Taking the Low Road

BE NOSY. Things aren’t always as buttoned up as they might appear. Sometimes they’re open – and free. I love being nosy, since I’m especially good at it. I’ve spent much of my travel time trying seemingly locked doors, knocking on wall panels, opening closets, sneaking a peak around corners – in general – just [...]

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KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR BROWN-AND-WHITE SIGNS. As in the US, there does seem to be some consistency in signposting government-owned or sponsored tourist destinations in these colors. You’ll be surprised how fast your reticular activating system will catch on; you’ll be an expert at spotting brown-and-white signs, no matter how small, by the time [...]

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STREETS CHANGE NAMES. If you live on our East Coast in an older city or town that sort of evolved higgledy-piggledy over the two or three centuries of our nation’s brief history, then you’re already accustomed to this. We live in the West, where most towns were carefully platted in nice, neat squares. Newly annexed [...]

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SKIP THE GLITZY TOUR BOOKS. Almost every great house and castle worth its salt has compiled a rather impressive, glossy, full-color booklet for which they charge the equivalent of a US hardback book. While you’re there, under the spell of that magical place, it’s hard to resist the temptation to buy one of these marketing [...]

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BUY NO GIFTS. What?! No gifts for Sis . . . Mom . . . the kids. . . the grandkids?? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Again, this is a lesson hard-learned. During our first two trips, we agonized over what to get various family members. In fact, I’d be embarrassed to tell you [...]

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LIMIT EACH TRAVELER TO THE AMOUNT OF LUGGAGE HE/SHE CAN EASILY CARRY. For us, it’s two pieces each, period. A 22” x 14 x 9” main piece of luggage that, on international flights, could be carried on if we chose. But we don’t. We each wheel that sucker up to the luggage check-in and let the [...]

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TAKE A LITTLE LAUNDRY SOAP AND BE PREPARED TO DO HAND LAUNDRY. Here’s where I can get on a tear if I don’t watch myself. For reasons unfathomable to me, washers and dryers in the UK (and in all of Europe, from what I can tell), are absolutely pathetic. No matter how you slice it, [...]

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PACK WHAT YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT FOR TWO DAYS IN YOUR CARRY-ON. This isn’t new information if you’ve done much traveling anywhere, but it’s particularly applicable to foreign travel. There’s just no accounting for where luggage ends up sometimes. There’s also no accounting for why it takes so long to catch up with you. There’s [...]

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PACK ALL THE TOILETRIES YOU’LL NEED. This sounds more nitpicky than it actually is. I’m well aware that Rick Steves claims buying toiletries in a foreign country can be “fun.” I’d just like to point out that fun is a relative term and in this rare instance, Rick and I must part company. Here’s my [...]

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THINK OF FOOD PREP AS PART OF THE ADVENTURE. I know what you’re thinking. “Fix food on my vacation?? Not a chance, sister!” Hey, I’m with you. In fact, I can beat you at the non-cooking gig. As a rule, the kitchen is not the room where I hang out. In my early Mom Years (pre-desktop [...]

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JOIN A HOME EXCHANGE PROGRAM – OR SOMETHING SIMILAR. I just happened to learn about a home exchange through a two-paragraph article in Scottish Life Magazine, way back in 1997. (Incidentally, Scottish Life has given me my “hit list” for sites to see on every one of our trips.) When I contacted the exchange coordinator [...]

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Here’s the disclaimer right up front. My husband and I have traveled in the British Isles for a total of 20 weeks. Our tips our strictly our tips; they’re what we learned – sometimes the hard way – from our driving experiences. They’re not a compilation of anything we’ve read in any tour guide or friends’ [...]

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