Catching the Travel Bug: When it happens and what to do next

[I decided to publish this episode sooner than my 2 week schedule since the first episode was so short.]

For those of us who enjoy traveling, we can all pretty much pinpoint the trip when we would say we were "bitten by the travel bug".  For me it was an amazing trip I took with my parents and sister in August 1975, which began on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and continued through some of the most popular European destinations.  I've got some amusing stories about our journey.

I'll also give you some of my tips for making the most of your travel.

Finally, I'll introduce you to the first "big trip" Duncan and I took together to Greece, starting with an unforgettable experience in First Class on Trans World Airlines in 1995.

Transcript

Getting Bit by the Travel Bug: When it Happens and what to do next

Hi there, I’m Russ and welcome to Explorations All Over.

Today, I’m going to be talking about getting bit by the travel bug; how does it happen?  when? and to whom?  And what happens to you AFTER you’re bitten?

I’m going to tell you my story and then share with you the first trip abroad Duncan, my husband, and I took together to Greece.  So let’s go.

I was just 13 when my father decided to book a transatlantic cruise on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (commonly known as the QE2) sailing from New York to Southhampton in July of 1975 for he, my mother, my sister and me.  I had NO idea what was in store.  All I knew that it was a big ship (well not compared to the leviathans today) and that we were going to end up in England.

Afterwards we were going to drive around England and parts of Europe.  The whole trip was supposed to be just over 3 weeks.  Quite an adventure, but I had no idea what was in store.  I mean, what 13 year old kid gets to travel on an ocean liner.  In First Class, no less!

So we arrive at the pier soaked to the bones from a summer downpour.  Of course the ship’s photographer has to get a picture of your standing by the life saver with the ship’s name on it.  Seriously?!  My first impression is something that’s supposed to be thrown to me if I fall overboard?!  All I could think is, “this can’t be good”.

And so we started out on our 6-day crossing of the Atlantic.

Now it’s important to note that, unlike most cruise ships these days, back then there wasn’t such a thing as a “kids’ program” and there weren’t that many other kids on board as it was.  So we spent our days playing ping pong, shuffleboard, doing jigsaw puzzles and going to the theater to watch movies.  It was too cold outside to use the outdoor pool, so we swam in the indoor pool.  Now swam may be pushing it.  The seas were a little rough and the waters in the pool got pretty churned up, so I spent most of my time trying not to get bashed against the tile walls while trying to keep the saltwater out of my eyes.

Now don’t get me wrong.  The QE2 was amazing; one of the last great ocean liners that made the Atlantic crossing in style.  She was decorated in a very “mod” style (this was the ’70’s remember).  Our staterooms were well appointed, but there was no WiFi back then and no televisions in the rooms, so for entertainment you had to find it or make it yourself.  Each day a program was delivered to your stateroom that told you about what was happening on board, a tradition that continues on ships to this day.  For example, in the evenings after dinner Cunard set up a DJ in one of the bars so the younger passengers could enjoy a disco at sea.

Speaking of dinner - the food.  Unlike ships today that have lots of alternative places to eat, on QE2 each class was assigned their own dining room and their own table in that dining room and their own waiters and wine stewards for that table.  We were in the Britannia Restaurant and ate all of our meals there.  In case you’re wondering there was no buffet, I’m not sure they were even invented yet  This was the era of the Love Boat and cruising really hadn’t taken off yet.  Breakfast and lunch were more casual, although you were still expected to follow a dress code.  Dinner, on the other hand, was a dressy affair.  Women wore gowns and men were expected to wear at least a jacket and tie, but formalwear was reserved for special nights.

Check out the companion Facebook page for Explorations All Over.  I’ve post a few pictures of our QE2 boarding experience including one of me in my “groovy” dinner outfit.   While you’re there don’t forget to like the page, too.

Every night was a multi-course affair and one night I got my first taste of caviar with all the trimmings.  Now THAT was something I could get used to.  After dinner my parents would head off to the Queens Room for dancing and my sister and I would try to track down the other kids to see what they were up to.  We didn’t have to worry about a curfew or getting lost - we were in the middle of the Atlantic, after all!

We arrived in Southhampton and took the boat train up to London.  London!  We took in all the sites Big Ben, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, ate in some nice restaurants and tried food I’d never heard of before, took in some West End shows, including The Mouse Trap, which is still playing to this day!  After a few days it was time to move on.  To Paris!  The Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe and all that is Paris was ours to discover.  And the food!  The food of course was amazing, but - again - most of it I had never heard of or tried before, but my father insisted I taste everything.

Then it was off to Italy.   Rome, Milan and Florence.  There was one slight problem, all service workers were on strike, which later in life I came to realize was a normal occurrence in several European countries.  So in all the hotels staffing was bare bones, so they let us go into the kitchens to help ourselves to whatever we wanted when we were hungry.  But we still got to see the sights - the Colosseum of course being the place that stuck in my memory.  In Florence, due to the strike, the hotel hadn’t had a chance to give the pool a good cleaning, but it was HOT (summer in Italy?) and we jumped in.  The challenge was getting out; the walls had a slight coating of algae that made the walls rather slick, but we somehow managed to escape.  Although how we didn’t get sick from the water I’ll never know.  Milan, of course, was beautiful.  To be perfectly honest, we had done so much up to this point it’s hard to look back and remember it all.

And like the French food in Paris, we feasted on italian cuisine, which for a 13 year old boy usually only meant pizza and spaghetti. 

Next we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark.  We arrived and I felt like I was in another world!  At the time I was learning French in school, so I could understand a little of the language when we were in Paris.  Italian sounds a little bit like French - well to my ear, at least, so I could pick up a few words.  But Dutch?!  No way.  The people were super nice and, like in many countries, a lot of the people speak English, which made things a heck of a lot easier. Imagine my joy when we were told about Tivoli Gardens, the amusement park right in the center of Copenhagen.  It was a break from cathedrals, tourist sites and old world history.  For my sister and me it was a dream come true and we had a blast.  But hen there was the food.  Um.   No.  Not so much, but my father wasn’t having it.  He told us we had to at least try it and we did and we actually found a lot to like, although I don’t think I will ever be a fan of pickled herring no matter how old I get.

My father booked an overnight trip to Malmo, Sweden, a city that was accessible from Copenhagen by boat, for which there were two options: the high speed ferry which took a few hours and the slower ferry which took half a day.  It was with great excitement that we boarded the ferry to go to Malmo and after we left the harbor my mother asked one of the crewman when the ferry would start, well, speeding, only to be told “this is as fast as we go”.  Oops.  Someone bought the wrong tickets and we were on what we later dubbed “the slow boat to China”.  When we docked we couldn’t get off the boat fast enough.

Malmo is a charming old world town with cobblestone streets and half-timber houses.  We stayed in an old hotel whose elevator was pretty much a coffin on a chain.  No kidding.  You could actually hear the clanking of the chain and gears as the contraption went up and down.  My mother thought it was hysterical to stand at the little window of the door to the elevator as my sister and I rode by over and over.  Tivoli Gardens it wasn’t.

The following morning my sister and I went to get our parents to leave for the ferry (high speed this time, my father guaranteed us) only to find them in their room eating the most god-awful smelly cheese with bread and fruit.  We both made a face and my father insisted we try a piece and, to be honest, it wasn’t bad.  It just smelled like death.  When they finally got themselves together we headed back to the port, boarded the ferry and zipped back to Copenhagen.

When we got back It became obvious to us all that we were growing weary of each others’ company.  It got to the point where we didn’t even want to eat meals together, and we still had another week left in the trip.  Too much of a good thing?  Maybe.  My father called a family meeting and we agreed it was time to go home, the news of which came as a welcome relief to us all.  

My father called his travel agent who rebooked our return flight.

We had to fly to London to get a flight back to JFK in New York.  We were on a 747 in Economy and four of us were booked in the middle section, middle seats.  OH! I think I forgot to mention… my parents were smokers, so we were sitting in the smoking section.  Now THAT’s a throwback from the past!  Smoke on a plane today and you get fined, and don’t even think about tampering with, disabling or destroying the lavatory smoke detectors.

Unlike on today’s flights where you get your selection of movies, TV shows and music, back then they offered one movie, projected on a screen at the front of the cabin.  I’ll never forget the movie - The Pink Panther, which my mother thought was hysterical and several times we had to tell her to keep her laughing down as we were getting dirty looks from our seat neighbors.  You didn’t want to watch the movie, you just went without.

We got back home and unpacked.  Even though our trip was cut short it was still an amazing journey.  I had been to countries I had only read about in school.  I saw sites both familiar and completely new.  I experienced local cultures and local cuisine, getting out of my comfort zone.  And I got to experience a disappearing mode of travel - crossing the Atlantic on a luxury ocean liner.  I would have the pleasure of sailing on QE2 several times more in later years, and each time I was as excited as the first.

After that first trip, that was it.  I was hooked.  I wanted to see more places, learn about other cultures and peoples, try new foods and simply experience all the world has to offer.  Over the past 30+ years I’ve done just that.

Next, I want to share with you the very first trip Duncan and I took together to Greece.  It was a combination land tour and cruise and began for us our Explorations All Over.

When we first met, Duncan and I talked about our hobbies and interests, and one that we shared was our love of travel.  We really didn’t get to do anything about it until August of 1995, when we booked a trip with Our Family Abroad, a now-defunct travel company specializing in group travel for gay men.  Essentially what they did was book a Globus tour and resell the tickets to gay men.  The tour was part land based and part cruise of the Greek Islands, which sounded like a lot of fun and great way to get the best of both worlds as it relates to Greece and to meet new people

We decided to book our own airfare as Duncan had earned Million Miler status with Trans World Airlines due the amount of travel he did for his job.  Because he had SO many miles we were able to book round-trip First Class tickets to Athens from JFK using miles.  What a difference that was going to be from the experience I just talked about on our flight from London.  For the cruise, the only thing we had to select was the cabin on the ship, Epirotiki Cruise’s Odysseus, for which we opted for the top “Level A” cabin.  More on that later.

The day finally arrived.  We got into a taxi and headed for JFK and TWA’s iconic terminal designed by Eero Saarinen.  We pulled up, got out our bags and walked inside.  Looking to the right, there was a long counter with lines of passengers 15-deep waiting to check-in.  To the left there was an identical room, with an identical counter with red carpet and no passengers.  A staff member walked up to us and asked if she could help us.  Duncan replied, “Well we’re flying today to Athens in First Class, but we’re not sure where we should go.”   “Please sir, come with me.  May I see your tickets?”  (These were in the days where you still had a printed ticket.  I don’t mean boarding pass, I mean actual ticket!)  She unclasped the velvet rope and walked us up to one women behind the counter.  Meanwhile a porter took our bags.  “Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Gibson are traveling with us to Athens this evening (it was about 5 in the afternoon).”  Taking the tickets from the first woman, the second said, “Wonderful.  Welcome Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Gibson.  Just give me a minute.”  She started typing in her computer (sorry, barcodes or QR codes were a long way off) and a few minutes later handed us our tickets and boarding passes.  With a smile she said, “There you are gentleman.  Thank you for choosing Trans World Airlines.  I hope you enjoy your flight.”

We took the proffered papers and turned to find the first woman waiting behind us.  “If you’ll follow me,” she said with a smile and we did.  She walked us to the First Class lounge a short distance away, and entering the space we were both blown away.  It was like you were in a 5-Star gentleman’s club with dark panelling, thick carpet, warm lighting and soft music.  Our escort spoke to the woman behind the counter saying, “Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Gibson are joining us on our flight to Athens this evening,” and turned to us saying, “Enjoy your flight gentlemen and thank you for choosing TWA” and off she went.  Without missing a beat, the woman behind the counter warmly greeted us, told us about what was available in the lounge and that an announcement would be made when our flight was ready for boarding.

Let me just say that in all of the flying we have done weather on Qatar, Emirates, Singapore or any of the other wonderful carriers we traveled with, this lounge experience could never be topped.  There was a spread of food that included everything including a carving station with roast beef, various side dishes, cold shrimp cocktail, salads, soups and a myriad of desserts.  And of course a full bar.  You didn’t grab a plate, you simply told them what you wanted and they brought the plate to you and asking you what you would like to drink.  I don’t even remember what I had to drink, but I would guess I ordered the only thing I thought anyone EVER drank on a plane (day or night) - a bloody mary.

A soft bell sounded and a voice came over the PA, “Flight xyz to Rome is now ready for boarding.  Will the guests for our Rome flight please gather in the reception area.”  This continued for other flights to Paris, London, and other destinations around the world.  At a certain point the announcement was made for our flight and we went to the reception area.  Another woman was there with a  clipboard and asked us our names and, once we were all gathered, we left the tranquil sanctuary of the lounge for chaos that was the terminal.  You see, all of TWA’s European flights left at relatively around the same time.  The terminal, as clever as it looked was clearly an example of “form follows function”.  So in a space that could comfortably accommodate 200 passengers, you had 5 747’s worth of people crammed together.  Later, Duncan would say that the only thing missing were goats and chickens!

No bother.  Our escort simply PLOWED her way through the crowds with a very loud and authoritarian “EXCUSE ME!” and the sea of humanity parted to let us on to our aircraft.  Once on (we were in the nose of the 747) , we were shown to our seats.  Well.  To call them seats is an understatement.  They were literally recliners that could be found in any man cave; one and a half person wide, upholstered in crushed velvet and the seat back was easily 1/4 mile away.  You actually had to stand up and walk over to it to get the “Emergency Procedures” card.  We weren’t in our seats more than 30 seconds when 4 flight attendants descended upon us.  “What can I get you to drink?” “Here is today’s menu.  I’ll be right back.”  “Would you like a newspaper?”  Duncan and I were overwhelmed and all I could think was “this is how the other half lives”.

Being honest, the only thing I remember is that dinner was served from a trolley and everything plated individually including sliced roast beef and lobster tails.  The entertainment mirrored my flight from London: one movie.  I was so tired I think I just fell asleep, only to wake up to (some sort of breakfast, I guess) and our landing.  This was it!  We were going to be in Greece.  GREECE!

The plane touched down and the plane  made its way over to the terminal.  At some point, the aircraft stopped and the “Seat Belt” sign was turned off.  All of us in First Class stood up to gather our things.  At that time the Athens airport didn’t have jetways, so a staircase was rolled up and the front door opened.  A passenger, let’s just say NOT in First Class, started to move toward the door.  Without missing a beat, one of our flight attendants called out to the other - “YOUR CURTAIN!” and immediately the flight attendant slid the curtain shut and stood in front of it.  The bus waiting was only for First Class passengers.

We got on the bus and went to baggage claim.  Once we had our bags we looked for the person with the Our Family Abroad sign.  Finding him we all gathered and, once together, were directed to a bus that was to take us to our hotel in Athens.  The ride there, I remember, was very quiet, whether from jet lag or nerves I didn’t know.  The guide tried to talk to us about where we were and what we were seeing, but I don’t think anyone really cared at that point.  All anyone cared about was getting to the hotel and getting some sleep.  We arrived and it was a very organized check in.  We were given a schedule of events, which included an informational session with welcome drink with our guides Nani and Lisa.  Duncan and I got our keys, went to our room and took a nap before the meeting.

It was about 5:00 when we all gathered in what I guess would be called a theater, in rows of seats with a table at the front.  At the table sat two women, one in her early 30’s with long dark hair and big sunglasses, kind of a stereotype of what Americans think Greek women look like.  The other was an older, with lighter and shorter hair.  I think they were as nervous as we were.  We were each given a glass of ouzo, the licorice flavored drink a lot of people associate with Greece, and took our seats.  Let me say there were about 35 of us in the group, which you can count in the picture I posted on the Explorations All Over Facebook page, and we were all curious about each other, I mean these are the people we are going to spend the next 2 weeks with.

The woman with the dark hair stood up, took off her sunglasses and introduced herself to us as Lisa and introducing the other woman as Nani.  We had all been given folders with full itineraries in them, and Lisa went over it briefly.  The first portion of our tour, the land portion, would be lead by Nani who had been a Greek history teacher before becoming a tour guide.  Nani, she said, would accompany us to all the historic sites, would coordinate our hotel and dining arrangements and, when she was not leading the tour, would coordinate with the guide who was designated for that particular site.

At the end of the land portion, Nani would bring us to the pier in Piraeus, the port for Athens, where we would board the Odysseus and begin our Greek Island cruise.  Lisa said she was responsible for us during that portion of the tour and would coordinate all activities on the ship and on land for us.  Lisa said knew that we would all be jet-lagged and tomorrow would be an easy day for us with a bus tour around the sites in Athens.  I guess we must have then gone out for dinner, which would be our first chance to get to know our fellow travelers, but all I remember was being tired and just wanting to get some rest.  The next morning we were up, got something to eat, and hopped on the bus to see all we could see of Athens.

This seems like a good place to stop.

But before I sign off, I want to give you some of those tips and suggestions as they relate to my European vacation and the start of our Greek adventure.  While I was fortunate that my father booked us in such amazing accommodations on QE2, that wasn’t always the case.  So my first tip is: book travel that is affordable for you.  It doesn’t have to break the bank, otherwise you won’t enjoy it.  It also doesn’t have to involve some exotic locale or foreign destination.  Some of the best trips you can take are a short car ride away.  Second, be open to new experiences.  Travel should break you out of your comfort zone, but take small steps, don’t just jump in head first.  Third, there is risk in travel.  I don’t mean your plane going down or your ship sinking, I mean set your expectations accordingly.  I’ve been to places that were supposed to be amazing and were quite the letdown and, on the other hand, unusual places that simply blew me away.  Duncan and I like to recap after each trip, “What did you love?”  “What didn’t you really care for?”  Doing this each time serves as a guide for the next trip.

Join me next time as I tell you all about our Greek adventures that involved a very hung over tour guide and a near mutiny on a ship!  Until then, thanks for listen to my Explorations All Over.