Travel tips
Our trip was 7 weeks long - much longer than any trip we’d
done as a family before. Here are a few
thoughts of mine about this trip specifically and travel in general!
I started research about 6 months prior to leaving and it
was a good plan. We had no idea which order we would visit certain countries
and which direction to go around the world or how long to stay in each place so
it took some talking, some juggling of dates in a calendar and some consulting with
a travel agent over flights. We had seven countries to visit in 7 weeks and that
seemed a bit much at one point, but we made it happen with juggling and virtually
giving up on Paris. Strangely enough we ended up having a fantastic 48 hours in
Paris and saw heaps! You just never know
how it will go…
If you are staying somewhere more than three nights,
consider an apartment hotel or a holiday house.
There are a bunch of companies that I look at for private rentals and I
cross reference all of them. They are:
- · Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO)
- · AirBnB
- · Homeaway
- · Flipkey
- · Holiday Houses
- · Book a Bach
Some of these are New Zealand or Australia/NZ only and some
are only international. Our Kyoto machiya was a private rental and if gave us a
unique insight into what life must have been like for Japanese merchants over
100 years ago. It was authentic but comfortable
– perfect! We booked our Iceland house on VRBO and it was spectacular. 5 of us stayed there for about NZ$58 per
night each. You need to read all of the
small print carefully and be aware that you are not dealing with a hotel so financially
you may be taking a risk, but if Paypal is used it should be legit. Do not use Western Union. Try and email and or phone your host and look
them up on Facebook to get background. Read
all reviews carefully. Our Iceland house
was true to its description, but it was missing house instructions and spare
linen/towels, and had no laundry which we told the host about so they can
improve their service.
We used a combination of public transport and private car
rental. It gave the trip variety and it meant it wasn’t too tiring. Having your own car gives you independence which
is a good thing!
I looked really hard to find triple accommodation so that we
could share a room for at least half the trip.
That took a bit of searching but it was worth it, it would have been too
expensive to book separate rooms. I use Tripadvisor for all my research and
then cross check accommodation on other sites like Booking.com.
About half of our trip we had two bedroom accommodation or
apartments. We would have gone mad being
in the same room for 7 weeks. It was good to mix it up.
Work out where you are going to wash laundry in advance and
try and make it when you are staying in apartments or houses. If not, then find out where you will be
staying and Google laundromats so that you know where one is and how much it
costs. We got caught in Naples with a place
recommended nearby that charged 2 euro per load – we thought. We then discovered it was 2 Euro per item of
clothing! So we had to rethink and
renegotiate. Without speaking any
Italian! Be prepared to wash undies and
socks on the way. Take a stretchy
clothes line and laundry detergent in a small bottle. Wash them and then roll in a towel to dry out
before you hang.
I also researched activities and destinations on TA. Look at Forum discussions for more insight
into unusual places. Try and challenge
yourself to do something off the beaten track or exciting – you don’t get many
chances in this life to push yourself and you may end up having an unforgettable
experience!
Generally speaking:
Stick to ONE bag per person and as small as you can manage. Wheelie bags are mostly good but can be overrated. My bag for some reason struggled in
bus/train/airport/stations across paving stones and drove me a wee bit mad, but
that was short lived. We went with hard
cases and didn’t regret it. What tiny
things we bought were safe inside hard cases until I mailed 7kg back to NZ five
weeks into the trip.
Your trip will involve travel days. These are days that you
spend entirely getting from one place to another. Hopefully you won’t have too many of
these. They can be exhausting and
confusing. You are bound to get lost in some station or another but hang in
there. If you prepare yourself for the
worst, you may be delightfully surprised.
All of our flights were fine and some of the ‘Easy Jet’ type of cheap
flights were much better than expected. Some of our bags went missing in Barcelona
but only overnight. We had no trouble
with late or cancelled flights, but be sure to allow yourself enough time. Always carry some snack food, a drink and
something to read.
Toilets of the world.
Well, there’s a topic! We saw so
many of them that I had to give them a mention!
They ranged from fantastic, high tech and free in Japan, to hideous,
dirty and expensive in Europe. With the
best view-from-a-loo being in Iceland! In Frankfurt airport we got off a plane,
walked past a loo and then 15 minutes’ walk later needed one desperately and
could not find one. Anywhere. So we had
to walk back to the gate to use the one we had walked past! They never seem to be around when you want one
and when there IS one, you don’t want to go.
And what is it with those bloody bidets? I suppose Europeans would think
we are grubby but I just don’t fancy one…and they take up too much room in the
bathroom!
Tips:
Keep a child’s stomach full at all times. And a drink handy. Hunger and/or tiredness/jet lag was
responsible for any bad moods on the trip. And that went for adults too!
Buy croissants/bagels or pastries and fruit at a nearby grocery
when you arrive at a hotel and then eat them in your room for breakfast to make
a relaxing start to the day. Having to
rush downstairs to an early and expensive breakfast just ruins the fun! Many
hotel rooms have a kettle or hot pot that you can make a cup of tea of hot
chocolate with. And you can lounge in your jammies!
Rent bikes. Anytime
we have done it we’ve loved it. Cycling
tours in Tokyo and Barcelona; and just renting the bike and cycling around
ourselves in Kyoto was great too. You
get some exercise and you see things at nice pace.
Go on walks or walking tours. We did a brilliant
walking/eating tour of Gracia, a neighbourhood in Barcelona. Wow! And walking tours we’ve done in
Melbourne, and Spain and Pompeii were all very informative and good exercise. Some tours are free but you pay by tip.
Use Tripadvisor. I
researched accommodation, activities and destinations as well as restaurant reviews.
That saved our bacon in Venice which was full of restaurants but some rated
very badly. The ones we chose were great
and true to their reviews.
Be brave and go somewhere challenging! Iceland was the highlight of our trip. It was
so far away from New Zealand and in the mid-winter it was dark and freezing
(-12 some days!) but it was an incredible experience. We saw
some amazing sights including frozen giant waterfalls, geysers, tectonic plates
meeting, hot pools and of course the Northern Lights, a natural occurrence like
no other. I think about it often and
want to do it again as soon as possible!
