Ackislander

Greg wrote "Many "I am so smart, I know how to do everything right" type of people around me in the US outwardly claim they have no interest in visiting overseas. I sometimes wonder if they are actually deadly afraid of being seen as not knowing what to do in an unfamiliar environment."

Greg is right. The travel industry did a survey several years back (sorry, don't have the citation) that discovered the main reason men don't like to travel is the fear of being in a strange place when something goes wrong (reservation, travel schedule, etc) and feeling that their wives and families will blame them. It is easier to stay home if you are a control freak.

triciafromoz

Just to top up , the Eurostar broke down and we were an hour late into Paris. The upside of course is that we are now in Paris!

greg

I think the Eurostar break down can be used as an example of how one deals with this type of event. I have had my share of train delays some more than 2 hours late and had to take the last possible connection of the day to reach the destination. Was the time totally wasted? It depends. I suspected that these things could happen so I did not PLAN to take the last train of the day. I knew there were later connections. Some have called me pessimist. I rather see myself as managing the risk but not avoiding. If I avoided risks, I would not be able to do anything.

When the train just stopped in the middle of nowhere, I could have written it off as 2 hrs of wasted time. Or I could use the new found 2 hrs to write journals, organize pictures I have taken so far, review my itinerary at the next destination. By doing this, I had less things to do that night and could stay out later. In the end I did not lose that much even though the train was more than 2 hrs late.