public transit, not rental cars. When you take trains, some of which are double deckers, and take metro lines some of which are three flights of long stairs below ground, without an elevator, you learn quickly what a pain in the back it is to haul those heavy 50 pound roller bags up and down stairs.

So, I told him that he should take a test run of a trip that uses the same type of transportation that he would use in Europe, and of course, to load their suitcases as if they were headed to Europe. First of all, they will take the Capital Corridor train from Sacramento to Richmond, transfer to the BART Metro Train from Richmond to San Francisco. Depending upon which hotel they staying at, they can get off at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell or Civic Center, etc… From there, they walk to their hotel, hauling their suitcases.

Then, while in San Francisco, they should spend a day on one of the hop-on hop-off buses to take a tour of the city. Get off and enjoy the various stops just like they might do in Paris. This is a great way to get the feel for a city that you have never visited before. You get to get a look at all of the main sights so that you can decide which ones you want to visit and spend more time exploring.  I think they enjoy food as much as we do and they should check out the great Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building.

Of course, he should plan for a nice 24th anniversary dinner with his wife and enjoy a wonderful test run visit to San Francisco.

eBagsWeekender

eBags TLS Mother Lode Weekender Convertible

 

How much do you want to bet that they will lighten the load before they take their big trip in 2016. As I mentioned earlier, we went from 2 large roller bags and 2 carry on bags and 2 personal bags to 2 backpack style carry on bags and 2 small backpacks like our kids use for their books in high school. Take a look at my earlier post about suitcases.

If you have not tired this trip, you should do it if you live anywhere within a hundred miles or so of San Francisco. We just did a similar trip. We spent 5 days at our timeshare in Napa and did two day trips into San Francisco. We drove from Napa to the El Cerrito BART station and took the train into the Embarcadero station in San Francisco. Spent the day at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday. On Sunday, we made a return trip and got on the hop-on hop-off bus for a day trip throughout the city. We hopped off and on, did a lot of walking through Chinatown and various other areas. A great trip. No downtown SF parking challenges either. Of course, since we were staying in Napa, we only had our small backpacks because you always want to carry a jacket with you, maybe some snacks for a little picnic lunch as well.

If you have never used public transit, or BART or other types of metro train systems, you really do want to try those things out here in the US where at least you can read the signs. Don’t wait until you get to Europe to learn. Most transit systems are organized by the names of the stops at each end of the line. For example, the BART train that I noted here today is the Richmond-Daly City line. When you are looking for the right train, because several different trains use the same underground tracks, look for the name of the town at the end of the line in the direction you are traveling. I think BART has 5 or 6 lines. Some are not in use on weekends so you have to be ready to use a different line to get where you are going. Also, you put your ticket in the slot to get into the station and you put it in the slot again to exit. If you did not put enough $ when you bought the ticket, you will have to add $ to it to get out of the station. For example, currently the cost from the El Cerrito station to the Civic Center is $5.40. If you bought 2 $5 tickets because you were in a rush, you will get into the station and get to the Civic Center station, but you have to take each ticket to the machine on the wall to add an extra $.40 to each one to exit the station.

Check out this video on how to buy BART tickets.

I recently created a page on this topic with several videos for you. Check it out.

Remember, life is short, vacation today. You can always rest later. Don’t wait until “sometime” to see the world. If you wait until then, you may not be able to do it. Do it while your health is good.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Cruise Luggage Tag Holders

Cruise Tag Holders

Have you every tried to attach a luggage tag to your bag before your cruise? They send you this paper thin sheet that you cut into ribbons and they ask you to fold them and staple them to your luggage. Well, you know that they won’t stay there as you fly from home to the cruise terminal because the airport luggage handlers will either tear them off accidentally, or they will get wet and fall off. So, you plan to attach them before you head for the cruise terminal. Well, did you bring a stapler with you to attach them. No!! Who carries a stapler on a cruise. Apparently I was not the only person who thought that system sucked.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Suitcases — Update

ebags Backpack

As I said in my earlier post about going with the backpack style carry-on bags, I would do a follow-up story to tell you how it went.

First, a little more background on my efforts. I did a sample pack with enough clothes to make up 20+ outfits. Packed it and left it for 3 weeks then opened it up to check to see how wrinkled the clothes were. I packed 8 short sleeved shirts, two long pants, 2 shorts, underwear for a week and my DOP kit. I used the techniques shown on RickSteves.com.  Best of all, the total weight was about 22 pounds. I can carry that and it will fit in the overhead of any airline that we planned to use during our trip to Europe in the spring of 2014.

Since we planned a week in Malta and a couple of days in Barcelona, prior to our 12 day cruise on the Mediterranean, we split our packing into two parts. First of all, we packed a 24″ roller bag with our cruise clothes. Both my clothes and my wife’s clothes. I pre-ordered the rental of my tux on the ship so that I did not have to pack a suit or sportcoat and slacks. All of my wife’s dresses would take up less space and weight  less than one sportcoat, so I figured that it would be well worth the cost. Since it was a 12 day cruise, we needed enough clothes for a dozen outfits for each of us and a pair of dress shoes in addition to the shoes that I would wear to Malta. Also, since we had our carry-on backpacks from the week in Malta, we would have some extra clothes there as well. The roller only weighed in at about 35 pounds. Quite a drastic reduction from two 48 pound roller bags the year earlier.

We were not going to be using the “cruise clothes” in Malta and since we did not want to haul the roller bag to Malta and back, we made arrangements to drop the roller bag off at Citadines, the hotel we were using when we returned to Barcelona the following week.  I planned a 6 hour layover in Barcelona before heading to Malta so that we had time to put our carry-on bags in the locker at the airport, take the R2 train into downtown and the L3 metro to our hotel to drop off the roller bag. The staff at the Citadines locked our bag in their secure storage room and it was there waiting for us when we returned a week later. We even had time to walk the La Rambla and enjoy some tapas and a cold beer before heading back to the airport.

As many of you know, most timeshare condos have a laundry room or a washer and dryer in the room. The place in Malta had a laundry room, so, on the night before the last day at the condo in Malta, I put on my bathing suit, and went to the laundry room and washed everything else. That meant that we would have week’s worth of clean clothes to add to what we packed in the roller bag and left in Barcelona.

I know you are just waiting to hear how it went. It went great but I know that we can go lighter next year. I still had too many shirts and pants and not enough underwear. My wife had a couple of outfits that she didn’t wear as well. Doing the week in the timeshare before the cruise worked out well because we had access to a washer and dryer which meant that we could get along with fewer clothes.  The other thing that worked out well is that by sharing one checked bag and having a week’s worth of clothes in our carry-on bags, we did not have to worry about a lost bag. Fortunately we did not have a lost bag and could change clothes as often as we wanted during the cruise.

Already looking forward to next year’s vacation, especially since we will be going to Africa for a couple of weeks before we spend a week in Myrtle Beach for a family re-union. That means that we will need one set of clothes for the safari and an entirely different set of clothes for a week on the beach because it will be winter in South Africa and summer in Myrtle Beach.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Riding the Metro in Barcelona

Barcelona-Metro-Map

I noted in a post last year about how to get the best use of the Metro when travelling in Paris. This year, we traveled to Barcelona and after doing my homework, we were ready. Of course, I printed out the map for the local trains and the metro so that I had them in hand when we arrived in Barcelona. I also downloaded the RENFE application to my phone before the trip. It provides info on the train schedule in Barcelona.

I knew that we would take the shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 to catch the R2 train into Barcelona. We would get off on the 4th stop at Passeig de Gracia. You should know that the name you see on the map is not always the name that you see on the board on the train. For example, our stop showed up as pg Gracia not as Passeig de Gracia. I always count stops so that I don’t miss my stop. A couple we met from Grants Pass missed their stop, the one at Sants, before our stop at Passeig de Gracia. We helped them off the train and over to the platform to get them back to their stop before we proceeded on to the Metro.

My wife saw some pickpockets getting ready to put the squeeze play on the man and she rushed them and shouted at them to leave the man alone and they snuck off into the crowd. Another thing that we noticed when we got on the train was the “helpful” man that assisted people with their luggage, placing it on the far side of the train, out of sight of the “victim” where their partner in crime could take the bag while the victim was still getting their other bags onto the train. Another reason that we opted for smaller and lighter bags for our trip.

Barcelona-Metro-Map

 

Click on the map to enlarge it.

From there,we would walk over to the L3 Metro, which was three floors below the train, and take it two stops to the Liceu station in the middle of La Rambla. Only a half a block to our hotel from there. My research also provided several additional tips to make it a more enjoyable vacation. 

First of all, I discovered that there are lockers at Terminal 1 in Barcelona where we could store our suitcases while we went into town. I planned a 6+ hour layover because we wanted to leave our carry-on bags in the locker and take our 24″ roller bag to the Citadines Aparthotel, (the hotel where we will stay before our cruise but after a side trip to Malta).  I had made contact with the Citadines hotel on La Rambla to make arrangements to leave our suitcase with our cruise clothes so that we did not have to haul them to Malta and back. If you remember my earlier blog about Paris, we stayed at a Citadines Aparthotel there and loved it. It was a 1 bedroom apartment in the hotel. The one in Barcelona, we chose to use, is a studio apartment in their hotel right in the middle of the action. They are a great chain of hotels and apartments. When we vacation in England in the next year or two, I have already picked out a Citadines that we will be using there.

Second, to make the process a little easier, we purchased the 10 ride metro ticket that was good on the train as well as the metro.  My research told me that I would need to have some Euros in small denominations to use the machine to buy the 10 ride ticket. We used 8 rides to make it downtown and back to the airport.  We picked up second 10 ride ticket at the same time so that were ready for our return from Malta without having to pick up the extra ticket during the rush. We had 6 rides left when we started our cruise and gave the ticket to a couple we met from Tazmania who were going to spend a couple of days in Barcelona after the cruise. Even with giving the left over rides away, it was still cheaper to buy the 10 ride tickets than to buy single ride tickets for each leg of the journey.

If you are thinking of visiting, you may also want to have a look at this video. We did not make it but want to share it with you.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Suitcases and Travel

ebags Backpack

I don’t know about you, but after our trip to Europe last year where we hauled our suitcases on and off the metro and the trains and airplanes, and up and down three flights of stairs in the metro, I don’t want to have to go through that again.

At the time, I did not think that we had really over-packed by too much.  We were going to be gone for about 21 days and even planned to stop to do laundry about 10 to 12 days into the trip.  We each had one checked bag and one carry-on bag and one personal bag.  The personal bag had our medicine, travel docs, one change of clothes, my kindle and snacks. Nothing was over-weight; but when you figure that the checked bags were close to 48 pounds each and the carry-on bags were about 20 pounds each, that added up to a lot of stuff to carry. The three flights up from the metro station to the street was the final straw. We were going to pack lighter next time.

I bet you would think about what you needed to bring with you if you went through something similar. In fact, I challenge you to experiment before you leave home. Pack your bags, get on a bus or a train or the metro locally, haul your things to a hotel in a town a hundred miles or so away from home, carry your stuff to your room and then decide it it was too much.

Well, it is almost time for the next trip to Europe. We spent many hours over the past few months studying and watching seminars.  I really liked the RickSteves.com video on packing light. I also looked at one from PackingLight.com that demonstrated how to travel with the equivalent of enough clothes for 60 outfits that will fit into a carry-on.  Unfortunately the video from PackingLight.com is no longer available online. In both cases you would have to wash underwear and sox every couple of days to make their packing plans work. Well, I only needed to have 20-30 outfits for our trip, which meant that I could bring extra underwear and sox and not have to hand wash them every night or two, so that looked pretty good to me. Still need to find out if my existing carry-on bags would work or if I wanted to buy  a new convertable bag that could be used as a backpack or hand carried luggage so that my hands were free when we hopped on and off the metro.

Before spending any money on a new carry-on bag, I also looked at what airlines allowed in the way of carry-on bags since it seemed that every airline had their own rules, especially the smaller airlines in Europe. So, to save you from having to do the same research, here is the results of our research. What you will see is a summary of several airlines rules followed by a summary of luggage that you own then a table showing examples of replacement carry-on luggage. I deleted the specifics of my luggage to leave you space to print out this article and to enter your info so that you can do your own survey. Click here for more on Packing Light.

American Airlines

Type of Bag

Size

Weight
Checked Bag Max of 62” HWD 50#
Carry On Max of 45” 22x14x9 40#
Personal Bag Max of 36”

British Airways

Type of Bag

Size

Weight
Checked Bag Max of 35.5×29.5×16 50# or 23kg
Carry On 22x18x10 or a total of 50” 50# or 23kg
Personal Bag 16x12x6 or a total of 34”  50# or 23kg

Veuling Airlines

Type of Bag

Size

Weight
Checked Bag Max of 62” HWD 50# or 23kg
Carry On 21.65×15.78×7.87 22# or 10kg for carry on and personal bags combined.
Personal Bag purse/briefcase/laptop

As of January 2018, Ryanair’s cabin baggage policy will change. Only priority boarding passengers will be permitted to take one small bag (35 x 20 x 20cm), plus a larger cabin bag (55 x 40 x 20cm) with a maximum weight allowance of 10kg into the cabin.

Alaska Airlines

Type of Bag

Size

Weight
Checked Bag Max of 62” HWD 50#
Carry On 24x17x10=51” 25#
Personal Bag purse/briefcase/laptop/daypack

 

Fill in Your Currently Used Wheeled & Non Wheeled Bags
Description of Bag Size in Height, Width and Depth  Total Size

 

Convertible Backpack Style Carry-on Bags

Name

Size

Weight

Wheels

Price
eBags eTech 2.0 Weekender- *3091 cubic inches 22x14x9 2#12oz No $75
eBags Motherlode Weekender Expandable-*3299 to 3651 22x14x9 4# No $80
Rick Steves Classic Back Door Bag *2500 cubic inches 21x14x9 3# No $80
Rick Steves Convertible Carry On (expandable)*2500-3000 21x14x9 3# No $100
Rick Steves Rolling Backpack *1960 cubic inches 20x14x7 5.5# Yes $160
Eagle Creek EC Weekender *2500 cubic inches 20x13x8 2#9oz No $150
 *The numbers above with the asterisk is advertised cubic inches of space within the suitcase.

You should know that if you go for wheels, you will give up about 20% of the total carrying capacity.  Also, most airlines have a restriction on how long wheeled bags can be for carry-on purposes because the wheels stick out beyond the end of the bag. EBags have lifetime warranty. They also have shoulder strap at no extra cost. It is $10 extra for Rick Steves Bags. Eagle Creek has a “no excuses” warranty. External compression straps cover bottom half of case with Rick Steves bags and the whole bag with eBags. This last item is important if you are trying to squash the bag down to fit in the overhead. Prices were online prices in March 2014.

After watching the webinars and doing the reading and re-thinking what I really needed to bring on my trip, it was time to decide to either stay with my existing roller type carry-on or buy a new convertible carry-on.  I bit the bullet and bought the convertible carry-on because I knew that it would be much easier when we were on and off the metro trains.

But, will it all really fit like they showed on the videos?  It was time to pack my carry-on suitcase to verify what I had learned. I also wanted to see how wrinkled everything got when things were scrunched down with the compression straps. So, I decided to try out the packing method showed on the Packing Light video. I was able to pack 4 pants, 7 shirts, 1 sport coat, 7 sets of underwear, my DOP kit and a few other items. Total weight was only 20 pounds, including the carry-on bag. I did not put in an extra pair of shoes or sox, but I will probably put the DOP kit in my personal bag and replace it with the shoes and sox and the weight will be about the same. Now I need to follow the advise on Rick Steves’ website and go downtown and walk around for a while. Better yet, take the bus or the metro to town, do some window shopping and come home. I bet I will be taking out some things when I get home.

I will get back with you after I take a test run with the new bag.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Your Personal First Aid Kit — Over-the-Counter Meds

meds

You are on vacation, in a foreign country, enjoying a walking tour of a new city. You grabbed a quick and tasty lunch from a sidewalk vendor. But, as the afternoon progresses, you feel the onset of an upset stomach and you just know that you will soon be dealing with a bad case of diarrhea! Your dream vacation is quickly turning into the vacation from you-know-where.

If you were at home, you might just call your doctor; but more-than-likely, you would just go to the medicine cabinet or run down to the local pharmacy and buy an over-the-counter remedy such as Pepto-Bismol to deal with the problem. Even if you were traveling in the US, you would still feel comfortable dealing with the problem. Of course, if the symptoms persisted, you would surely call your doctor.

But, you are not in the US. You are in Mexico or Germany or France, etc…  You cannot read or speak the language other than to say, “¿Dónde está el baño, por favor?” or “Wo ist die Toilette, bitte?” or “Où est la toilette, s’il vous plaît?”.

Did you bring your trusted over-the-counter meds with you on this trip? If not, do you know how to find something locally to take care of your problem? Does your travel first aid kit contain something besides bandaids, Neosporin or Bactine and your favorite sun block to keep from getting a sun burn?

For our discussion today, I will only be discussing how you might be better prepared to deal with common problems that you have always treated with available over-the-counter meds. I am not a doctor and I am not giving medical advice; just sharing some common sense thoughts with you. I am just reminding you that in addition to the prescription drugs that you are sure to bring on your trip, in the original containers with the prescription info label still intact, have you thought about how you will deal with life’s daily problems of cuts, bruises, insect bites, sunburn, headaches, sleepless nights, or nausea, because it may be very difficult to find what you need in Timbucktu.

Before I get completely into this discussion, please keep a few very important things in mind.

 

  1. Have you used these meds at home? Being on vacation in a foreign country is not the time or place to be trying out something new. I am sure you have seen the commercials on TV about this new drug or that new drug. You know what I mean. The one that says it will cure your depression, but the side effects are thoughts of suicide, etc… Over-the-counter drugs can have side effects too. Many of the anti-itch preparations can cause contact dermatitis which can be worse that the itching you started with. If you have not tried it at home, don’t take it on the trip. An allergic reaction could be much worse than your original problem.
  2. Have you read the labels of your commonly used over-the-counter drugs? It is too easy to overdose on something if you take more than one medication for what may appear to be two different symptoms.

 

For example, let’s say that it is the end of a very long day of viewing the tulips and all the other beautiful flowers at Keukenhof Gardens in Amsterdam.  You are developing a slight rash on your arm where you brushed up against some prickly plants earlier in the day, you have a splitting head ache, maybe from the wine at dinner, compounded by your allergies to all the pollen at the Gardens.

2013-05-13 11.09.06

 

You rub on some generic anti-itch cream to stop the itching. Now, all you really want to do is to take a Benadryl for your allergy symptoms and get some sleep so you will quit scratching your arm. You take a couple of Generic Tylenol PM and go off to bed.

Guess what, you just took three doses of the same medication.  You took a 25mg capsule of Benadryl for the allergy symptoms. You also rubbed the same thing on the hives on your arm with the anti-itch cream. Your anti-itch cream contains as it’s active ingredient, Diphenhydramine Hydrocloride.  That is Benadryl, too. And, if that is not enough, you should know that the sleep aid in the Tylenol PM is another 25mg of Benadryl in each caplet. If you had read the package for any of the three products, they all say that they contain Diphenhydramine Hydrocloride and that you should not use it if you are taking any other product that contains the same ingredient, topically or orally.

Now that you know that generic Tylenol PM contains Benadryl, maybe you don’t even need to bring the generic Tylenol PM along on the trip. If you are already packing Benadryl and generic Tylenol, you are all set.

Before I leave the topic of Benadryl, keep in mind that in Amsterdam it may still be considered a controlled substance. Many countries have different rules on drugs than we do in the USA. Check with your doctor to be sure you can take it with you.

So, rather than to tell you what you should bring along, I will talk about what I bring along when I travel.

As you might have guessed, I always travel with Pepto-Bismol. I take the caplets rather than the liquid or chewables. Of course, I always have Excedrin and Tylenol or generic replacements.

101_0694

Catching a cold or dealing with allergies when you are on vacation is a real pain in the back side, so I always bring along the meds I am used to using.

101_0697

Based upon the second scenario above, you could also guess that I bring along Benadryl or a generic copy of it and the anti itch Benadryl cream.

101_0693
101_0690

I usually carry two types of anti-itch cream. One is the Benadryl cream above and the other will be the Hydrocortizone cream such as Cortizone 10 in the photo below.  In Europe, I found that you can only get a 0.5% cortisone cream over-the-counter, but here in the US, it is a 1% cream. Below you will see what we picked up in Germany and France as well as the US brand that we usually bring.

101_0689

If you don’t use Cortizone or Benadryl creams, maybe you use the aloe vera products. Here is what I bring along, especially if I am going to be enjoying time in the sun. I find that I want to have some aloe gel after a long day in the sun or wind.

With that background in mind, what do you look for when you are in a foreign country and you didn’t bring along your personal over-the-counter first aid kit?  Well, first of all, if you are still in Amsterdam suffering from allergies, forget about finding Benadryl in the local pharmacy as an over-the-counter medication. I read recently that you cannot get it without a doctor’s prescription. You can buy pot over-the-counter in Amsterdam, but not Benadryl. You will need to ask for a generic antihistamine for your allergy problem.

Fortunately for you, most pharmacies have someone working there who can speak a little English so you can still go in and ask for an antihistamine, or a cold medicine or an allergy medicine.  I have no idea about what you will get, but it won’t be what you are used to taking. The best plan here would be to have brought some along on the trip.  I have read that in parts of Europe you might ask for or look for Benocten or Nautamine as a substitute, but I suggest that you ask your personal physician about these products to make sure.

The best solution is to have planned ahead. I would always recommend that before you travel you set up an appointment with your doctor.  Tell your doctor what you take in the way of over-the-counter meds and ask for recommendations for similar products in the countries where you will be traveling.  As noted above, make sure you know the active ingredients on the products you use and I would suggest that you even write them down so that you can share that info with a pharmacy if it is necessary. There is also a website that you can use, http://www.drugs.com/international/ that will allow you to type in the name of the medicine you are looking for and will provide info about what to look for in another country.

When you meet with your personal doctor to make sure that you are up-to-date with any needed shots; he may refer you to the Travel Clinic in the hospital. You can download a list of required shots from the Department of State website for the countries you will be visiting.

I would also make sure to get my doctor’s phone number and email address so that I could make contact if necessary.  It is amazing how easy it is to take a photo, of the hives for example, and email it directly to your doctor so that he or she can see what you are dealing with when you make contact from your smart phone while on vacation in Germany or France or wherever you are visiting.

The bottom line here is to plan ahead. Do your homework so that you really know what over-the-counter meds you are currently taking so that you can determine if there are generic equivalents available and exactly what is in each of them. Yes, I know that the names of the drugs are long, complicated and difficult to say, but they are easy enough to write out so that you can see if you are accidentally putting yourself into an overdose situation by taking what you thought were safe over-the-counter meds. They may have been safe when taken individually, but in combination, there could be issues.

One final comment about medical issues while traveling abroad. If you are on a cruise, and you have a medical issue that causes you to break out in hives or some other malady so that you look like you may be contagious and you could infect the rest of the passengers, don’t be surprised if they confine you and your family to your cabin and ultimately put you off the boat in the next port and refuse to let you back on.

Did you check to see if your medical insurance covered you while in a foreign country? Probably not. Most of us don’t think to do that. Can you just imagine being in that situation?

Here you are, stranded in a foreign country, you don’t speak the language, you are ill, don’t know how to find a doctor or hospital. You don’t have any extra money to cover your hospital or medical expenses or a hotel room and meals for the rest of the family. Hopefully, you did buy trip insurance that will cover your medical issues in a foreign country as well as get you back home when you have recovered.  Think about that the next time your travel agent asks you if you want to buy trip insurance. If you don’t have an extra few thousand dollars in the bank, you could be up the creek without the paddle.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Before and After the Cruise–Do it Yourself or Buy a Packaged Deal

the-bridge-in-lucerne-photo

No matter what kind of cruise you plan to take, it is always a great idea to plan to arrive in port at least a day early to get over any jet lag and to make sure that a flight delay won’t cause you to miss your ship.

Once you accept the need for the early arrival, you now need to consider arriving a couple of days early so that you can take in the sights of the port city. Sort of a mini vacation before you start your cruise.

Do you want to do this on your own, or do you want to be fully pampered? If you do it on your own, you will have to take care of your airline reservations, your transfers (taxi or shuttle) to your hotel, and the subsequent transfers to the ship the following day or even a couple of days later.  You also need to make sure that all of this time is covered by your travel insurance so that any problems won’t come out of your pocket.

The same set of issues come up at the other end of your cruise, but remember that the larger the ship the more time it will take to clear the ship and head to the airport. All of that adds stress that you just went on vacation to relieve. I would suggest that you really make the best of your vacation and add a little time to each end of your cruise so that you can enjoy each port and so that you can leisurely arrive at the ship and so that you can leisurely disembark as well.

The real question is – do you want to plan all of this yourself or do you want to let the cruise line take care of it all? Generally, it may be a little cheaper to do it yourself, but it will be a lot easier to let the cruise line do it all.

Quite often, many cruise lines, especially if you are cruising in Europe, will give you special prices on airfare if purchased with your cruise, and they will arrange that airfare to fit around your before or after cruise stay in the port city. They will also take care of all transfers of luggage from the ship to your port city hotel. Additionally, they will be able to set up shore excursions in your port cities so that you will be able to see the local sites.

If that is not enough, the better companies, such as Viking Cruse Lines, will have someone there to meet you and to lead you through the process and they will also be available at your hotel should you encounter any issues. Although, more for the adventure and the experience of doing it the hard way, I booked all of my before and after cruise activities myself for our most recent European vacation, my neck and back still aches from lugging the suitcases from the ship to trams to trains to hotel rooms.

The next time, I will follow the lead of my friends on our Viking Romantic Rhine River Cruise and let them handle all the work. If you are less adventurous or if you don’t really want to have to lug your suitcases around as you go from air travel to train travel to subways or taxis, etc… I would suggest that you opt for the cruise line’s before and after the cruise offerings.

Friends that we met on the cruise did both and we have exchanged emails since returning home and they had nothing but wonderful compliments to Viking River Cruises for their experiences before and after the cruise.

For example, most our recent cruise, the Romantic Rhine River Cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, was with Viking River Cruises.  They provide a 2-night Lucerne package for $599 per person and a 2-night Amsterdam package for $499 per person. They provide all transfers from airport to hotel to ship and from ship to hotel then to airport on the other end. They also provide something that is very important: a real live meet and greet person wearing a Viking River Cruises red jacket and signs so that it will be easy for you to connect with them. All you need to worry about is your carry-on and going through customs. They will walk you through everything else.  They have also set up excursions at each end of the cruise as well. Visit the world-renowned museums featuring works by the Dutch Masters in Amsterdam and explore the traditional Swiss town along the banks of Lake Lucerne with its dramatic Alpine backdrop.

Best of all, is that with Viking River Cruises they regularly offer 2 for 1 pricing on their cruises; and they also provide discounts for air fare on the all-inclusive trips. You will also find that they include beer and wine with lunch and dinner without any additional cost and they provide excursions in each port, also without any additional costs to you.  If you did not see enough with the provided excursions, they do provide additional excursions at some ports at an reasonable additional cost.

For more information about their cruises, please spend some time on our website at www.TeamEdwardsTravel.com to look at the videos. Then, click the banner and it will take you to the Viking River Cruises website where you will find more information about their cruises. We will be happy to make your reservations for you.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Planning The Trip of a Lifetime, A European River Cruise

Viking-River-Cruises-Logo

Have you ever dreamed of taking a European River Cruise? You see them advertised on TV more and more these days.  We have been on large ocean cruises, but wondered what it would be like to take a river cruise.

I did my homework and finally decided that my wife and I would have a wonderful time celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary on a Romantic Rhine River Cruise. I checked out all of the various companies that cruise this waterway looking for the one that I thought would best meet our needs. I also talked with friends who have taken river cruises and was not surprised that they all had their favorite cruise lines. Some recommended Viking, some AMA Waterways and some Avalon.

We got more recommendations for Viking than the others combined. I then went to several seminars at our local travel agency office that were put on by the river cruise companies before finally deciding to book our trip of a lifetime on Viking River Cruises. Of course, making that decision was the easy part.

Now, we had to decide what we really wanted to see,  when was the best time to go to see these sights, how much time we wanted to travel, if we wanted to do a before and or after cruise add-on that we could purchase from the cruise company, which airline, etc…  The other things to plan ahead were train tickets, having Swiss Francs and Euros in our pocket before the trip, and of course, learning about the tram or subway systems in the cities we planned to visit. It was almost getting to be too many things to think about, but as they always said when I was a Boy Scout,  “Be Prepared”; so I always plan ahead.

Our other consideration was that if we were going to spend the dollars to fly that far, we were going to get more out of the trip, so we planned for three days in Zurich before the cruise to deal with jetlag and then three days in Amsterdam so that we could visit Keukenhof Gardens and see the sights. We added 5 days in Paris to really make it a trip of a lifetime. So, back to the first question. What did we really want to see?  I love flowers and gardens, so I wanted to see the Keukenhof Gardens in Amsterdam.  And, my wife wanted to go back and taste a real Belgium waffle. So, of course I included that in our itinerary!

After doing my homework, we decided that we needed to be in Amsterdam there before Mother’s Day if there was a late spring, and a week or two earlier if it was an early spring. The next thing was to decide to utilize the cruise line’s before and/or after cruise offerings. Since we wanted to have a less structured trip, other than the cruise, we chose to put together our own before and after cruise itinerary.

If you are less adventurous or if you don’t really want to have to lug your suitcases around as you go from air travel to train travel to subways or taxis, etc… I would suggest that you opt for the cruiseline’s before and after the cruise offerings. Friends that we met on the cruise did both and we have exchanged emails since returning home and they had nothing but wonderful compliments to Viking Cruises for their experiences before and after the cruise.

We booked the cruise from Basel to Amsterdam, which meant that we would fly in to Zurich, Switzerland and spend a couple days there seeing the sights and getting over jetlag.  We then made our way to Basel on the train to start the cruise.

Also, since I did not want to have to carry 3 weeks worth of clothes, during the planning process I found a laundromat in an area of Amsterdam that we wanted to explore, then booked a hotel in that same neighborhood. We really wanted to stay in local hotels rather than in the big hotels for a better feel of the local area. Upon our arrival in Amsterdam, we disembarked and walked to the hotel. After dropping off most of our luggage at the hotel, we took one suitcase full of dirty clothes to the laundromat.

We were pleasantly surprised when we found that it was also a full service laundry. We left our dirty clothes and enjoyed lunch and a walking tour of Amsterdam, and picked up clean clothes for the rest of the trip later in the afternoon. After three wonderful days in Amsterdam, we caught the high speed train to Paris. What a wonderful way to travel! Since we made sure to visit the Centraal Station before it was time to leave, we knew exactly where to go to catch our train to Paris.

We had reserved seats so it was as easy as flying – other than putting our own luggage on the train. We arrived in Paris and took the B2 line south to the subway that took us to our hotel. We stayed in a cute 1 bedroom apartment near the Grinnel train station. Again, another smaller hotel that also had apartments in a nice neighborhood close to a farmers’ market. We chose this location because there were 3 trains that used that terminal, so we could go almost everywhere from there.

We spent 5 days seeing the sights in Paris before reversing directions, taking the B3 train to the airport to fly home.

While you are in the process of planning your trip of a lifetime, or any expensive trip, make sure to get travel insurance and do at the beginning, the day you pay your deposit for your trip.  Why, because the insurance will cover you for pre-existing conditions if you do it at the initial booking stage. If you wait to do it just before you leave, and a medical issue causes you to cancel, you won’t get your money back if it was a pre-existing condition.  Some of us are getting up in years and you don’t want a health issue to rob you of the trip along with the money you already spent. It would be bad enough to have to cancel the trip, but to lose all that money too, that would really hurt.

One of the great planning tools that you should use is the availability of videos of your travel destinations. I went online on my Blockbuster account to search out travel videos. Hard to find because they are included under a separate category. (Yes, I know that you cannot use Blockbuster anymore) I also searched my Amazon Prime Account. If you look in the index you won’t find Travel videos there either; but if you search “Documentaries” you will find the travel videos hiding there. For Paris, we viewed the following videos: Cities of the World, Paris, France and Modern Times Wonders, Tour D’Eiffel and Burt Wolf’s France. Finally, for France, we viewed these last videos:  The Greatest Journeys on Earth, France, The Journeys of the Sun King, On Tour… BLUE DANUBE CRUISE WACHAU A Journey Through The Middle Ages and Paris France, The City Of Magic: A Dream Vacation Tour.  We also viewed the Burt Wolf; The Rhine and The Danube, and the Burt Wolf; Holland and Belgium. Yes, I do know that the Danube is a different river, but I was thinking ahead to the next river cruise.

In the next several blogs, we will share more about our trip and what we learned along the way. Hopefully, you will be able to learn from our mistakes so that your trips will be trouble-free!

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, Off To The Airport In The Morning

Norwegian Pearl Photo

It is Friday, April 13th. I catch my flight to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning, but I am not worried at all.  I followed my check list and I am ready to go.

ONE WAKE-UP AND I AM ON MY WAY!!!

A year’s worth of planning and it is almost time to take our cruise of a lifetime.

I guess I better get my checklist out and go over everything one last time..

  • Finalize packing, check!
  • Confirm flight times and print out boarding passes, check!
  • Confirm shuttle service, check!
  • Confirm hotel reservations, check!
  • Make sure to put your passports, confirmation paperwork and cruise docs in carry-on, check!
  • Set alarm and go to sleep.

I am still wondering about staying in touch.  I have read everything that I can find, but I still wonder.  I know that we will purchase a package of minutes of computer time so that we can stay in touch. Don’t expect my cell phone to work as anything but a camera until we make it to Puerto Vallarta.  I have put everything that I need to have handy in my carry-on bag: Tickets, passports, confirmations, cruise docs, money, meds, cameras, books, e-reader, chargers, etc…

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

Panama Canal Cruise, 15 Days Before Departure

Norwegian Pearl Photo

Today’s email from Norwegian Cruise Lines, “Two weeks to go. Start packing your excitement!”

TWO WEEKS LEFT!!!

I cannot believe that we only have two weeks to go before we take our cruise of a lifetime.

I guess I better get my checklist out and go over everything to make sure we are ready.

  • Go over the cruise docs again, check!
  • Get the luggage tags ready, check!
  • Start packing, check!

Since I am still working, a little, I need to make sure to get everything organized for my friend, so that she can take care of business for us while we are gone. I will probably spend the next week or so doing that. I also need to notify clients so that they know who to call, if they need assistance.  Wow, so much to do, maybe I should have started earlier.

I think I will log on and book some more dinners and excursions.  Don’t want to miss out on any fun.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel