goldengrain

My husband and I have lived very frugal lives and forgone vacations. Now we are ready to retire. A year or two from now we intend to sell our home and relocate.

The thought hit us that, before we buy a new house and to avoid multiple trips across the ocean, we could just tour Europe and Asia until we tired of it.

We are inexperienced travelers, but would appreciate a self-directed vacation.

Our ideal is that we go to England, take a tour or two, peruse the place on our own and when we get tired of that, call 'our' travel agent and tell them we have decided on Italy or Switzerland or Greece or Spain next and ask if they could book a nice hotel and a good tour and advise us the best way to get there. We would like to continue doing this until we tired of it or our money ran out.

Is there an agency that is knowledgeable around the world who could assign us one friendly voice to call to ease our way and guide us through the whole experience, handle logistics, appraise us of warnings or places to avoid?

We have medical insurance that is transportable the world over.

suze

Welcome to our forums, goldengrain.

You will want to also post this samae message on the Europe and Asia message boards here at Fodor's. Because they both get MUCH wider readership than this "Smart Travel Tips" branch does.

I love your idea, but for me I would just do the research and planning on my own. A travel agent back home when you're in England and decide one day to go to Switzerland, is not going to be all that practical in my opinion.

thursdaysd

I agree that a travel agent is really not necessary. Spend a little time here, read some books and magazines, and check into the resources available on the internet, and then reconsider whether you need an agent.

I'd recommend Ed Hasbrouck's "Practical Nomad", Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door", and either Lonely Planet's "Read this First" or Rough Guides "First Time" books to get you started.

I did a ten-month Round the world trip in '04-'05 (www.wilhelmswords.com/rtw2004), but I recommend taking it more slowly than I did - I like your idea of spending a while in a few places - but I'd suggest an apartment rather than a hotel if you're doing that.

goldengrain

Thanks. I posted this message in the other
folders.

Our lack of knowledge of the languages could get us in some questionable situations, to my way of thinking. Even in the US, if we were to book a room in major cities, unless we paid top dollar, we could very well end up in a higher crime area, and that coupled with our language problem - I don't know.

That's why knowing that we have booked, in advance, a tour and fairly reliable hotel seems comforting.

thursdaysd

I speak English English, American English, and just enough French to sound like I know what I'm doing. I've also traveled to getting on for 50 countries, some where I can't even read the language, never mind speak it. I've managed fine - and I certainly don't stay in high-end hotels!

In Europe and Asia the cities are in general much safer than US cities (I assume you live in the US?) Your guidebook or hotel staff (or Internet forums) will tell you if there may be areas you should avoid, but they're unlikely to be places tourists would go - e.g. you might want to stay out of the low income apartment complexes on the outskirts of Paris, but no reason to go there in the first place.

If you're really nervous, and have done little or no foreign travel, it might be a good idea to start with a tour, maybe one of Rick Steves, since they like to introduce you to public transport, but then branch out on your own. You will have more time than money: tours are designed for people with more money than time, and generally give you little time in any one place.

suze

I only speak English (unfortunately) and have traveled to Europe 5 times, much of that solo female. I have never had any difficulties (that could not be easily overcome) due to not speaking the local language.

Here's why you don't end up in high crime areas or expensive hotels, because you've done your research in advance and have a list of recommended places in safe districts that are within your price range! You can contact them via the internet to make a reservation as you move one city to the next. For train tickets you simply go to the train station and figure out what you need.

That said, I think an organized tour 1-time might be a more logical first trip to get your feet wet. You could get an overview and THEN the second time start your longer adventure as you describe in your post.

I think going to Europe and planning to travel around "until your money runs out" may prove too much for "inexperienced travelers" even if you were using a travel agent back in your home town to assist you.

Why not go to Europe for one month, planned in the more traditional way (in advance by yourself or an agent) as a first trip to see if you like it or not?

goldengrain

Thank you.

Yes. I am inclined to try to cover bases and plan for contingencies up front, but I really don't even know what I'll be facing.

I have read some reviews of various hotels and it seems as though personnel speak English. Lucky us.

Since we are tourists, with a GPS and a book we should do fine.

Thanks for all your help.
I now feel more confident.

Momliz

I would still look for apartments. It will be much cheaper, and more fun, as well as more comfortable. I have found that th agents we dealth with as well as our landlord spoke excellent English, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Also, check out the Slow Travel forums. which might have a lot of information for you:

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/

suze

I disagree about apartments for first timers in a place you don't speak the language.

I think hotels work better because then you have someone at the front desk who can help you out should you find yourself in need of assistance (calling taxis, making a restaurant reservation, tickets to the theater, tips about where to shop, etc.).

misterfuss

Hi Goldengrain,

Wow, your intention to sell your home and relocate is truly adventurous. I have an aquaintance (from an Italian language class) that sold her home in San Francisco several years ago to retire to Venice, Italy. She was sure that she would love Venice and Italy. It sounded very glamorous and I was jealous.

I ran into her at the supermarket the other day. I didn't pry as to why she returned, but I would caution you against selling everything and leaving your current situation. Do you have a sense of community in your current location? Would you be able to afford a home in that area were you to return?

I have traveled extensively, mostly to Europe and sometimes for a few months at a time. I always enjoy myself and my overseas experiences, but I am always happy to return to my home.

Perhaps you may want to rent out your current home while you explore and find your new home abroad. That way, if you change your mind, you can return "home."

Good luck!

goldengrain

Misterfuss,

Thank you for your advice.

We had always planned to move and were just awaiting an opportunity.

Our current home is in a 'safe' New Jersey neighborhood, but does in no way offer the stimulation of a city. It is a means to an end, a reasonable area in which to save over the years and have a roof over one's head, etc.

THe friends we have made were associates in groups we have joined who do not dwell in our immediate vicinity, so visits are cumbersome. I imagine that cities tend to have a greater number of interesting people gathering in a smaller area.

There is a very unique situation in which we will have a condo in an excellent neighborhood in Seattle, Wa, awaiting us when we return from our trip, which may be in two or three years from now if everything 'goes as planned' (Famous last words!).

Expense issues have been addressed and resolved.

Shortly, we expect to be in New York for about a year, moving for my husband's job.

We plan to do our trip after we leave the New York address and before assuming our new US residence in Seattle.

As we age I believe we will welcome the convenience of having groceries delivered and public transportation nearby and not to have to deal with the hassle of snow and lawns. There is also the added possibility of socializing with neighbors dwelling in the same building. There are common areas in the building for meetings, swimming, workouts, etc.

Yes, I get homesick after about the fourth day of being away. I consider this an aspect of my personality that perhaps I should work on. It will also be fun for us to be 'thrown in' together for this adventure. We, like so many couples, have spent so much time enmeshed in work that this might be a good kickoff for our new lives - get us out of the 'type A' work mode. It is a good idea to keep our options open.

Many couples retire and grow apart from sheer bordom. I am thinking this will give us many additional shared experiences to reminisce over.
If it gets to be too much, we can just go home and resume later - which is why we are siding with not purchasing an 'around the world' fare or prebooking it all in advance.

So, right now, we are perusing an agenda which has tracked about 54,000 miles on some online trip planner, about 36 stops.

We are thinking of roughly a week at each location, more or less. In some countries we will have 2 or 3 stops.

We have avoided London and much of the Mediterranean, which we think we can spend more intensive vacation time on later, and are thinking of places which will probably be one time visits.

In some main cities, which may be tourist traps, as we have been advised is much of Italy, we will try to get last minute tour packages.

I am happy to get verification here that for our stays we may be better off in hotels. We plan to ensure that we have hotel reservations in a place before we fly there.

I keep telling myself this is speculation, but it keeps getting more and more enticing as we search the net.

Is there a site that gives weather related travel information so that we do not end up in a peculiar situation, like Mumbai in monsoon?

Thanks for your encouragement.

suze

I live on Capitol Hill in Seattle and love it here. It sounds like exactly what you are seeking and will make a great place to come home to.

You don't have to stick only with hotels the entire trip, but I would at the beginning until you get you "sea legs" so to speak. Once you are more used to traveling in a foreign country and have been on the road for a couple months, you might really appreciate renting an apartment for a couple weeks as a place to temporarily settle down and regroup.

Continuous travel for months on end is extremely taxing for most people. Especially since you admit you get home sick after only a few DAYS!

misterfuss

Hi again Goldengrain,

I like using Wikipedia for a good overall description of a country or a city. Using your example of Mumbai, I would avoid going there June through September based on what I found in Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:I...ages_chart.svg

goldengrain

Suze, thank you for the good words of encouragement. Seattle does seem like it’s filled with many people of a similar mindset. There are many of those Socrates Café type groups, which we love. I believe a local university gets groups together for travel.

I agree. Most likely our initial caution will be overcome as we grow our ‘sealegs’.

I think, after the routine we have been in for all these years, once we get over the initial shock of not having a home, we will be able to activate some ‘inner child’ quality that just considers life a big adventure and that the best mental strategy is to just go with the flow.

I have been researching and we will require seven visas and now that , misterfuss has made that great suggestion to check out the weather in Wikipedia, I will start on that. There are tropical disease doctors who have all the lists of inoculations that we should get.

I was starting to make a list of clothing for many contingencies, but having the weather info might help to narrow the list down a bit. Guess I was putting the cart before the horse.

suze

Thanks for your note. This is a very interesting thread and I wish you all the best.

Never to soon to start thinking about packing, I say ;-) Seriously if I am getting stressed about a trip, I focus on my clothes and suitcase and it takes the edge off -haha.