Baby Boomer Travel, pt 1

Plan Ahead Or Suffer.

Once you step out your front door the machinery kicks into gear.

It’s either too late to change plans, or you don’t want to be the one changing.

Be a good sport. Baby boomers know how to be good sports.

We also know how to whine so don’t be alarmed when you hear it.

BOOK ENOUGH CONNECTION TIME BETWEEN FLIGHTS

Is this a travel planning problem or an airport planning problem?

When you get caught short of time, find an empty wheelchair. Throw the slowest in your party on it along with all carry-on gear and take off on the run.

Chances are good the wheelchair was for someone else. They won’t chase you, but they’ll want their chair bad enough to get someone else to chase.

If you get caught, pretend you don’t understand whatever language they speak.

APPLY FOR YOUR PASSPORT SOON ENOUGH

You’re leaving the country and need a passport. That means you’ll need a birth certificate.

I was born in an Army hospital. It was torn down. I had to call a state office for birth records and pay for the honor.

If you have a passport, but want to apply to your ancestral nation for dual citizenship, it takes more than a passport.

Check on that before you go.

MAKE SURE YOUR HOTEL IS NEAR THE CITY CENTER OF YOUR DESTINATION

Pamphlets say things like “Located near city center” and it’s true when the city was a thousand years younger.

If you travel to Barcelona do you want the modern city or the old city? You want the old.

It’s called the Gothic District or Jewish Quarter. Narrow streets wind around everywhere. You can get lost, but not for long.

Find a map and use it.

DO TOO MUCH ON ONE TRIP

You’ll show up jet-lagged and feel like a zombie for three days.

Once you snap out of it, hit the streets and don’t stop.

Boomers with a treadmill in the garage collecting dust have an advantage here.

A few months before you take off, start walking.

Be the traveler in the best shape and be proud. If that’s you, expect to carry the luggage up flights of stairs. Everyone else will be too tired.

BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES

You don’t like churches and museums? Then stay home.

You don’t like art and architecture? Stay home.

You don’t like new food and suspicious drinks? If no one else drops dead, you won’t either.

You don’t want to dress like people in the country you’re visiting? You probably won’t get kidnapped, but why stand out?

GET OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Again, you probably won’t be kidnapped so relax.

Most groups have people who want to take travel adventure further than you, some not as far.

Find your comfort zone, but don’t be a travel sissy.

If you find yourself in a Muslim palace and see an unmarked tunnel, move along.

If it starts raining hard and there’s no place to stay dry, get off the beaten path and into the tunnel.

Sure it’s scary, but you’re not the first to fear the place.

Budgettravel.com listed ten mistakes but my readers are sharp enough to avoid a few on their own.

What’s been your biggest travel mistake? Share it in comments.

Put yourself in the travel picture like boomerpdx.