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Terry's Travels with Smokey

Our 30 Day European Tour

Greetings~

"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,

To gain all while you give,

To roam the roads of lands remote,

To travel is to live."

- Hans Christian Anderson

"He who would travel happily must travel light." ~ Antoine de St Exupery

"Anyone who needs more than one suitcase is a tourist, not a traveler."

- Ira Levin

Introduction:

My name is Terry and this is my first ever website scrapbook. I decided to take on this challenge so that I could more easily share my rich experience with my family and friends. I am truly impressed by the creativity, competence, and magnificent photography shown in the past winners’ sites as well as those entered this year. You have all captured the spirit of “back door” European travel and I thank you for the inspiration!

 

Background:

As a teenager in the 60’s, I spent seven years ski racing. My first ski coach, Franz Gabl was from St. Anton, Austria. He competed for Austria in the 1948 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal in the downhill event. That is where my desire to see the Alps began.

When my husband Kerry and I graduated from Oregon State University (Go Beavers!), we planned to backpack around Europe, as was the custom then. (We also intended to apply to medical school armed with our degrees in zoology.) As fate would have it, those things didn’t happen, but my dream of seeing the Alps remained.

 

Smokey’s story:

I grew up as the child (and grandchild) of U.S. Forest Service employees. My grandfather was a pioneer forest ranger in Oregon. My parents met while working on the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon. My mom was stationed on a lookout and my dad was the district ranger. Thus, I grew up knowing all about Smokey Bear, singing his song, doing my best to prevent forest fires, and never, ever littering! A few years ago, I acquired a little Smokey Bear and started taking him places with me. In 2012, Kerry and I became medical tourists, traveling to Taiwan for Kerry’s double knee replacement surgery. Smokey came along and was a feature in my daily blog. He has been to Hawaii in the winter, and of course he loves hiking! Thus, it was only natural that he would be my traveling companion!

 

Trip planning:

Knowing that I would be a “solo” traveler, going on a Rick Steve’s tour seemed like a good fit for me. I chose the “My Way-Alpine Europe” tour so that I could finally see the mountains that I had dreamed of for over forty years. However, our son said to me, “Mom, you can’t go to Europe for just twelve days!” (All four of our children had traveled/studied/lived in Europe and India at different times.)

 

We have close friends who live near Oxford, England, whom we had visited in the 1990’s. I decided that visiting them would be a great way to start my trip and to get “acclimated” to European travel. Going to Italy was also high on my list. The “Heart of Italy” tour, combined with three days in Venice after the tour, dovetailed perfectly with the “My Way” tour. The original two weeks became one month-and what an unforgettable month it turned out to be!

 

Preparations:

1.     I used a Rick Steves’ recommended travel agency in Seattle to obtain my flight, airport shuttle, and train tickets. The staff was helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. Compared to the frustration and time of making the arrangements myself, it was well worth the relatively minor cost.

2.     I had a telephone consultation with a Rick Steves’ travel specialist which was valuable also.

3.     I attended the all day travel workshops at Rick Steves’ Europe in Edmonds, WA. The “Packing Light” session made a lasting impression as the tour guide unpacked her two bags piece by piece on stage.  Since she had been away for two months, it was a vivid example of what you really need for an extended stay in Europe.

4.     I took Rick’s advice and ripped up my big Italy guidebook, taking only the chapters that I needed. (It was still big.) I then took those to Office Depot,where they coil bound them for me for a small fee.

 

Packing:

1. I started a couple of weeks before I left to gather and refine what I would take. The challenge was packing for a month, knowing I would be hiking high in the mountains and at sea level, visiting the Vatican, and possibly swimming in the Mediterranean. I took a down jacket, gloves, and hat, jeans and skirts, as well as a swim suit and rain coat-all of which I used. I wore my fleece pullover nearly every day in the Alps. One thing about growing up in the Pacific Northwest, we know about layering!

 

2. I had the Rick Steves’ rolling backpack. Since I never did use the straps, the regular roller bag would have been fine, and I would have had extra space. I also had a day pack for travel days on the plane and bus, as well as a smaller light weight one for daily use.

 

3. Miscellaneous things I used and didn’t use:

  • I carried a small journal as recommended and wrote in it each night.      

  • I took some duct tape, which came handy to tape my little phone charger to the European adapter, which is small and black. This was after I accidentally left the adapter behind in my room early on in the trip. Oops! Coincidentally, our tour manager had extra adapters, as did one of my travel companions. Many thanks again to them both!

  • I didn’t use my phrase book and had no trouble communicating as a “temporary local.”

  • As much as I love my little Hydroflask, it wasn’t practical in Europe. That’s because there is no ice anywhere, (or so it seems), so the bottle’s insulating benefits are negated. It did come in handy to store small fragile souvenirs like the tiny bottle of holy water from the “Sound of Music” church and alabaster from Tuscany.

  • I took along a stretchable clothesline, but didn’t end up needing it for the small amount of hand washing that I did. I went only once to a laundromat, halfway through the trip.

 

One essential: “Otter”, my IPhone 5

I used my phone to take hundreds of pictures and it became my lifeline to home. My carrier didn’t have an international plan and I didn’t want to deal with SIM cards or purchasing a new phone. I put “Otter” in airplane mode for the entire trip and didn’t make regular calls or send normal texts.

I did however:

  • Send and receive I messages, Voxer messages, and emails.

  • Buy Skype credit and make phone calls through Skype.

  • Post occasionally to Facebook.

  • Use the app Photo Grid to make a daily collage and post on Instagram.

  • Use the app Touchnote to make and send personal postcards.

  • Use the app Waterlogue to make watercolors of some of my photos.

  • Use Airdrop to share photos with fellow tour members.

  • Use built in GPS to track our bus routes.

  • Use built in fitness tracker to know how far we had walked or hiked each day.

  • Use downloaded Rick Steves’ audio walking tours. (Example: Wonderful in the crowded St. Mark’s Cathedral where I felt like I was in my own world.)

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