Gardian Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Our French neighbour is a confirmed stay-at-home-oholic. "Why would I want to go off anywhere else?"He's having an operation in Grenoble later this week (an ankle re-build, so happily nothing life-threatening) but he refuses to accept that he won't be home for the weekend. Daft, but I'm beginning to side with him.Reasons:Planning the trip to cover all eventualities (see below)Making the booking Getting to the airport / station / portParking at extortionate ratesOverweight baggageSecurity checksSerious delaysStrikesWrong type of snowVolcanic ashI ended up with 14/30 problems on the above on our last 3 trips back to the UK and they were one each of train / air / drive, so a reasonable mix. Oh and since I've been here for the last week, the last one doesn't really count. so 14/27.I think that I'll stay put for the foreseeable future & do what I did this pm - snooze in the sunshine for an hour or so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Trunk Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I have a friend who maintains that holidays are a time when you pay a lot of money to be less comfortable than you would be in your own home. I used to think he was an old cynic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Er.............isn't travel supposed to broaden the mind?[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Isn't there a saying "it is better to travel than to arrive" perhaps in the current climate this one is better left unsaid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Cendrillon, there is also a saying, is there not ,along the lines of "Discretion is the better part of Valour"?[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 LOL[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 [quote user="Cendrillon"]Isn't there a saying "it is better to travel than to arrive" perhaps in the current climate this one is better left unsaid![/quote]It is in fact a corruption of a quotation by Robert Louis Stevenson from Virginibus Puerisque, 1881: "Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour."Amen to that ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 [quote user="AnOther"][quote user="Cendrillon"]Isn't there a saying "it is better to travel than to arrive" perhaps in the current climate this one is better left unsaid![/quote]It is in fact a corruption of a quotation by Robert Louis Stevenson from Virginibus Puerisque, 1881: "Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour."Amen to that ![/quote]What, you got a bet then with the bookies on G Brown winning the election?[:P] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cendrillon Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 "What, you got a bet then with the bookies on G Brown winning the election?"At this rate there could still be a lot of people stranded abroad and unable to cast their votes![:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Zoff Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I would answer the original question with: "Variety is the spice of life".But each to his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northender Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 I think I'll be voting for the Icelandic Volcanic Ash Party.They've done more to solve the Immigration problems in the UK than Labour have done in the last 13 years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 haha. for the original question of this topic:- open your mind to new perspectives and experiences- practice foreign languages- appreciate what you have and don't have in your home region- try new food! :Phey guys didn't see a welcome so i'll say hello here! found you from google... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted April 22, 2010 Author Share Posted April 22, 2010 [quote user="cookie"]haha. for the original question of this topic:- open your mind to new perspectives and experiences- practice foreign languages- appreciate what you have and don't have in your home region- try new food! :Phey guys didn't see a welcome so i'll say hello here! found you from google...[/quote].............. and hello to you too. Any more perceptive advice you'd care to offer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 Hi gardian, what do you mean?I just think traveling's biggest benefit is expanding your view.Not just for entertainment - it helps you understand more about where you came from.What you have and don't have, and how much bigger the world is than you feel on the regular day.Do you agree or? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 Quite agree me old Biscuit.My two sons have been fortunate enough to travel an awful lot since they were very young. They both say it has expanded their horizons both literally and mentally.And another reason to travel, sometimes, just sometimes you visit a place so awful that it makes you appreciate what you have at home [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Guerriere Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 aha, been to Lagos then ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 [quote user="La Guerriere"]aha, been to Lagos then ?[/quote]What's wrong with Portugal ?John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I agree totally with Gardian's French neighbour. I travelled here from England, I am happy and neither need nor want to go elsewhere.John - every day seeking apathetic perfection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I was lucky enough to have parents who took us all over Europe in the early 60s when it was much rarer than it is now to holiday abroad. My mother spent her holidays with a French family when she was little and I did the same. This is the third different country I've lived in since I was born. I don't know if I'm any better for this as a person but I do know I have lots of great memories of the places I've been (with one or two exceptions!) But the o/p's neighbour is bang on in one way imo - what a bloomin' palava planning for travel can be. It was great when your parents had all the hassle and you only had the fun. Oh for a holiday for which somebody else has done all the planning/ticket buying/organising of how to get the pets looked after etc, etc. It can take the gilt off the gingerbread a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 I so agree, Coops, about all the faff and hassle before you go away and then when you come back.I used to love travelling and did a lot of it from a young age. I, too, have lived in different countries (the last one being Wales, if you count that as a country, it certainly felt entirely foreign to me when I first went there!)Now, I'm not keen on air travel (since planes have got so crowded and noisy and the toilets are dire), and not that ready to drive for miles on end (though I still love driving in France) and not that fussed on trains (since there are no longer porters to help with the luggage).I guess that from now on it will have to be Shank's Pony (are you listening, Jen, and are you training for the Compostelle?[:D]), executive jet or privately chauffered car. So that, in effect, leaves just the one option, doesn't it?[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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