ElainePDX
Level 2 Member
Eastern Europe Trip Journal #1
Written October 6, 2016
PDX >> SFO >> IST >> TXL Outbound
A week in Berlin
TXL >> WAW 2 days in Warsaw
Two weeks of travel on the ground: Warsaw, Kraków, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague
PRG >> VIE 2 days more in Vienna
VIE >> EWR >> PDX Return home
Hello Saverocity!
First of all, I want to thank all those who gave me travel tips and advice. As I sit at the gate waiting to board, I am very grateful for all I've learned here at Saverocity, in general and specifically as I planned this month-long trip to Germany and Eastern Europe.
This trip will be different from just about all of our previous ones, because it includes this:
http://www.odysseys-unlimited.com/tours/europe/discovering-eastern-europe
After a week in Berlin and two days on our own in Warsaw, we will meet the tour group. The tour ends in Prague, and we'll spend three more days there, before flying to Vienna for another two days.
Why would a travel hacker and relatively frequent flyer book an organized tour? Basically for the same reason we did two organized safaris in South Africa in the middle of a month-long trip there. We felt that our experience would be enhanced with the benefit of professional guides. And it definitely was. In the case of Eastern Europe, we wanted to cover a lot of ground in countries where we had no language skills. We also had a shorter time to plan the trip, and other obligations that had to take priority. So we picked a highly rated tour company, which offered a tour with lots of free time and no shopping .
We are now taxiing after a 35 minute delay so the first leg of this trip has begun. I hope the dog in the row behind me will be as well behaved as the little girl across the aisle. So far, so good. The rest of this saver award ticket will be in business class, but this short hop from PDX to SFO is economy plus. It is just fine.
I always look forward to this very moment at the start of a trip - the travel choices have been made and the on-the-ground planning is done; the packing decisions are behind me and the house is closed up for the month we'll be away. I'll have to make due wIthout anything I forgot and deal on another day with whatever I postponed. All the points I've been assiduously accumulating are being put to terrific use, and we are starting a new adventure in places we've never been. Here's hoping we'll have safe and stimulating travels. More soon!
Elaine
Written October 6, 2016
PDX >> SFO >> IST >> TXL Outbound
A week in Berlin
TXL >> WAW 2 days in Warsaw
Two weeks of travel on the ground: Warsaw, Kraków, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague
PRG >> VIE 2 days more in Vienna
VIE >> EWR >> PDX Return home
Hello Saverocity!
First of all, I want to thank all those who gave me travel tips and advice. As I sit at the gate waiting to board, I am very grateful for all I've learned here at Saverocity, in general and specifically as I planned this month-long trip to Germany and Eastern Europe.
This trip will be different from just about all of our previous ones, because it includes this:
http://www.odysseys-unlimited.com/tours/europe/discovering-eastern-europe
After a week in Berlin and two days on our own in Warsaw, we will meet the tour group. The tour ends in Prague, and we'll spend three more days there, before flying to Vienna for another two days.
Why would a travel hacker and relatively frequent flyer book an organized tour? Basically for the same reason we did two organized safaris in South Africa in the middle of a month-long trip there. We felt that our experience would be enhanced with the benefit of professional guides. And it definitely was. In the case of Eastern Europe, we wanted to cover a lot of ground in countries where we had no language skills. We also had a shorter time to plan the trip, and other obligations that had to take priority. So we picked a highly rated tour company, which offered a tour with lots of free time and no shopping .
We are now taxiing after a 35 minute delay so the first leg of this trip has begun. I hope the dog in the row behind me will be as well behaved as the little girl across the aisle. So far, so good. The rest of this saver award ticket will be in business class, but this short hop from PDX to SFO is economy plus. It is just fine.
I always look forward to this very moment at the start of a trip - the travel choices have been made and the on-the-ground planning is done; the packing decisions are behind me and the house is closed up for the month we'll be away. I'll have to make due wIthout anything I forgot and deal on another day with whatever I postponed. All the points I've been assiduously accumulating are being put to terrific use, and we are starting a new adventure in places we've never been. Here's hoping we'll have safe and stimulating travels. More soon!
Elaine