Travels - or 'Travels-are-us'

[SusanDoris]

Throughout my whole life I have always been interested in travel, and have been lucky enough to visit, however briefly in some cases,  a large number of countries.
This topic should not be an 'I've-visited-more-countries-than-you' thread for obvious reasons, but  what we have seen and learnt will, I am quite sure, be of interest.

Perhaps we can start with somewhere small! Luxembourg. When I was 22, I spent a few hours there on a coach excursion from somewhere else (in Switzerland if I remember correctly) and am in e-mail contact with a 95-year old I know who now lives there with her daughter and family. She used to live on the IoW and we would meet in Lymington. She is the aunt of a friend I met through 5W who lives in Brisbane!

[Walter]

Throughout my whole life I have always been interested in travel, and have been lucky enough to visit, however briefly in some cases,  a large number of countries.
This topic should not be an 'I've-visited-more-countries-than-you' thread for obvious reasons, but  what we have seen and learnt will, I am quite sure, be of interest.

Perhaps we can start with somewhere small! Luxembourg. When I was 22, I spent a few hours there on a coach excursion from somewhere else (in Switzerland if I remember correctly) and am in e-mail contact with a 95-year old I know who now lives there with her daughter and family. She used to live on the IoW and we would meet in Lymington. She is the aunt of a friend I met through 5W who lives in Brisbane!

Hi SD

I too visited Luxembourg with my new wife when I was a younger man on our year long tour of Europe, A weird and wonderful place as I remember it .
Now you've brought back many memories of a lifetime many years ago , thank you .     

[Walter]

If I had started this thread I might have called it this;

'do we have to roam the world to prove how much it hurts?'  (the proclaimers).

some days I miss my old life

[SusanDoris]

Between your last two posts I wrote the one below. Went to 'post' and, as so often happens, up came 'this page can't be displayed'. I always make copies just in case!

Can you remember what prompted your interest in travel? I have traced mine back. Pre-war my family lived in Jersey and my mother flew back to Southampton to have me, so before I was six weeks old, I'd flown twice! I still have a copy of the Echo article about being the youngest passenger ever to have flown on Jersey Airways.  I think there must be a ;wants-to-travel' gene though, because just to hear a plane flying overhead was enough to make me run to the window just to see it. Then when I was 9, I started three years at the NLCS (North London CollegiateSchool, where the class teacher had, before the war travelled to Australia. It had taken six weeks and her Geography lessons throughout the year were all about that journey.

You will, I hope, say more about the countries in Europe you visited and what impressed you, or did not, about them.

Until I was 16, I had been only to Isle of Wight, but loved learning Geography and  Latin, French and Spanish which increased my desire to travel.  Talk of travel to far-off places was music to my ears.

[floo]

Between your last two posts I wrote the one below. Went to 'post' and, as so often happens, up came 'this page can't be displayed'. I always make copies just in case!

Can you remember what prompted your interest in travel? I have traced mine back. Pre-war my family lived in Jersey and my mother flew back to Southampton to have me, so before I was six weeks old, I'd flown twice! I still have a copy of the Echo article about being the youngest passenger ever to have flown on Jersey Airways.  I think there must be a ;wants-to-travel' gene though, because just to hear a plane flying overhead was enough to make me run to the window just to see it. Then when I was 9, I started three years at the NLCS (North London CollegiateSchool, where the class teacher had, before the war travelled to Australia. It had taken six weeks and her Geography lessons throughout the year were all about that journey.

You will, I hope, say more about the countries in Europe you visited and what impressed you, or did not, about them.

Until I was 16, I had been only to Isle of Wight, but loved learning Geography and  Latin, French and Spanish which increased my desire to travel.  Talk of travel to far-off places was music to my ears.

In 1952 I was two when I took my first flight to the UK from my home island of Guernsey. I remember the airhostess handing out the cotton wool for the ears and barley sugar sweets to suck as the cabins in those small planes were not pressurised then.

[Walter]

Between your last two posts I wrote the one below. Went to 'post' and, as so often happens, up came 'this page can't be displayed'. I always make copies just in case!

Can you remember what prompted your interest in travel? I have traced mine back. Pre-war my family lived in Jersey and my mother flew back to Southampton to have me, so before I was six weeks old, I'd flown twice! I still have a copy of the Echo article about being the youngest passenger ever to have flown on Jersey Airways.  I think there must be a ;wants-to-travel' gene though, because just to hear a plane flying overhead was enough to make me run to the window just to see it. Then when I was 9, I started three years at the NLCS (North London CollegiateSchool, where the class teacher had, before the war travelled to Australia. It had taken six weeks and her Geography lessons throughout the year were all about that journey.

You will, I hope, say more about the countries in Europe you visited and what impressed you, or did not, about them.

Until I was 16, I had been only to Isle of Wight, but loved learning Geography and  Latin, French and Spanish which increased my desire to travel.  Talk of travel to far-off places was music to my ears.

SD

bit short of time at moment but will be happy to tell some tales soon 

[jeremyp]

One thing I have learned is to pay attention in arrivals at Mulhouse Airport. I was travelling to Basel in Switzerland but there are two doors out of the baggage reclaim hall, I went out of the one to France. I didn't realise my mistake until the taxi driver I was trying to persuade to take me to Basel pointed it out.

I had to go back into the airport, down a corridor connecting the two halves of arrivals, that had a customs checkpoint in the middle of it, and then out on the Swiss side.

[SusanDoris]

One thing I have learned is to pay attention in arrivals at Mulhouse Airport. I was travelling to Basel in Switzerland but there are two doors out of the baggage reclaim hall, I went out of the one to France. I didn't realise my mistake until the taxi driver I was trying to persuade to take me to Basel pointed it out.

I had to go back into the airport, down a corridor connecting the two halves of arrivals, that had a customs checkpoint in the middle of it, and then out on the Swiss side.

A super traveller's tale! Definitely one of which to take due note!

[Aruntraveller]

I don't know whether they still ask this but on both occasions I flew into Australia in the 90's I was asked the question:

"What do you do for the Queen?"

On the first occasion I replied it depends on the Queen. Hmm. Their immigration staff don't appear to have a sense of humour.

We did establish that they were asking what you did for a living. Which was difficult as we had sold a business and were travelling around the world for 4 months. So technically we were unemployed. Advice - don't joke and take proof of a healthy bank account.

[Walter]

I don't know whether they still ask this but on both occasions I flew into Australia in the 90's I was asked the question:

"What do you do for the Queen?"

On the first occasion I replied it depends on the Queen. Hmm. Their immigration staff don't appear to have a sense of humour.

We did establish that they were asking what you did for a living. Which was difficult as we had sold a business and were travelling around the world for 4 months. So technically we were unemployed. Advice - don't joke and take proof of a healthy bank account.

when I flew into Australia last year I wasn't asked that question but I was taken aside and searched along with a group of unsavory looking characters (mainly women) who were all instructed to remove their shoes.

When I asked why I was being searched they said it was because I had declared some prescription meds and they were checking I had declared the correct amounts !!!

they let me through with no problem , suddenly becoming quite friendly, however saying if I had not declared that particular med , I would have been arrested .

BE WARNED FOLKS!

[Humph Warden Bennett]

I don't know whether they still ask this but on both occasions I flew into Australia in the 90's I was asked the question:

"What do you do for the Queen?"

On the first occasion I replied it depends on the Queen. Hmm. Their immigration staff don't appear to have a sense of humour.

We did establish that they were asking what you did for a living. Which was difficult as we had sold a business and were travelling around the world for 4 months. So technically we were unemployed. Advice - don't joke and take proof of a healthy bank account.

It would have helped if they had asked a sensible question. In my experience of the Oz they don't have a sense of humour, they just have a funny accent.

[SusanDoris]

Trent

could you say a word or two about the places you visited and how you travelled, time of year, etc?

[Aruntraveller]

Trent

could you say a word or two about the places you visited and how you travelled, time of year, etc?

We travelled quite a lot in the 80's and early 90's - not so much since. Flying although necessary I find increasingly difficult so we limit ourselves to shorter flights.

But in 1985-6  we spent 6 months backpacking around India and Nepal. Then in 1989-90 we spent 4 months on the round the world trip which took in NY & Connecticut, San Francisco (in time for the 89 earthquake!) Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, India (again). Then In 92 Canada's West Coast and Australia again.

When I have time I will try to put a bit of meat on the bones of that brief description - but the places that affected me most deeply were India & Canada - albeit for very different reasons. More anon.

[SusanDoris]

Trent

thank you - I look forward to hearing more.

I think I'll take my travels alphabetically!
Aden America Andorra Aruba Australia Austria

Adene: Apart from annual visits home, I spent 1958-66 in Little Aden, where the BP refinery and town were situated on the opposite 'point' of the huge, horseshoe-shaped bay where Steamer Point was on the other 'point. My two sons were born in the BP hospital there.   If you look on google Earth, go south down the Red Sea, turn East at the corner then go along the coast until you find Bandar Sheikh, you will see a smaller bay and the house I spent most of the time there was in the row nearest the sea, but all those houses were taken down long ago.
I liked the heat because there was always a movement of air and only twice a year did things get really humid. I made some lovely friends, had the experience of driving regularly to Steamer Point, the colours of the rocks and the sea, the air-conditioned, furnished etc accommodation, the one time where heavy rain fell for three days and 'Silent Valley' became a carpet of colour instead of rock and sand, the availability of constant, good water to drink, the fresh fish sellers who brought a choice to one's door, similarly material sellers, the travel to and from by sea, BUT

those years were over-shadowed by  the abuse and violence meted out to me at unpredictable times right from my arrival there four days after wedding by my ex. It took me a few years to begin to find ways to get through and out of that. It is so long ago now though, and he, after a spell working in Libya, moved to Australia, and died years ago. The friends I made lasted although several of them have died but the memories I keep are the sunny ones.

Andorra: Spent an hour or so there on a day coach trip, so I cannot say much about it!
Aruba: spent ten days there with friends who had moved there because of work. Rather Americanised, but it  was most interesting being in that part of the world. 

America next.

[jeremyp]

when I flew into Australia last year I wasn't asked that question but I was taken aside and searched along with a group of unsavory looking characters (mainly women) who were all instructed to remove their shoes.

When I asked why I was being searched they said it was because I had declared some prescription meds and they were checking I had declared the correct amounts !!!

they let me through with no problem , suddenly becoming quite friendly, however saying if I had not declared that particular med , I would have been arrested .

BE WARNED FOLKS!

That's very topical. You should always be very careful what drugs you take into a foreign country, even if they are legal here.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/26/middleeast/laura-plummer-egypt-tramadol/index.html

[Walter]

Trent

thank you - I look forward to hearing more.

I think I'll take my travels alphabetically!
Aden America Andorra Aruba Australia Austria

Adene: Apart from annual visits home, I spent 1958-66 in Little Aden, where the BP refinery and town were situated on the opposite 'point' of the huge, horseshoe-shaped bay where Steamer Point was on the other 'point. My two sons were born in the BP hospital there.   If you look on google Earth, go south down the Red Sea, turn East at the corner then go along the coast until you find Bandar Sheikh, you will see a smaller bay and the house I spent most of the time there was in the row nearest the sea, but all those houses were taken down long ago.
I liked the heat because there was always a movement of air and only twice a year did things get really humid. I made some lovely friends, had the experience of driving regularly to Steamer Point, the colours of the rocks and the sea, the air-conditioned, furnished etc accommodation, the one time where heavy rain fell for three days and 'Silent Valley' became a carpet of colour instead of rock and sand, the availability of constant, good water to drink, the fresh fish sellers who brought a choice to one's door, similarly material sellers, the travel to and from by sea, BUT

those years were over-shadowed by  the abuse and violence meted out to me at unpredictable times right from my arrival there four days after wedding by my ex. It took me a few years to begin to find ways to get through and out of that. It is so long ago now though, and he, after a spell working in Libya, moved to Australia, and died years ago. The friends I made lasted although several of them have died but the memories I keep are the sunny ones.

Andorra: Spent an hour or so there on a day coach trip, so I cannot say much about it!
Aruba: spent ten days there with friends who had moved there because of work. Rather Americanised, but it  was most interesting being in that part of the world. 

America next.

SD

You've sound to have had a very interesting early life mixed with a lot of sadness which I'm sorry to hear about but you came through with some with some lovely friends .

Here's a little story about some people I met when I was travelling with my new wife in France in the mid 1980s

I had met the woman who would become my wife on a blind date arranged by a friend of mine from work, 12 weeks later we were married and because she worked in a building society we were able to get a mortgage at a big discount and we bought a lovely bungalow on a hilltop on a small estate with great views.
A year had passed and I was restless and after a long discussion we decided to sell up and do some travelling . We had made a substantial profit on the house and bought a Transit Dormobile and set off to see what we could find .

Our intention was to find work where we could and just enjoy ourselves while we were young . we had many adventures but the one I'm going to relate  was in a place called Port Grimauld in the south of France .

 My wife got a job in a service laundrette and I worked for the same bloke who also owned a very select restaurant in the same area. Life was good . I was introduced to Sofia Loren , Yule Briner, and Roger Moore who came in every day for breakfast although the place was closed! He would invite me to come and sit with him at his table while he ate the food id made for him and we would chat about everyday stuff , he really was a lovely chap , a proper gentleman

After a couple of months the chap I worked for  (also a famous English person) realised there was more to me than cooking egg dishes and began to confide in me about his business and the trouble he was having with a group of local French business men who were trying to drive him out .

By this time he was worried about his 18 year old daughters safety whenever she went out in the evening so he introduced me to her and we agreed that when she went out I would accompany her in the background and ensure her safely back home  , for which I was paid a bloody fortune .

One evening I was accompanying her back home, walking down a road to the sea where her apartment was  when this French chap stopped us and asked if I was her boyfriend  , she did the talking because my French wasn't that good, then he swung round and a fist caught me to the side of my head and I went down .

I saw him ride off on a moped   , she was crying , I got to my feet and thought what have I got myself involved in ?

Next morning my boss wanted a full account of last nights activities so I told him . He was visibly distressed and left the room only to return a few minutes later and sat down. He then passed across the table top a small hand gun and said his daughter was the most precious thing too him and asked me to take it with me next time his daughter went out .

This changed things for me profoundly but the money was ridiculous so I agreed .
The gun was never loaded but I continued to 'mind' this girl for about a month until the harassment seemed to stop at which time I gave the gun back and the wife and me moved on

My missus  knew what I was doing but not until years later did I tell her about the gun   at which point she went mental with me

btw if you are wondering about me and the girl .............

[SusanDoris]

Walter

Many thanks for telling a very interesting story.
Next instalment, please!

[jeremyp]

SD

You've sound to have had a very interesting early life mixed with a lot of sadness which I'm sorry to hear about but you came through with some with some lovely friends .

Here's a little story about some people I met when I was travelling with my new wife in France in the mid 1980s

I had met the woman who would become my wife on a blind date arranged by a friend of mine from work, 12 weeks later we were married and because she worked in a building society we were able to get a mortgage at a big discount and we bought a lovely bungalow on a hilltop on a small estate with great views.
A year had passed and I was restless and after a long discussion we decided to sell up and do some travelling . We had made a substantial profit on the house and bought a Transit Dormobile and set off to see what we could find .

Our intention was to find work where we could and just enjoy ourselves while we were young . we had many adventures but the one I'm going to relate  was in a place called Port Grimauld in the south of France .

 My wife got a job in a service laundrette and I worked for the same bloke who also owned a very select restaurant in the same area. Life was good . I was introduced to Sofia Loren , Yule Briner, and Roger Moore who came in every day for breakfast although the place was closed! He would invite me to come and sit with him at his table while he ate the food id made for him and we would chat about everyday stuff , he really was a lovely chap , a proper gentleman

After a couple of months the chap I worked for  (also a famous English person) realised there was more to me than cooking egg dishes and began to confide in me about his business and the trouble he was having with a group of local French business men who were trying to drive him out .

By this time he was worried about his 18 year old daughters safety whenever she went out in the evening so he introduced me to her and we agreed that when she went out I would accompany her in the background and ensure her safely back home  , for which I was paid a bloody fortune .

One evening I was accompanying her back home, walking down a road to the sea where her apartment was  when this French chap stopped us and asked if I was her boyfriend  , she did the talking because my French wasn't that good, then he swung round and a fist caught me to the side of my head and I went down .

I saw him ride off on a moped   , she was crying , I got to my feet and thought what have I got myself involved in ?

Next morning my boss wanted a full account of last nights activities so I told him . He was visibly distressed and left the room only to return a few minutes later and sat down. He then passed across the table top a small hand gun and said his daughter was the most precious thing too him and asked me to take it with me next time his daughter went out .

This changed things for me profoundly but the money was ridiculous so I agreed .
The gun was never loaded but I continued to 'mind' this girl for about a month until the harassment seemed to stop at which time I gave the gun back and the wife and me moved on

My missus  knew what I was doing but not until years later did I tell her about the gun   at which point she went mental with me

btw if you are wondering about me and the girl .............

That's a very intriguing story. Do you have any idea what she said to you to get you decked?

Also, as soon as the gun came out, I'd have been backing off very fast. It's a whole new ballgame.

[SusanDoris]

America R&E

In 1981 I spent nearly three weeks there. Personal contacts in two places, but otherwise I stayed with people on the Mensa hospitality register. It was really interesting to organise the trip ;I managed to get a cut-price flight with El Al.  While there, I travelled Greyhound much to the horror of some Americans, butI  encountered only helpful people.  ,  I made it clear that I was not expecting to be entertained. My host in Pittsburgh was slightly weird but as soon as he realised ]I[/I] was not going to entertain him, I had a key and went sight-seeing and eating out on my own.  In Buffalo my host, male, had a partner who lived nearby and they took me to Niagara and a wonderful art gallery where there was a a large canvas on which was painted a hemisphere. It was so cleverly done that, as you came round the corner to face it, it had a 3-D effect. It was impossible to look at it and accept that the canvas was flat.  Boston  was of course very interesting.
New York, Pittsburgh (why do you want to go there, people said, but it was such a lovely, warm and friendly place), Buffalo, Boston, Newburgh (home of  West Point) then Pennington, a suburb of Princeton, where I stayed with friends of my aunt and with whom I did the commute to work next morning on the train. Last morning, first thing, Empire State Building - first in the queue! Got talking to the next person, a sheep farmer from Australia who happened to know my ex and who took some pictures of me so that he could show them to friends when he returned. I said what happens to the sheep while you're away, but he said they are quite all right on their owmn at that time of year.

The woman I stayed with in Newburgh remained a friend for many years.
In 1988 or 89, I went for a weekend to Newburgh. People said that was daft, but it was excellent - flew to Boston and travelling by bus to Newburgh I passed miles and miles of gorgeous autumn colours.
In the 1990s I made two more trips. One to San Francisco, Santa Cruz (stayed with friends) Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon, Chicago and a place near Michigan where I stayed with an ex exchange teacher I'd met in Australia. The other to near Michigan again and Newburgh.
Actually, I think I've missed another one to Newburgh...
I loved it all.

[Maeght]

btw if you are wondering about me and the girl .............

I'm not.

[Harrowby Hall]

Four trips to Japan. My daughter was living there at the time.

I used LastMinute.com and Expedia to make my bookings, and providing I wasn't fussy who I flew with it was not particularly expensive to travel.  In fact I travelled with Emirates, Scandinavian and Air France. I had considered using Aeroflot but chose Air France instead - but I still saw a lot of Russia, flying into the Arctic Circle on the great circle route. I have seen Siberia (from 35,000 feet) and I don't want to go there!

In Japan I have travelled between Tokyo and Fukuoka on the shinkansen (JR Rail Pass, obtained from the Japan Tourist Office in London, worth every penny) and have visited Kyoto, Nara, Kurashiki, Himeji ... to name but a few. I was based in Hiroshima - one of my favourite places anywhere and visited Miyajima loads of times. On three of the visits I spent a few days in Tokyo - which I pride myself I can find my way around.

I loved Japan and want to go there again ...

As some of you will know, I own property in France. When I am there I feel as much at home as I do in England.

[SusanDoris]

Thank you for that - it is so interesting. When you are in Japan, what does it feel like? That is something of a daft question, but what I mean is, does it feel calm, people going about their daily lives very actively but in a controlled fashion? Are suburban roads completely different in layout and look from here or in France for instance? Is it mostly apartment flocks, or individual houses with gardens? I expect shopping mals are not that much different from everywhere else, but  what about small town shops?Is there a huge difference between town and country life?

[Harrowby Hall]

Well, Japan passes the First Rule of Civilisation: they drive on the left!

The Japanese people are like toothpaste: they come in two sizes, small and regular. The change to a western protein-rich diet after WW2 is the reason, perhaps the arrival of Macdonalds. The elderly tend to be small, young and middle-aged people perhaps Mediterranean in build. It seemed to me that there are not as many tall people as you would find in the west. One thing that did shock me was seeing very elderly women almost bent double from osteoporosis.

Japan is a mountain range that sticks out of the sea. The vast majority of people live in a fairly narrow coastal strip. Greater Tokyo, with a population of approaching 40 million is a mass of huge apartment blocks. I doubt that Suburbia - in any British sense - really exists to any great extent. There are individual houses, some with gardens, others with shared space, but they can be tiny compared with what we are used to. You do glimpse rather more spacious areas from the shinkansen, but you are travelling at nearly 200 mph!

The rush hour at Tokyo stations like Shinjuku and Ikebukuro has to be seen to be believed as thousands of people forge through each other on the way to their personal destination, not, apparently, seeing anyone or anything other than their personal goal - Platform 5 or whatever.

I found the people, in general, unfailing pleasant and polite. There was sufficient Romaji script (Roman alphabet) to make navigation relatively easy, and English speakers were common. I found myself being asked if I was American or Australian and being treated with increased interest when they learned I was from England.

One thing I discovered was that in some towns there was a shopping area that was - effectively - a covered shopping street (Google: Hondori Hiroshima). Otherwise there were very large shopping centres (Google: Canal City Hakata).

Among the real delights, for me, were the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, sometimes both part of the same complex - you could enter a temple and find a tori (Shinto gateway) among the buildings. In Nara and on Miyajima, there are herds of tame deer (shika) who wander among the tourists, allowing themselves to be petted and fed.

And no-one should be surprised if, during a short visit, they experience an earthquake or two ...

[SusanDoris]

HH Many thanks. That was most interesting.

In Australia, one  of the first things I noticed was the brighter light and the sharper colours. Here I think colour is more sort of subdued. Can you say what the overall impression is in the cities in Japan?

[Harrowby Hall]

HH Many thanks. That was most interesting.

In Australia, one  of the first things I noticed was the brighter light and the sharper colours. Here I think colour is more sort of subdued. Can you say what the overall impression is in the cities in Japan?

I don't understand. Do you mean ambient light or artificial light?

Ambient light is partially determined by latitude and climate. Honshu occupies roughly the same latitudes as Spain but with a climate that is influenced by the Pacific Ocean. Summer can be very humid and there is also, effectively, a rainy season of several weeks. Winter is affected by airstreams from Siberia and can be cold. It can therefore be very cloudy. I went there in spring and autumn - I don't recall the quality of daylight being different from anywhere else I have been.

As far as artificial light is concerned, Japanese cities are riots of neon signs and advertising. Especially at night.