Made it home after a long day of travelling. Up at 4am and home by 7pm CST. (20 hour trip). Glad to be in my own bed. Seems like jet lag is worse coming home than going. I guess that is a good thing. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are headed to Italy on Thursday for a two week tour. I’ve been sharing tips on what has worked for me, so I thought it was easier to write them here.
General Info, Tips and Links
- Use ATM for cash (don’t bother bringing US dollars to exchange – you will get ripped off).
- Travel light. One small backpack and a small suitcase. Can you easily carry your suitcase up and down 20 – 30 steps?
- Bring 2 pairs of comfortable shoes (three if you plan on going to someplace like Greece to swim where the beaches are rocky).
- Consolidate your electronics – bring a convertor, cables for all your goodies. Bring headphones (including one of those two pronged adapter for the airplanes). USair actually charges $5 for their headphones. I brought a thumb drive to transfer pictures from my camera as a backup and for when the camera card filled up.
- I had purchased a Nook (ebook reader) from B&N before I left thinking I didn’t want to carry too many travel books. The idea was good but it was one more electronic thing to charge and carry around and for me doesn’t have enough functionality to justify the cost and the weight. An iPad or table would have been more useful. And I was able to use my phone to listen to podcasts, read books I’d purchased with BN app and sneak pictures in museums with the phone camera. Took the Nook back (or Bill did).
- If you have a smartphone, download Rick Steve’s podcasts for various European cities and buy ebooks from Amazon or Barnes and Nobles to view on your phone. Install Skype on your phone and load some $ on your account. Make calls to the US (with wifi) for 2 cents a minute. Turn your phone on “airplane mode”. I also use Dropbox to save documents I will need to read during the trip. Internet not required if you have viewed and downloaded documents at least once. Another useful phone app is TripIt where I recorded all the details of the itinerary (plane, hotel and other plans). Only thing is that flight changes are not updated with the free version of Tripit.
- I decided to leave my heavy Canon Digital SLR at home. It takes up too much room in my backpack. I splurged on a Nikon Coolpix P500 based on a casual recommendation from a neighbor a few days before my trip. It has 36X zoom and has some museum settings that lighten dark subjects without using the flash. Overall I’m very happy with the pictures from this camera and it isn’t heavy or very large. But it is much better than the palm sized point and shoot cameras.
- Bring along some books that take place in the countries and cities that you are traveling to. It gives you insight into the culture and history. I read Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy in Italy which took place during the time of Florence and Venice’s heyday. I saw many of the masterpieces that were described in the book. Italy was filled with bookstores with good selection of English. Greece not so much.
- Buy good maps in each city.
- Do your homework on where you want to go. Many museums in Italy require advance reservations.
- Do a couple of tours on the trip. But not at every sight.
- Figure out how to use public transportation. Then spend the money you save on tours and meals out. It’s easier to take the bus when you are leaving a city that you have become familiar with then when you first arrive.
- Take a money belt and keep it in your pants. I didn’t see or run into any pickpockets but everyone said to be aware.
- Look for restaurants that don’t have a “tourist” menu/meal at a fixed price. Locals don’t eat at those places.
- Learn some basic words in the language of your host country. You will need it and the locals will appreciate your efforts.
Links
www.yourfriendinitaly.com – helpful travel consultant for Italy
www.slowtravel.com – lots of good info for independent travel in Europe