My husband has been doing this for a long time - a deep naval gazing look into how the trip went. After this particular trip it seemed like a good idea to me as well. What did I like or dislike about this trip and how can we make it better next time.
Timing of trip and weather
We left home in mid-October and returned in mid-November on this trip. The last week was pretty miserable with rain -sometimes very heavy - almost every day. It also got cooler than I like. But weather is fickle and it also depends on the location we are traveling to. End result - I would like to leave mid to late September and return at the very latest by the end of the first week of November.
How organized do we need to be?
In the past - before Covid-19, we would have all rentals locked down before we left home. Because we weren't sure if the trip would have to be canceled because of Covid, we only planned the first few rentals. Daughter Alexis and family met us there several days after we had arrived. We chose that house based mostly on the cancelation policy. There were a lot more nicer homes that basically said you can cancel up to 2 hours after we approve you or we get at least 50% of the rent even if you don't come.
We waited until a week or so before our trip to book our first hotel - and didn't look closely at the terms and didn't get what we expected. From then on we booked for the next week or so ahead of time. This meant much time was spent looking at rentals while traveling and adding stress and more mistakes. End result: Planning the whole trip ahead of time is much less stressful. But also acknowledging that this trip was during covid and pretty much had to be handled this way. Neither of us liked doing it this way.
Can we still travel in our usual manner at our age?
Maybe not! We usually have 2 large suitcases, 3 backpacks, and a camera bag on wheels to start with. Then add large bottles of water, bags of groceries and extra sacks of dirty laundry and unpacking and repacking things into your car every few days can be very exhausting and physically difficult. Add in a couple of flights of stairs in the rental and it gets crazy.
We take about 14 changes of clothing each trip - that's a lot of stuff. But still getting the laundry done when you are moving around is a problem. Europe doesn't do dryers - so everything has to dry naturally. If the weather doesn't cooperate you can be left carting around wet clothes.
What about Driving a rental car?
Michael said he enjoyed driving in Italy. But we definitely had some scary moments. I myself was not comfortable driving there. While Michael is behind the wheel, he counts on me to notice things that he doesn't have time to notice. Most of the time, especially driving in towns and cities I am doing a constant monologue: See that person jay-walking in front of you, I think that traffic light is turning red, SLOW DOWN, don't turn there, its a one-way, etc. The last week or so of the trip I realized that I was feeling a lot of pressure in my chest that just would not go away. After a few days at home it all disappeared. It's nice to know that it was caused by stress and not a medical issue. But I would definitely like to avoid or at least lesson that feeling.
Touring with a Guide
I think we are going to have to change how this works for us. We did two different days in Palermo with the same guide. Guides are expensive - so they want to give you your money's worth. But I ended up so exhausted and physically sore, especially after the first day. When we tour by ourselves, we go at our own pace. We can stop when we need a rest. We can take our time taking photos and just enjoying the area. Guides do provide a lot of history and local information. They can take you to great areas of a city that you would not be likely to visit and generally make the experience more enjoyable. We may have to find a compromise somehow.
Is it still enjoyable to travel?
A resounding YES from me. I still love going new places and seeing new things. But I don't need to see every Roman Bath that still exists. We can slow down and make wise decisions to cut some things out of our usual ambitious agenda. Here are some of the things I love about travel:
Wandering around and exploring a town
Really getting into taking images
Finding a great restaurant or gelato place
Wandering into a great experience - like the parade in Taiwan, or the train experience in Japan
What's Next?
We would like to try living in Europe for an extended time. We explored getting a Golden Visa, perhaps in Greece, but have decided that buying a home and all the accompanying repairs and problems would be too stressful. We lately discovered the Digital Nomad Visa. Portugal has an exciting one and we have a trip planned in late April - May 2022 to explore options in Portugal. Our thoughts are that we would use it as a base to explore other countries in Europe. Travel from one European country to another would take less time and money. We could stay less time - maybe a week and so take a smaller suitcase.
We would also get to know a country or at least an area of it much better. We are looking for an experience like we had in Cefalu, Sicily, living in an area within walking distance to grocery stores, restaurants and the beach. We are hoping to find something like it in Portugal. Here is hoping we are successful next Spring!
