Travel

[PickyPicky3]

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@patbz wrote:

I have travelled to many countries and lived in Europe and Asia; I also am multilingual.  I have travelled with and without travel agents as well as tour companies.  As a previous poster stated, it depends where you are going as to which option is best.  If I'm in USA or Europe, I'm fine on my own but if I'm in China or on the Amazon where I don't know the language and can't even read the signs, I'll take a tour.

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@patbz  I've been thinking about your post for two days. If you're OK in Europe where there are 24 official languages, what is it about the Amazon that blocks you? Everybody speaks Spanish, Portuguese, or the ubiquitous Portan~ol. I spent a month on the Amazon traveling alone in 1969 and had no problem whatsoever.  At that time I was limited to Spanish and Portan~ol. I had contact with indigenous people, but never saw a sign written in any of their languages. I mostly remember being hot and sweaty, having creatures run through my room at night, and being told not to put my hands or feet in the water. 

[patbz]

@PickyPicky3 :  I don't speak Portuguese and most of the people I encountered spoke no tourist English.  I was given a laminated picture language guide ( you pointed to ice, medical help, need for police etc) which really helped.

[Icegoddess]

I have always done all the arrangements for our yearly ski trip, but we always go to the same resort, so I just call them even though I could also just book online.  I go directly to Delta for airlines.  I won't use Hotwire for that again.  I do use Hotwire for the car rental and the one night hotel before our trip back home.  It has become a lot of stress for me though and I have declared this the last yearly ski trip since the prices went up terribly for everything.

We only did that one trip every year and that left nothing to go anywhere else.  I really want to do an Alaska trip, and I expect to use a travel agent for that.  Tell them what I'm looking to do and let them do the research.  I don't want to do just a cruise with a day trip.  I think the train might be fun, but I also want to do some guided flora/fauna hiking. 

I consider flying an undesirable necessity.  I used to enjoy flying, but it's awful now.  I haven't been on a smooth flight in years.  I hate the turbulence and being packed in and the space between seats getting less and less. I also hate that they want to up-charge for everything.  That's something the resort we go to started this year too, and another reason I don't want to go again.  I requested a King Size bed, and the next day I got an E-mail telling me they could guarantee me a King Size bed for $15/day extra.  I told them no thanks, I would sleep on the couch.  If they had a King Size room available at the time I booked, they should book us in it.  

[PickyPicky3]

@patbz   Okay! I was further up the Amazon where Colombia, Brazil and Peru meet, so everybody speaks at least some of both Spanish and Portuguese.

I would expect there are more English speakers in Portugal.

Thanks.....

[SANNA]

Always myself. I do it really well.

[Bridgegal]

In 55 years of traveling as an adult, I've never used a travel agent.  In fact, I've seldom booked hotels in advance.  I like to plan as I go and don't want to be locked in to a hotel or city if I am ready to move on.  

Having said that, as a beginning traveler, I would suggest a short tour for a start.  Pick a couple of places you would like to see and talk to a couple of travel agents.  See if you really enjoy traveling, some don't.  Then go from there.

All the best to new adventures and happy trails.

[Josefina]

It depends on your travel plans. If you are going on a European or other parts of the world on a tour, I would recommend you do it using a travel agent. If something happens, like issues with air fare and flights, they will handle it and you will avoid hours on the phone on hold.

[Hoovermom]

DH is our travel agent for 47 years and has always done a great job.  I just ask him where we are going and what time LOL.  He loves all the details of the trip and plans for months in advance.  If you love those details, go for it.

[RK from Miami]

For fly and drive trips TripAdvisor is the way to go. For cruises ,I use AAA travel.They get great rates for hotels and air fare through the cruiselines. I tell them where we want to be on the ships and what room number.I use the ship layout to get this information.They do the rest...

[bargainsgirl]

Depends where you go.  We went to Italy with a tour.  It was wonderful.  Next trip we went to 5 European countries on our own but had a travel agent plan flights and activities for us.  Going with the full tour was less stressful and if we ever went overseas again it would be with a tour,