Now that we have done the extra research about Real ID, it is time to double check our passports to make sure that we have at least 6 months on our passports beyond the time we will be traveling and that we have at least 2 empty pages for passport stamps and visa stamps for each country that we are visiting. Along those same lines, since we are headed to Kenya and Tanzania, we need to go online to order our mulit-visit visa for Kenya.

We will not be getting our Tanzania visa before we leave home. We don’t want to send them our passports and hope we get them back. Also, there is more than one type of visa to visit Tanzania. There is one for people who are transiting the country. At the time of this writing, that is about $30. For those who are visiting Tanzania, the fee is about $100. Also, they want newer, clean, crisp $20 dollar bills, or in the case of the transit visa, a couple of $5 dollar bills to go with your $20. Also, if you are with a guide, they won’t believe that you are transiting the country so make sure to have the $100 in clean cash.

Another thing to think about when we discuss getting a visa. For many years, most countries listed the United States on a short list of countries that did not have to apply for a visa to visit that country. Things are changing. Many countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, now require us to apply online for an ETA. An Electronic Travel Authority. You need to do this before you leave home, so don’t forget to check the countries you are visiting to make sure you are good to go.

While waiting for the visa and your eta’s, it is time to get started on shots. Some countries require you to have your shot card with you as well as a document from your doctor that shows you have received certain shots, such as a yellow fever shot, depending on which country you are visiting or have visited in the recent past.

When we went a couple of years ago, we had to get a series of shots, some before the trip and a final one after we got home. So, I called Kaiser to set the appointment with the Travel Nurse to discuss what shots and meds that we may need for our trip.

Don’t forget that you need to consider the re-entry process when we return to the U.S. The first choice for many people would be to get the Global Entry paperwork done before hand, but for us that means going to San Francisco to do the interview. A pain in the back side. Also, after you fill out the documents and paying the fee, you can still end up waiting months before you get your conditional approval. We applied in May for an October trip. Still no joy and it is already September.

After you get the conditional approval, you need to sign up for the interview. Unfortunately, it could be several more months before you can go in for your interview. If you have your conditional approval, you can get an interview on the fly if you return from an international trip and land at one of the several dozen airports that allow it, you can do your interview there after you disembark. When landing in an international terminal follow the signage directing you to CBP officers who can complete your Global Entry interview during your admissibility inspection. Click here for info on that process.

Also, since our Pre-Check was expiring, we had to renew it because of the long delay in getting Global Entry.

The second option is using the app on your phone called Mobile Passport. We continue to use this second option while we wait for the government to get back to us.

One final thing to think about is that because child trafficking is a huge problem around the world, many governments are also requiring you to have your child’s birth certificate, along with passports. Better to be safe than sorry, carry a legal copy of your child’s birth certificate when you travel.

———————————————————————-

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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

They want to know if they need an adapter or a converter.

Let’s start with basics. In the USA, we use 110 volt AC appliances, except for electric ranges, electric water heaters and electric heating and air conditioning systems. Those use 220 volts AC.

In most of the rest of the world, they use 220 volt AC appliances.  I should also point out that AC stands for Alternating Current.

Our cars and most electronics use DC or direct current but you don’t need to worry about that. Why, because when we charge our electronics we use a USB plug or a plug with a built in converter that will convert either 110 volt AC current or 220 volt AC current to the appropriate DC voltage for our phones, cameras, tablets or our laptop computers.

With that background, lets move on to talk about adapters vs. converters.

An adapter is a device that allows you to plug your American appliance or charger into a foreign plug. A converter, converts the electricity coming out of the wall from 220 volts to 110 volts.  Newer adapters do have a limited converter to convert the 220 volts AC to the 5 volt DC voltage for the USB outlets.

As an aside, none of the adapters shown in this article will work in South Africa or Swaziland. If you are going to South Africa, make sure to pick up the appropriate adapter for that country. They use a type M plug down there. You can order type M adapters from Amazon.

This is an old travel hair dryer with a small round switch that allows you to use it with either 110 or 220 volt systems.

Back to the discussion of the need for adaptors or converters.

In most hotels and cruise ships, they have a 110 volt circuit in the bathroom for an electric shaver. Don’t plug your hair dryer into that slot. Many cruise ships don’t even want you to bring along a blow dryer or a flat iron for pressing your clothes. They tend to overload their circuits. Facilities that are set up to handle the electrical load, generally provide blow dryers in the cabin or the hotel room. It may not be the one you are used to using, but it will do in a pinch.

Don’t plug your hair dryer into an adapter either, unless you have a hair dryer with a switch that will move it from 110 volts to 220 volts. You will burn it up. As for your curling iron or blow dryer, since you could not leave home without it, why not just buy one from a store in Budapest when you arrive. You can get one for about 20 Euros. Then you won’t need to use one of your adapters.

If you need a converter you have dozens of options. Here is a link to one, and

here is another option that you can get on Amazon.

Most of us don’t carry converters any more. We just carry adapters for the country we will be visiting. I always carry more than one so that my wife can plug her phone or tablet, etc. in on her side of the bed and I can plug mine in on my side of the bed.

Just make sure to pick them up from Amazon or your favorite retailer before you leave home. You know your battery will be dead when you arrive unless you remembered that on most international flights that there are generally 110 outlets or USB outlets in the plane. Sometimes they are under the seat, so that you can keep your device charged up. If you don’t already have transportation waiting for you at the airport, you will want to use your phone to order up Uber or Lyft to get you to your hotel.  You did remember to order an international plan for your phone before you left home, didn’t you??? Go to the Tips page for more tips.

———————————————————————-

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

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!

]]> https://jackstraveltips.com/adapters-vs-converters/feed/ 0 2450 https://jackstraveltips.com/budapest/ https://jackstraveltips.com/budapest/#comments Fri, 25 Aug 2017 18:49:06 +0000 https://jackstraveltips.com/?p=2443 Budapest, Hungary

Why do YOU want to go to Budapest? I have been there and I know that it is a wonderful city to visit. Plenty to see and do. Very friendly people. But unless you are an avid traveler, most people don’t have Budapest on their list. Yes, they have Paris, or London, or Lisbon, or Madrid, or Rome…

I will admit that, although I heard great things about Budapest, the reason that we traveled there was to take a Viking River Cruise from Budapest to Passau.  That cruise is called “The Danube Waltz”.  They have a similar cruise, called The Romantic Danube that goes between Budapest and Nuremburg. Viking River Cruises has several trips that start or stop in Budapest, but I really liked the Danube Waltz because of the interesting stops along the way. It looked to be a great itinerary, and it was.

Whenever we book a trip like a river cruise, we don’t want to worry about missing the boat, so we plan for a couple of extra days to decompress, make up for missed connections, and to even get some time to visit a new destination. The other part of our planning involves getting our phones ready. That means adding the international plan on both my phone and my wife’s phone. Making sure that I have the apps that I want to be able to use. For example, we want to have Gate Guru, Uber, Delta or the particular airline we are using, Tripit, Viator, Big Bus Tours, Rick Steves audio tours, and the metro app for the cities we are visiting. I also want to have Google Earth or something with a great street view that works on my phone. As I noted above, both phones are set up because one will not work. At the airport in Budapest, mine did not work, so we used my wife’s phone to order up the Uber driver to get us to our hotel.

The other thing I do in preparation, is to use the street view on Google maps to “walk the streets” in my destination city so that I know the area. I also look at the routing from the airport to the hotel so that I know if my Uber or taxi driver is actually taking me to my chosen destination by the shortest route. If there are any videos available online I will watch them before we go as well.  I also look for Delicious Destinations for info on the great restaurants in the city.  I especially like Wolters World videos. I will also check out their facebook page as well to ask questions about the destination. Another one that I like to view is Rick Steves. I have their current travel guides for the places that I plan to visit. I also have watched every video that he has published. And as noted above, if he has a walking tour for a city that I am visiting, I will have it on my phone as well.

Now, if you are not a real seasoned traveler, you may not want to go it alone and you may want a complete package in place before you leave home.  If I am taking a river cruise, I always use Viking River Cruises and they will put the whole trip together for you. That includes airfare, transfers from the airport to your hotel or the cruise boat you are traveling on, and back to the airport to home. All you really need to do is get to your local airport and get from there back home. Viking will do the rest. Their people will be waiting at your destination with their red signs directing you to the bus that will take you to your boat. Nothing could be easier. Also, if you are like me and want a little down time before the cruise, they have pre-cruise additions that will give you that opportunity. A great way to see the city before you start the cruise. They are also flexible enough if you want to do your own thing before or after the cruise. There is a small fee for that and you will have to handle your own transfers, but with Uber, that is not a problem.

When we did our Danube Waltz cruise, we spent 3 days in Budapest before the cruise, and then 3 days in Saltzburg and 5 days in Vienna after the cruise. They provided the airfare before and after the cruise so all we had to do was make sure that we arranged for Uber to get to our hotel in Budapest before the cruise and that we got to the airport in Vienna after the cruise.

Now, back to Budapest. We stayed at the Leo Panzio Hotel. A small boutique hotel just down the street from a metro stop. We prefer small hotels over huge hotels that make it look like we are still in the US.  I always make sure that the hotel we use is close to a metro stop as well as a Big Bus stop if they have a tour in the city we are visiting.

In Budapest, everything was in walking distance for us so we didn’t even use the metro. We did take the Big Bus tour and got off and on whenever we wanted to. We also got a dinner cruise on the Danube from Viator so that we were able to fully enjoy the city, day and night.

The list of places to visit in Budapest is more than you will be able to see in 2-3 days, so don’t worry about what you missed. Just plan on visiting again. Maybe take one of the other Viking River cruises. Keep in mind what you will tour with your cruise and plan to see the other sights in town.

Here is what to expect on the cruise; “Today we visit highlights of the once separate towns of Buda and Pest, starting with Pest’s National Opera House and historic Heroes’ Square. In Buda, walk along Castle Hill to Fishermen’s Bastion and Matthias Church. Enjoy lunch aboard your ship, with the rest of the day to explore on your own. You may wish to visit the Art Nouveau Gellért Spa, or one of the many other lavish facilities in this “City of Healing Waters.” Return to your ship for a traditional Hungarian farewell dinner.” With that in mind, I would want to visit the central market, the Citadel, the Parliment Building, and don’t forget to look for the Ronald Reagan statue near Liberty Square.

So much more to share, but I will sign off for now. Time to plan my next trip to Budapest.

———————————————————————-

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

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!

]]> https://jackstraveltips.com/budapest/feed/ 1 2443 https://jackstraveltips.com/how-do-i-decide-where-to-stay/ Sun, 12 Feb 2017 08:05:32 +0000 http://winningisforwinners.com/TeamEdwardsTravel/?p=1908 When I am planning a vacation to a new city, how do I decide where to stay?

I have a checklist that I go through

• Why am I even thinking about staying there?
• What do I want to see there, important points of interest or museums?
• What is available in the way of sightseeing tours on the Viator Website?
• Is it a big city with a Metro System?
• Is there a Big Bus Hop-on/Hop-off Tour Available?
• Is there a Farmer’s Market in the neighborhood?
• How close can I find a Brasserie or Cafè?

One of the first things I do after going over the checklist, is to look at the city on maps.google.com. Why?

1. So that I can see major points of interest.
2. So that I can see the map of the metro system.
3. I want to find where 2 or more metro lines cross so that is easier to travel around the city and get back to my hotel/apartment.
4. So that I can use the little yellow google man to walk up and down the streets.

(As an example, the photo below was captured from Google Maps and has a live link back to the original Google Map. Click on the photo so that you can look at the Google Map. Click on one of the encircled M’s to see the metro lines. You will also be able to see many points of interest on the map.)

(To make it easier for you to navigate around, the photo below, was been captured from Google Maps Street View from the same location of the above map view, and has a live link back to the original Google Map. Click on the photo so that you can look around to get your bearings.)

You can turn around and even move forward and back to get a look at the neighborhood. If you turn all the way around to the right and go up a block on Avenue de la Motte-Picquet you will see a Starbucks on the left. )

Why am I showing you this location? It meets several of the above items on the checklist. At this location, you see the Citadines Apart-hotel in front of you. We are standing under the above ground metro tracks. FYI, there are two other metro tracks below us, underground. To the right, under the tracks, you will find a Farmer’s Market one day a week, and just a few blocks away, on Avenue de Saxe to the right of the Ségue Metro stop, there is another Farmer’s Market on a different day of the week.  Google Maps and Google Street View are great tools to explore a new city.

I always try to walk the streets, with the little yellow Google man, before I actually visit a new city.  Click on the map view in the photo above and it will take you to the actual Google Map view; go to the lower right side of the map and put your cursor over the yellow Google man, Click on him and drag him to the Trocadéro on the other side of La Seine from the Eiffel Tower, drop him on the small square box in the reflecting pool and have a look around.  Try it on your home city or a big city close to you that you have visited and look for points of interest, metro lines, etc…

On a final note, if I do decide to buy a Big Bus hop-on/hop-off tour package, I will buy it on the Viator Website so that I am only dealing with one online vendor for all of my tours and sightseeing packages. If a Big Bus tour package is not available for the city I am visiting, I am sure to find another company that provides that service on the Viator Website.

———————————————————————-

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

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!

]]> 1908 https://jackstraveltips.com/zurich-revisited-a-day-trip-to-zurich/ Wed, 12 Aug 2015 01:33:50 +0000 http://winningisforwinners.com/TeamEdwardsTravel/?p=1889

On our recent trip to South Africa, we arranged for our flight to have a full day stop-over in Zurich, Switzerland.

We did not want to do the long flight from Washington, DC to Johannesburg, South Africa without a reasonable break, so we booked an overnight flight from the U.S. on United to Zurich, followed by a Swiss flight to Johannesburg later that night. If you can get a little sleep on the plane, this is doable. If you cannot sleep on the plane, you will probably be wasted when you arrive in Zurich. If that is the case for you, then you may want to skip this side trip and make use of the transit hotel and day room at the airport. Great for a short nap and a shower before catching your next flight.

While in Zurich, we left our suitcases at the “Left Luggage” counter in Terminal 2 at the airport so that we were unencumbered on our day trip into Zurich. After dropping our luggage, we bought round-trip tickets to town to take the 10 minute train ride from the Zurich airport to downtown Zurich (Zurich Flughafen to Zurich Bahnhofplatz/HB). It is very inexpensive, 6.60 Swiss Francs per person.  If you have never traveled by train in Switzerland, here is a short video showing how to do it.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceggirq4hDE. The only difference is that we would be going from Zurich Flughafen (Zurich Airport) to Zurich HB (The main train station in Zurich).  Here is what the actual train trip looks like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpdAh7wYGuk

From the train station, it is a short walk to the Sihlquai Bus Terminal. We made our way out the side exit on the north side of the train station to Museumstrasse and turned left for a short block, turning right on Sihlquai, then left on Limmitstrasse.

(To make it easier for you to navigate around Zurich, the photo below, has been captured from Google Maps Street View and has a live link back to the original Google Map. Click on the photo so that you can look around to get your bearings.  For example, click on the photo below, turn around, and follow the tracks back toward the main train station in Zurich, then turn around and navigate back so that you are comfortable when you arrive. This is a great tool. I always try to walk the streets before I actually visit a new city.)

I had pre-purchased the 4 hour Zurich City Highlights with Felsenegg Cable Car Ride tour online through Viator. Once we arrived at the bus terminal, I turned in my voucher at the white ticket building for our actual tickets on the bus. We had a few minutes to wait so we just walked across the street and enjoyed hot chocolate and coffee at the little sidewalk tables at the Starbucks on Limmatstrasse.

Our tour took us around Zurich with several stops where we got off the bus to walk through various historic areas with our tour guide.

It was a wonderful tour. We drove beside Lake Zurich, enjoying the wonderful sights. Even stopped for some photos.

After the bus ride beside the lake, we headed to a ferry terminal in the town of  Meilen and took the ferry across Lake Zurich.  Most of us got out of the bus and enjoyed the boat ride across the lake to the town of Horgen.

After that it was a short ride up into the hills overlooking Zurich to the little town of Adliswil where we stopped at the Talstation LAF for the cable car ride to the top of the mountain.

From there, it was a short walk to the Restaurant Felsenegg Horst. Check out the link to the Google map photo spot near the restaurant. What a great view.  

A little more hot chocolate and a pit stop was in order before riding the cable car back to Adliswil where our comfortable coach was waiting.  A short drive later, along the lake, and we were back in downtown Zurich. On our way back into town, we saw some wonderful sidewalk cafes and knew where we were going to have dinner.

We were dropped off at the Sihlquai Bus Terminal and we walked back to the train station and checked the schedule for the train back to the airport.

As planned, we had a couple of hours so we walked up to the Movie Restaurant for dinner. They had great sidewalk seating, good food, and great local beer.

By about 6:40 PM, or so, we were back in the train station for our ride back to the airport. Zurich Bahnhofplatz/HB to Zurich Flughafen. We picked up our suitcases from the Left Luggage counter, paid the small fee for their secure storage, and checked in for our overnight flight to Johannesburg. It was almost time to take a nap and enjoy the flight.

Nothing better than a little day trip to a beautiful city to break up a long flight.

———————————————————————-

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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

As planned, it was a great little side trip and our friends loved it. We got into Paris after a long day and night of flying. We flew from Livingstone, Zambia to Johannesburg, South Africa, and then an overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany followed by a short hop to Paris. Whew! (Here’s a tip – try and sleep on the plane!) We arrived at Charles de Gaule airport at about 10:00AM and took the RER train into Gare du Nord. From there it was a short walk to the Hotel Mademoiselle.

Of course, it is only a short walk if you know where you are going. When you exit Gare du Nord you have to know where you are! If you exit from the main part of the station, you will be facing Boulevard de Demain. If you used this exit, turn to your left and walk down to the greenhouse part of the station that you see below. (To make it easier for you to navigate in Paris, each of these photos, except the last one, have been captured from Google Maps Street View and is a live link back to the original Google Map. Click on the photo so that you can look around to get your bearings. This is a great tool. I always try to walk the streets before I actually visit a new city. Also, if it is available, I will do a Big Red Bus tour in a new city.)If you exit from the greenhouse looking part of the station, you will be facing a street directly in front of you, between the Café du Nord on the right and the Paris Nord Café on the left. If you came out the main entrance, turn to your left and walk to the greenhouse looking part that you can see above.

You will have to cross the 4 lane road, Rue de Dunkerque and walk down Rue de Saint-Quentin. After a couple of blocks, the road curves to the right at a major intersection.

You should see the Marché couvert Saint-Quentin in front of you and a Western Union on your right.

Go across the main street and enter the very small one-way street, just to the right of the market, Rue des Petits Hôtels. Walk past the SupermMarché and the Vins Restaurant Cafe and you will find the Madamoiselle on your left.

This is a beautiful little hotel. We stayed in Room 404 and our friends stayed in 203 and 204. It seems that the “04” rooms were much larger than the “03” room. They have a wonderful dining area in the back of the hotel and serve a delicious breakfast. You can also go up the street to the farmer’s market, Marché couvert Saint-Quentin, for a quick breakfast if you wish. (But, don’t get there too early because not every stall will be open!)

For our short introduction to Paris for our friends, after checking in at the Madamoiselle, we visited the largest covered farmer’s market in Paris, Marché couvert Saint-Quentin, then took the metro to the Picasso Museum. Two of our friends decided to skip the museum and catch up with us at the sidewalk cafe close to where we were going to catch the bus to the Eiffel Tower.

From our hotel, turn right at the covered market and go one block then turn left on Rue de 8 Mai 1945 to go to the Gare de L’Est train station. Hop on to the #5 Metro line toward Place d’Italie and get off at the Bastille station and cross over to the #8 Metro line toward Balard and get off at the first stop, Chemin Vert.  (Keep in mind that when I say cross over to the other line, it will involve going down 3 flights of stairs, walking a few hundred feet, then going back up 3 flights of stairs.) When you exit the metro station, cross the street and walk up Rue Saint Giles, cross Rue de Turenne to get to Rue du Parc Royal.  Keep walking west and the road turns to the right, then you take the street on the right at the Y, Rue de Thorigny. The Picasso Museum is on the left.

After our visit at the museum, we walked south to the St. Paul metro station, taking the #1 line towards la Defense and got off at the Tuileries stop, near the Louvre.

When we exited, we walked across the street and turned right, heading toward the Hotel Regina about one block away. At the hotel, we turned left and walked up Rue des Pyramides to enjoy a great little sidewalk cafe, La Rotonde des Tuileries. This is only a block away from where we would catch our bus to the Eiffel Tower for dinner.

After a little snack, our friends met up with us and we walked down to #2 Rue des Pyramides, on the left, at the Hotel Regina.

We opted to purchase a dinner and river cruise through Viator so that we didn’t have to wait in any long lines at the Eiffel Tower. This tour was handled by Paris City Vision. As you might expect, our friends loved having dinner in the Eiffel Tower as well as seeing the lights of Paris on the river cruise.

The next morning we planned to take the #7 metro line from the Poissonnière metro stop to the Palais Royal de Musée Lourve metro stop to meet up with our tour guide for a small group tour at the Louvre. We booked the small group tour through Viator as well.

My friends decided that they would rather take a taxi instead of fighting the crowds on the metro. The taxi dropped us off at the Hotel Regina where we met up with our guide at the Paris City Vision (located just in front of the white vans behind the statue.)

If we had taken the Metro as planned, from our hotel, we would have continued down Rue des Petits Hôtels to a major one-way road, Rue la Fayette. Across the street, you will see the Hotel Albion that looks like a Greek Temple. You want to turn left here and walk up the one-way street, against the traffic.

Continue on for a couple of blocks and you will see the metro sign ahead, in front of Les Volcans. This is the Poissonnière Metro Stop. Take the #7 metro line towards Louis Aragon.

If you have never traveled on the metro in Paris, please check out my other posts on how to use the metro. Don’t leave Paris without experiencing Le Metro!

Get off at the Palais Royale de Musée Lourve metro stop.

When you exit the station at the large open square shown above, turn to the west, in the direction of the traffic flow, and walk down Rue de Rivoli to the front of the Hotel Regina about 2 blocks away.  Turn right to get to the Paris City Vision office at #2 Rue des Pyramides to check in and join the tour group.  We booked the small group tour through Viator as well.

We had a great guide and a wonderful visit at the Lourve, and were able to get great views of everything but the Mona Lisa. That room was so crowded that unless you wanted to push through a hundred people, you were not going to get very close. As you can see from the photo below, you had to hold your camera above your head and take several shots. None of mine came out without someone or something in the way.

After our visit at the Louvre, we caught taxi back to the Madamoiselle to pick up our luggage and the taxi took us back to the airport for our return flight to Dulles International in Washington, DC.

A quick but very enjoyable trip for us and our friends. They are ready to go back to Paris!!!

———————————————————————-

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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

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.

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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

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.

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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

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.

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.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

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