cherylforeurope

When my youngest child is off to college in
the Fall of 2005 my husband and I will be
making our 3rd (and longest) trip to Europe.
No empty nest problems here!! However,
I'm going to drive myself crazy. For some
reason I started doing some preliminary research and now I'm out of control and can't stop. This trip will include car rental, numerous train trips and 4 countries so there
is much to research. Is anyone else out there equally as obsessed? I'm beginning to think I need to pack all materials and lock them away for a year...all well and good
but there is still this wonderful site and the rest of the internet. I have such an incredibly strong itch to travel I'm ready to pull someone off the street to travel with me. We're even going on a short trip to Vegas this summer...like that can even begin to compare to Europe and we've been there before. Maybe I should start a self help group because this girl needs to get a grip!! Thanks to all for
letting me vent and if anyone is looking
for someone to travel with...........

elaine

Cheryl
start an electronic file document for each location, and/or keep throwing clippings into folders. Planning can be a great project, but keep the information organized. Otherwise, a year from now you'll have piles of paper and really not know how to organize it.

good luck and have fun

Mischka

Oh dear Cheryl, you sure do have it bad!! That's way too long to wait for a trip, I hate waiting more than a couple of months. We're going in March next year and I am finding that too long.... sooo feel really sorry for you
Here's an idea, how about you leave hubby at home to mind the fort and you pop on over to europe for a quick little scout around
Good luck.

Matrexx

Cheryl, I have the exact same problem. I have already started planning a 2 week trip to England for my boyfriend and myself for sometime in 2005. He just doesn't know he's going on the trip yet!

I had so much fun planning my trip to Italy last year, that I'm now a trip planning addict! It's so much fun to research and plan, and even more fun when you have exactly the trip you wanted!

Have fun with your research and know I'm out there doing the same thing! So long as it keeps you happy and busy, what's the harm, unless you're driving your husband crazy talking about it for 2 years!

Michael

If you are going to go for more than 3 weeks, consider a car buy/repurchase plan available with Renault and Peugeot. Take a map of Europe and start marking the things you want to see, then figure out if it makes sense to drive the entire time or if it is better to do what you mention: combine car rental with train travel.

Sarah

I think it is great to look forward to a momentous trip. I would say read the background stuff now. I am just getting online to see what people think about some eating books. THERE ARE SOME GREAT BOOKS out there that won't be your standard travel guides. I know there is an eat your way through Paris that is authored by someone that had a food column in the herald tribune for years. Suppose to be a great book and not just for the knosh also for where to buy supreme vinegars and the like. Just a thought.

I just bought a couple food and wine guides. Trust me as the time comes near you will be too excited to do detailed reading. The kind of reading that will enhance your experience.

When I have thought about before hand I chose 1 historical, socail and arts book.

Statia

I started researching our last trip a year and a half beforehand. I like to start early so that I'm not bogged down with it a month or two before. I agree that it helps to keep your notes organized.

Actually, I always like to be researching a trip, whether I'm taking it a year from now, or five years from now. You can never learn too much about a foreign place, especially one you will be visiting.

dln

Cheryl, if you want to make the time fly, sit at the computer and start playing! There's so much info out there that you could spend years culling it all. This place is a fun site to do your trip research--you get all the facts you need while being entertained along the way! Like you, my head is already swimming with ideas about what to do when our son (same age as yours) goes away to college...you have plenty of company in that respect!

Matrexx

Wow, you guys are making me already look forward to when my kids head off to university and I haven't even had them yet!

Just a thought though - what happens when they move home again?

But seriously, planning the trip, at least for me is at least 25% of the fun. The anticipation is great... sort of makes if feel like Christmas lasting all year. Especially when you find good ideas and information!

artlover

Hi Cheryl,
My name is Paula and I'm a travel addict, or maybe just part gypsy, so I (as so many on this board will) completely understand.

I think planning is part of the fun. I started planning our upcoming (Nov.) trip to Spain last January when I signed up for Spanish lessons (this might be another thing you can do, as it's good for our minds as well).

I actually kept a Fodor's Spain file and ended up with 52 pages of notes, which I edited down to 14 and have used many in my travel journal. I had the hotels and timeshares reserved by June and have everything reserved except the final car rental, which we have 2 quotes on and just have to recheck what the extra insurance covers from AMEX.

You will get so much great information from people here and goggle searches and guidebooks and have a great vacation planned.

djkbooks

I'm with those who say you cannot do too much planning and find it enormously enjoyable.

Here's another recommendation for staying organized. I get a large three-ring binder with a clear plastic slot on the front for inserting a cover page. I download photos from Webshots for the cover. Then, I make tabs: Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Sights/Attractions, Shopping, Getting Around, etc. For several destinations, I'd have a set of tabs for each. It really is best to file as you go and avoid a huge, impossible to deal with, stack of stuff.

I always highlight as I go when reading tour guides and try to transfer the highlighted notes into one program or another on my PC as soon as possible. I've found that each and every tour guide has one or more truly invaluable tip or recommendation not found in any of the others.

I print useful websites as I find them, rather than saving them into my favorite places to review again "later", and file them in my binder.

Same with tips I find here on this forum. I start a WP file for each destination, then cut and paste tips found here immediately.

A good calendar program is also useful (I like "Anytime" which syncs with my Palm) for itinerary planning and recording things.

I find planning almost as much fun as going. And, once you go, you've been. Whereupon you just have to start planning your next excursion.

matthew

If your like this now, what are you going to be like in a year?!
Right now, you may need a valium more than anything else!

ira

Hi cheryl,

Well, you're a little late getting started, but you should be able to get a good itinerary together by Sept, 2005.

We just completed 3 weeks in Italy which took me 18 months to plan. Of course the itinerary went out the window the first day, but I had a lot of fun planning it.

BjorkChop

You want planning? I started planning for my 2006 trip to Europe in 2002! I am also planning my Hawaii trip that isn't until at least 2007! I got it bad...

suec1

You're going to Vegas - no need to go anywhere else, is there? since they've practically rebuilt the whole world there! But just to help you scratch that travel itch a little bit, why don't you tell us your tentative itineray!