Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick
Even a few years ago, it seemed implausibly expensive to bring your own mobile phone to Europe. Now that phone calls are getting (a little) cheaper and free hotspots make it easy to download data, do you travel with your mobile phone? If so, to what extent do you use it? If not, how do you make phone calls while you’re traveling?
As a student traveler sleeping in dives, just getting a warm trickle of water was a challenge. Later, figuring out how to use the shower was a trick. Now, more rooms have showers and more showers function easily and well. When traveling in Europe, how much of a concern is finding a shower and then being able to use it without freezing or scalding yourself? What kinds of issues have you had with European showers and bathrooms?
I love the idea of creatively finding a free bed in Europe. I used to do it routinely. These days, I usually sleep in hotel rooms. How much a part of the equation is sleeping free for you? What super cheap options (couch surfing, AirB&B, other social B&B networks, etc) are useful to you and why?
The way travel agents make money has morphed in the last decade away from commissions on flights. I still book my plane tickets to Europe with a living, breathing travel agent for whom I’m very thankful. Who else still uses a travel agent? Why? For what? And, when it comes to getting a ticket from the USA to Europe, what tips do you have for scoring the best fares? How about tickets for flying within Europe?
For 30 years I’ve had chapters in my ETBD guidebook about hitching and camping. Do any of you still do that? Should I just drop both chapters?