My planning is done.

[vernon]

I've selected the out bound and inbound flights. I've ordered the maps of the 1200 mile route to read on the plane. I'll pick the gear for packing on 17th July, pack on 18th July and fly on the 19th July..

Job done.

 

[steveindenmark]

Good planning Vernon. Where are you going to?

Steve

 

[vernon]

Good planning Vernon. Where are you going to?

Steve

Budapest to pedal to Constanta in Romania.

There's bugger all to do until mid April when I can buy rail tickets to get me either to Constanta or from Constanta depending on which direction I'll pedal the route. I'll probably make the decision on the day of booking.

 

[bigjim]

Sounds good. I'm always wary though of planning so far ahead.
I always remember that old adage. "Man plans, God laughs"
Last tour had to alter flights two weeks before because of Grandsons hospital appointment.
Only just booked flights for my mallorca February trip.

 

[steveindenmark]

Go on then Vernon, I am intrigued.

Why did you pick Budapest to Constanta. Is it because of family/friends. How long have you set aside for it?

Steve

 

[vernon]

Go on then Vernon, I am intrigued.

Why did you pick Budapest to Constanta. Is it because of family/friends. How long have you set aside for it?

Steve

I've been cycling along Eurovelo Six in instalments and reached Budapest last year. I normally spend two to three weeks out of the UK and usually travel to and from the end points by train. That sort of time frame mitigates against splitting Budapest to Constanta into two instalments as four to six days' worth of train travel would eat into cycling time. I'd put the last stage onto back burner while I looked for shorter rides.

I was looking at doing the Compostela de Santiago next year because I can catch the European Bike Express bus four miles from where I lived and it drops off at a point that's a forty minute train ride from the start. Looking at the bus schedule it appeared that a month seperated the drop off and pick up and when I mentioned that to my wife she told me to go for the month. I didn't fancy a month spent largely in Spain as I'd want to learn Spanish as I like to go native and although I was happy to survive with a little Spanish for a week and a bit I'd want to communicate with more clarity in an extended stay so I began looking for alternatives...

I discovered that Jet2 flew to Budapest from Leeds Bradford Airport and they have a clearly written bike transport and charging policy which at one fell swoop removed all reservations that I had about air travel with a bike. Added to this I discovered that I was due £1200 back pay and, when coupled with the cheap airfares to Budapest and cheap rail travel in Eastern Europe, my summer tour was almost totally funded from the get go and Budapest to Constanta or vice versa was a goer. I will be away for twenty eight days with around twenty two spent on the road with rest allocated to travel and unscheduled stops.

Languages? I abandoned any notion of trying to learn the panoply of native languages that I will encounter en route and will rely upon German and English. I found that German got me out of the mire when looking at bi-lingual Hungarian restaurant menus devoid of English.

As you can see, for me, all my planning efforts go into getting to and from the tour. The tour tends to look after itself and I prefer all the surprises to occur out on the road rather than at a missed connection at the end points.

 

[vernon]

Sounds good. I'm always wary though of planning so far ahead.
I always remember that old adage. "Man plans, God laughs"
Last tour had to alter flights two weeks before because of Grandsons hospital appointment.
Only just booked flights for my mallorca February trip.

Having seen air fares rise disproportionately as departure dates encroach; Leeds to Berlin from £80 to £240 return, my wife learned an expensive lesson when booking our 'cheap' half term break - "Dont think and talk about it - do it!"

Besides cancellation insurance is budgeted in to all my travel plans when going to Europe.

5hit happens independently of any time timetable so waiting for something that might happen is an act of futility.

 

[bigjim]

Having seen air fares rise disproportionately as departure dates encroach; Leeds to Berlin from £80 to £240 return, my wife learned an expensive lesson when booking our 'cheap' half term break - "Dont think and talk about it - do it!"

Besides cancellation insurance is budgeted in to all my travel plans when going to Europe.

5hit happens independently of any time timetable so waiting for something that might happen is an act of futility.

I'm not waiting on things.
I don't suffer the half term thing. My wife does. as she works in education. but we have seperate holidays. I go on the bike and she does hot beach things with the daughter and grandkids. They book about 8 months ahead.
Out of term time I find the flight costs don't vary too much. Anyway I don't decide my routes until a couple of months before.

 

[vernon]

I'm not waiting on things.
I don't suffer the half term thing.

We wouldn't have suffered the half term thing had my wife bought the tickets when we agreed that we were going to go to Berlin. By the time she got her finger out and bought the tickets the cheap seats had gone leaving only the full price tickets. Budget airlines have pricing strategies akin to the railways. Cheap travel can be obtained if booked far enough ahead.

My hols are pretty similar to yours. She does the hot stuff and I disappear on my bike though that's likely to change now the the offspring have flown the nest.

The point I was making about you not planning far ahead is that it doesn't matter when you make a booking, disaster can strike between making the booking and the travel whether or not you book a week ahead or eight months ahead. Leaving things to the last minute does invariably lead to higher prices and reduced availability for flights, sleeper berths on trains and train travel itself. I'm not affluent enough to caution to the wind and pay full whack at the last minute.

Besides. Now that the travel to and from the tour is sorted. There's room to fill my time with fripperies and fun.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Enjoy, Vernon! Sounds like you have a fine touring holiday coming up.

 

[Chris Norton]

I'd never heard of the express bus. Thanks for pointing out.

 

[Bodhbh]

Languages? I abandoned any notion of trying to learn the panoply of native languages that I will encounter en route and will rely upon German and English. I found that German got me out of the mire when looking at bi-lingual Hungarian restaurant menus devoid of English.

German still seems pretty much the second language in that part of the world. I regret not brushing up my schoolboy German before heading off, although being able to ask for campsites and spotting free rooms is good enough. French is handy in Romania - probably any of the Romance languages - as the volcabulary is not a million miles away. I don't mean for talking to people, but for reading signs, menus, etc. Good luck anyhow, be interested how you find it.

 

[mmmmartin]

Does this mean we won't be seeing you on the Caen to Bordeaux ride with the Fridays?

 

[vernon]

Does this mean we won't be seeing you on the Caen to Bordeaux ride with the Fridays?

At some time in the future I will be in a position to have enough free time to do a Fridays' tour but that's a couple of years away at the earliest.

Completing the Danube Cycle route has been nagging away for a couple of years and I've just go to do it.

 

[vernon]

German still seems pretty much the second language in that part of the world. I regret not brushing up my schoolboy German before heading off, although being able to ask for campsites and spotting free rooms is good enough. French is handy in Romania - probably any of the Romance languages - as the volcabulary is not a million miles away. I don't mean for talking to people, but for reading signs, menus, etc. Good luck anyhow, be interested how you find it.

I've found a promising online language learning app. Duolingo. My wife's learning Italian by using it. I have started to use it for German improvement. I could use my wife, she's a German teacher but I suspect that tension would arise so an alternative avenue was sought and found.

I can book campsites, rooms, understand navigation instructions and buy goods in German but I have a limited vocabulary and understanding of the grammar.

I'm confident that I'll cope. Much to my wife's chagrin I demonstrated the ability to read and understand Greek when we holidayed in the Greek Islands. Being a scientist/engineer, the Greek alphabet and phonetics were second nature. and I quickly mastered basic transactional Greek.