I have a number of friends in my age group who have just returned from ‘big’ trips, are on a long road trip, or are planning a future trip.
I think it is fair to say that almost all travel these days, big or small, requires a combination of physical stamina and mental acuity and both are equally important!
Mio marito and I are still fairly independent European travelers. But we both agree that is doable for us because we tend to visit familiar places. We have lost count of the times we have been to Sestri Levante in Italy. Our flights do change each time we go and we are routed through either Paris or Amsterdam. And we now know both airports quite well!.
We always do some exploring though. During our Sestri stay this year, we checked out a new village (Chiavari) and returned to places we haven’t been to for a number of years (Vernazza in Cinque Terre and Portofino). This year we also ventured back into the centers of Florence and Milan – we haven’t done that for awhile.
Keeping physical stamina and mental acuity in mind, here are 3 tips from Rick Steves:
Pack light and skip tight connections
My days of running through an airport to catch a flight are in my rearview mirror! We always allow plenty of time to catch connecting flights. Since we will be gone for 4+ weeks, we do check bags. And my shoulders aren’t up for lifting a heavy bag into an overhead bin these days!
Book your top reservations then go with the flow
We always book any hotels, our apartment, and rental car in advance. Other than that, we are footloose most days. I think if there was an amazing restaurant or site we wanted to see, we would definitely plan accordingly and make reservations.
Avoid overcrowded spots
The crowds in Florence and in Cinque Terre were a challenge for me this year! We like Sestri because it gives us the ambiance of the Italian Riviera without the crowds.
I’m going to add a few other things to consider when planning your travels:
Don’t overestimate your physical abilities
Here’s where physical stamina comes in. My knee gives me problems and I know I can’t do serious hiking or stair climbing anymore. And Europe has very little in the way of accommodations for disabilities. Good luck finding an elevator or an escalator. Walking is the primary mode of transportation and there is no such thing as smooth pavement!
Consider a solo trip…..or a group trip
Either can be the ticket, depending on what is most important to you. Our friends just took an amazing tour of France and other friends toured the Dalmatian Coast. I think these were more doable on both counts because they were well organized group trips. I think if we ventured to unfamiliar spots in Europe, we would certainly consider a group tour.
Utilize technology
We had digital copies of all our key travel documents and were able to share them with our daughter (I also make a paper copy – redundancy is good). We used the airline app for check in and to keep track of our flights. Since we do need to check bags, we are big fans of Air Tags to track our luggage. Google Maps was put to good use. Using our ‘mental acuity’, thanks to Maps we were able to navigate an alternate route from Milan to Sestri when we arrived jetlagged. We also used Maps to find our way around in Milan on foot. Europeans all seem to use ‘WhatsApp’ to communicate and we followed suit so we could stay in touch with our friends. Fortunately Wi-Fi is ubiquitous these days!
We continue to learn new lessons with each trip. And, as luck would have it, mio marito and I love traveling together and are looking forward to our next adventure!
I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. – Mark Twain
Allene