I’ve never bought travel insurance before but seems like it’s a good idea for an overseas trip. American Airlines offered it thought Allianz at checkout, but I assume that’s not near as good as getting it elsewhere? Anyone have any recommendations?
Just booked plane tickets to Italy/Switzerland. Arriving in Rome, departing from Geneva back to the US. Now to fill in the blanks in between.
I did buy the travel insurance.
3 Likes
Italy valley ny?
I think this is true for most people, but for me it’s the opposite and I vastly prefer very short trips with a lot of intensity. I find long trips stressful but I also don’t enjoy “relaxing” on vacation (eg sitting on a beach, laying around a hotel, etc).
1 Like
Yeah, I like the short intense trips with a few days to relax at home when we get back.
Home is more relaxing than any place else I could be if I am just sitting around.
I feel rushed if I travel for anything less than two months 
This changes when you have kids with you.
I used to be that way too.
Ha yeah of course! I do realize my situation is insanely flexible, I’m sure if I had kids I’d be going to Cancun for the week or something
And you would be happy AF to get back.
1 Like
What was your job that allowed you to travel like that when you were younger?
It was mostly pre-job. In college and after I’d always travel for about 6wks in the summer. Poker money was helpful in funding that. Also before I got my first job, my wife and I took about 6 months and did a trip around the world. That was entirely funded through a variety of zero interest credit card offers and balance transfers. It was a lot of debt. However, I knew that I could make the money back, but I’d never have the time to do something like that again until I retired. That has proven to be true, so it was clearly one of the best life/financial decisions that I ever made.
1 Like
Very cool! Always good to do it when you’re young. It really is too bad the way most American jobs and career arcs are set up that it’s not possible to take some extended time off to travel. I’m always impressed when I meet Europeans traveling for 6 months or so, who have employers who are cool with it and they have their same job lined up when they get back.
Nice! Couple of points of general advice. First, Do Not Try To See Everything. Very important. Secondly, this is more just my opinion, but I would plan to spend as little time as is feasible in the cities in Italy. Like of course you’re going to have your list of things to see in Rome, but then it’s hot, crowded, and has people constantly trying to sell you things and I would just GTFO. Also I assume your wife will kill you if you don’t take her to Venice before it sinks into the ocean, but I wouldn’t even think you were crazy to skip that and I don’t think any of the other cities in Italy are unmissable (though I haven’t been to Milan). There is so much nice stuff in Italy outside of that. The Amalfi coast, Cinque Terre, the Dolomites and the rest of the mountainous north, Tuscany, Lake Como, etc etc. Maybe others will disagree, I’m not much of a cities guy in general and I have no idea how kids affects this not ever having had any, but I’m just speaking my truth here.
As other have mentioned the Lauterbrunnen area of Switzerland is nice, this includes nearby Interlaken which is an extreme sports mecca if that’s the sort of thing any of your family are into.
Thanks. Have heard “don’t try to see everything” from many people. My wife has never met a plan she didn’t think could be improved by more steps, but I’m here to counter that. Like, she’d be trying to organize day trips to Munich if I let her. It’s part of the reason we’re flying back out of Geneva instead of Zurich: she will get to say we also visited France.
As for the cities, I am right there with you, but it has definitely been impressed upon me that we need to spend some time in Rome. We’ll be on our trip for 13 full days (travel excluded) and are spending four of those in Rome, which seems fair. I do think Venice will be on the itinerary, but even two or three days there should leave us time to do some exploring. It feels like everybody and their fratello will be at Lake Como at the end of July, so was checking out Lake Orta.
1 Like
Residence in Istanbul denied. It was like they flipped a switch and were accepting basically everyone and now are denying basically everyone. There would’ve been no way to see it coming, just bad timing.
Already have a flight booked to Bucharest for April 20th, on to the next thing!
I think we’re doing 3 months in Romania, a month in Bucharest, Brasov, and Cluj. Brasov seems too cool to pass up (as TheNewT50 pointed out). One thing I’m realizing is that travel between countries in the Balkans is complicated. I might have to circle back to Bucharest then fly to Belgrade, which would kinda be annoying, but even the train from Timisoara to Belgrade is no longer active, which is absurd.
Also trains are slow as fuck. I’m not expecting Paris to Lyon in 2 hours type speeds, but Bucharest to Cluj is a shorter distance and would take 4-5x as long. Flights seem cheap enough between capitals, so I’ll probably rely on that and then a few trains within the country.
2 Likes
Florence is unmissable for anybody with the slightest interest in the Renaissance, but if you’re not a buildings and museums sort of person the rest of Tuscany probably has more to offer.
The Balkans are mostly bus territory–it’s basically like Mexico*, with lots of decent buses going all over the place from nice, big bus stations. I think once we left Sofia we didn’t board a single train until we stepped on the ferry to Italy, and I love traveling by train. Once of the biggest surprises of the area. Romania’s train service is good, but domestically-oriented.
*Except Albania. Albania is like Central America, with lots of little weird little buses called forgons going everywhere from random little lots you have to ask locals to find. Likewise Moldova, but I doubt you’ll be going there lol
I tend to agree Italy is better for the countryside than the cities. Mainly because it has some of the best countryside in the whole world.
Day 2 Italy: still awesome
Rome is incredible. Maybe the crowds just aren’t here yet but it hasn’t been that crowded. The whole damn city is a museum. The history is everywhere. Today we did Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, Colosseum, Forum and Palantine Hill. The visuals are spectacular and we had a great tour guide. My kids didn’t get bored even with a long day and tons of walking.
The locals have been great, though I did my homework and mostly think I know how to avoid being the annoying American. The only two negatives: everyone smokes and the drivers are absolutely insane.
6 Likes