Travel Forum

We have started planning our trip to New England this September and October to visit friends and family.  I grew up in the Boston area.  Weekends we would take drives to New Hampshire or Vermont as our family get-away.  I remember visiting Gloucester, Franconia Notch, the Flume, Conway, and Hampton and Rye Beaches fondly.  I also spent a few weeks one summer on Martha's Vineyard and Moosehead Lake, Maine, with neighbors.  It will be fun getting back "home" and re-visiting these sites and finding more.  Ideally we'll visit in peak foliage season.

I had thought fall foliage developed from north to south.  It is more accurate to say foliage develops from inland towards the coast; from the Canadian border to the sea.  For that reason I'm considering driving from up-state  New York into Northern Vermont and Maine then down the Maine coast into New Hampshire and inland and south into central Massachusetts then east toward Boston and south to Rhode Island.   Ideally I'll plan a short drive between campsites with daily sight-seeing excursions.

In researching the best time to go and sites of interest, I've discovered a number of websites that will help me in my trip planning.  Here are a few of those:

An interactive guide to peak color in New England:   http://www.yankeefoliage.com/peak-foliage-forecast-map/
Maine, past foliage reports (slow site):                      http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/projects/fall_foliage/report/past.shtml

I'll add to this section as our plans develop and I would love to hear from people who know the areas or who are planning a similar trip.

Ron

Rome is our first stop on trip to Italy, Turkey, and Greece this spring; next week actually.
I have traveled through Italy a few times, but never took or had the time to see Rome.
Ellen has visited Rome a number of times.  It will be fun to see the sights she loves.

We will be staying in a flat booked through homeaway.com in Trastevere, to the south of the old city.
There is a trattoria very close by; I can smell the early morning espresso now.

Here is a video of the "artist loft" we booked in Rome.  It is simple and perfect for us.  I expect we will be seldom indoors, preferring to walk the city.
I'm told living in Rome is like living in a fairy tale museum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHkHoblAYGU

Our Retirement Celebration is upon us!

We're headed off on a one month trip to Europe next month.  We'll be staying a week in Rome and Istanbul, taking a two week Seabourn Greek Island Cruise, and staying a week in Venice and Florence.  Ellen has traveled extensively in Italy and she is excited to be going back and to show me some of her favorite places.  I've traveled by train through northern Italy stopping in Milan on the way to southern Germany.

In the past we had used travel agents to arrange hotel accommodations.  This trip we have booked through homeaway.com.  I looked into AirBnb, but I did not like their full payment up front policy.  Based on the pictures, the map location, and email chains with the owners; we should have very comfortable if modest flats close to the city centers. 

I have long wanted to sail the Greek Islands in my own skiff or sailboat.  For now a comfortable and elegant cruise will do nicely. Ellen and I prefer to be spontaneous in our travels and love the freedom to pick and chose what we want to do once we have arrived.   We are not schedule driven people; our plans are always flexible.  Now a cruise is quite different.  The ports of call are fixed, the Seaborn shore excursions are fixed, arrival and departure times at each port of call are fixed.  Worse, we had to book our excursions ahead of time to be sure to get a spot. A 4x4 tour of one of the islands had just one spot open.  We had to go on a waiting list for the second seat!

Still we expect the cruise to be one of our most memorable.

I'll post more detailed information about our homeaway bookings and the cruise soon.

Ron

With retirement less than two years off, my mind wanders to travelling this great country of ours. The most efficient method appears to be an  RV.  Drive to a beautiful spot, park, and live for a few days then move on. Sounds idyllic.

But the choices: Class A, B, or C.  Personally I think I'd prefer a smaller rig, a sprinter van perhaps, then the class B look good, but the Class A can be more comfortable inside.

I am a scientist/engineer and I enjoy researching alternatives before making any choice.  I have two YEARS to select an RV which means plenty of research and give and take, some short term rentals, and driving impressions.  This will be fun for me and I look forward to seasoned RV'ers comments and contributions to the discussion to follow.

I've visited a number of websites selling RVs and found that a single RV may be listed on a number of sites.  I've also found that there's a class B+ model that interests me.  I'll post more about my leanings in the next few days. 

Ron