Fodorite Pearls of Wisdom
 

I love to read trip reports, travel advice , etc. and sometimes someone says something so true and that puts things in such perspective I have to stop and let it soak in.
Recently Suehoff said in her heartbreaking trip report of staggering genius, "So ignorance is not always bliss sometimes it’s just expensive."
Does anybody have any others they can cite? sight? site? :S-

One of many that come to mind is CrazyMina giving advice to someone going on her first trip alone. I thought it was so perfectly to the point and kind and sort of So Mina :)
And excellent advice~


Quote:<i>This will be the first time that you will exist soley for yourself. You are accountable to no one (well, except for local laws, so don't go too hog wild! </i>

&quot;Whatever <u>can</u> happen, <u>will</u>.&quot; - Murphy (not a Fodorite)

&quot;Don't go to Europe without a Plan B.&quot; - Robespierre's Corollary

Calculate how many clothes and how much money you will need.

Then halve the former and double the latter

You'll get what you pay for and be willing to pay for what you get.

Enjoy the Journey.
Attitude is Everything.
Drink Local Wine.
((H))

Spend money to save time.

&quot;See where you are more. Move around less.&quot;

As I near the completion of my report from our whirlwind trip (now already home a week!), it will be clear that I am not bashful about ignoring my own (best) advice, when the circumstances call out to me otherwise!

Best wishes,

Rex

p.s. regarding... &quot;So ignorance is not always bliss sometimes it’s just expensive.&quot;

Beckons with some strong ressemblance to the current Toby Keith hit title (I know... some of you are <i>not</i> fans of country music!)...

&quot;I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then&quot;...

Hey Rex, Toby darling stole that line from Bob Seger's &quot;Against the Wind&quot;, shame on him, ha. =;

...My pearls of wisdom...

I have three:

1) Laugh, laugh, laugh.

2) If you get stuck in the middle seat of the middle section of a DC-10, order a Bloody Mary, it helps.

and

3) Always travel with someone BEFORE you marry them. You can tell alot about a peson when you travel with them. ((L))

Happy journey, Tiff

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry,
And bring your own face cloth
and a Large bar of soap.

I jotted this excerpt down on a slip of paper and keep it on my desk, I think I read it here:

&quot;love that is caught at some perfect moment in time and lives eternally in that moment&quot;

fly cheap
sleep cheap
eat well

I learned the hard way....

Buy it when you see it...you won't find a better or a cheaper one. It will be gone when you go back for it...or worse taunt you from the interior of the closed shop the afternoon before you leave.

I still mourn for the one that got away.

Oh... shame on me for that not clicking in my head! The things we forget, huh?

Too many roads traveled...

and it all just...

...&quot;seems like yesterday&quot;...

;)

&quot;Buy it when you see it...you won't find a better or a cheaper one. It will be gone when you go back for it...or worse taunt you from the interior of the closed shop the afternoon before you leave.&quot;

Or, if it's in Venice, you'll never find the shop again.

men plan, God laughs.

men in the we are all human beings sense.

ahotpoet,

Lyrics of a Depression-era song are my favorite 'pearls':

&quot;Life is just a bowl of cherries.
Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.
You work, you save, you worry so,
But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go.

So keep repeating it's the berries,
The strongest oak must fall,
The sweet things in life, to you were just loaned
So how can you lose what you've never owned?
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So live and laugh at it all.&quot;

When ever you are thinking about spending on a trip, giving a gift to a friend, helping your children, these words can be inspirational.

A wise person once told me: &quot;If you have enough money and enough time, you are never lost.&quot;

Always remember to pack a smile and your manners.

:-)

don't settle for the going rate, and certainly never seek a discount, when you can insist upon cheerfully paying a premium

If you have no expectations you'll not be disappointed, ever. Ergo, if your expectations are low your disappointments will not be huge.

My best advice has always been to &quot; smile alot and never forget you are a guest in their country&quot;.

To add to Jocelyn P's pearl:

&quot;THE ONLY THING WE YOU WILL LIVE TO REGRET ON YOUR OVERSEAS TRIP IS THAT THING YOU DID NOT BUY&quot;

My Wife has that saying engraved on her heart.

:-)

Several years from now:

&quot;Been there, done that. Cannot remember most of it&quot;.

I'm not sure if it's a pearl of wisdom, but it sure made me laugh:

&quot;Ann Taylor is the Olive Garden of the fashion world.&quot; Thingorjus

ahotpoet . . . .
I read a newspaper article from an Indian writer recently, which contained a few lines from an 'old Indian proverb': ''One must accept the cow's kick as well as her milk &amp; butter''. I likened travel to the words, but of course the advice could apply to many/various situations in life. Cheeers, Jay ....

All of these are good. What I had in mind was stuff actually posted on this board that could be considered philosopical.

Here's an example written by sue xx-yy.

&quot;Besides, as any gardener knows, from time to time fondly loved plants do not, for whatever reason, come back in the spring. A good gardener, therefore, spends less time on nostalgia, and more on coaxing along new shoots. &quot;

In short, we get the 'garden' we ask for.

LOL, JohnThinG has another that I like too...

&quot;Love you, hate your shoes &quot;

((L))

Open your eyes, absorb it all like you will never pass this way again...but don't forget the camera!

travel can be cheap, good or fast BUT only any combination of 2 for a quality product!

If you think the glass is half-full, remember that life is long -- it may yet fill...you'll be back, so don't worry about what you missed.

If you think the glass if half-empty -- remember that life is short -- drink every last drop now...you may never be back!

Always allow more time than you think you need to get to the airport (or to change to another airport).

1. Murphy's Law always applies.

2. Apply Magnasco's Law (&quot;if at first you don't succeed, keep asking different people until you get the answer you want&quot;). [named after yours truly after dealing with an airline]

3. Smile and say good morning/afternoon/evening to every shopkeeper and bartender you encounter.

4. You're trying to see too many places in too short a time. Delete at least one destination, and spend more time in another sitting in a piazza, drinking a cup of coffee/glass of wine, and watching the world go by.

Thanks for the plugs. :)

1. &quot;Everything looks so much nicer after a case of Champagne.&quot;

2. &quot;The only good Christian is Christian Dior.&quot;

3. &quot;Drink, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you could be going for yet another liver transplant.&quot;

And the greatest saying of all time, greater than anything ever stated by Oscar Wilde, Dorothy Parker, or Shakespeare:

&quot;If it don't look good, don't put it out on your front porch.&quot;

--Suzanne Sugarbaker

Words to live by.

Why try to look like a great dane when you are a poodle.

Hey, machin.Who said that? It's a hoot and a howl!

Travel is a means for finding truths. The truth that there is sublime beauty-walking through the Provence countryside; history - touring the Saratoga battle site; memory - the streets of Dublin.

Travel at its purest essence, perhaps, is a means to fortify humility - a virtue always in too short supply.
posted by Powell on 1/29/2004

why say you live in New York when you don't.

&gt;&gt;&gt;If you think the glass is half-full, remember that life is long -- it may yet fill...you'll be back, so don't worry about what you missed.

If you think the glass if half-empty -- remember that life is short -- drink every last drop now...you may never be back!&lt;&lt;&lt;

Or maybe you need to get a different size glass (filled with local wine, of course!)

Anne

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.