[Idyllchat] Re: IdyllChat Digest, Vol 13, Issue 2

Mon Aug 6 18:07:17 EDT 2007

Hi Valyis,  

Your email brought back many pleasant backpacking memories.  In the summer of 1978, between her Junior and Senior year in high school, our daughter and I backpacked in England and Scotland.  Joan, my wife, was delighted because I had always wanted to bum around somewhere in Europe with minimal possessions, no reservations, and no itinerary.  Moreover, she figured the escapade would cure me of what she felt might be a mental disorder.

Little did Joan know at the time, because the 1978 trip was such a blast, in the summer of 1980 she would accompany me on a similar backpacking trip to seven European countries.

In 1982, still far from cured, our college-age son and I did the backpacking shuffle in Switzerland.

Here is commonality among the three vacations.  OK, they were really adventures, but I still consider them vacations.

1.  Two weeks
2.  Travel using a train pass.
3.  Sleeping at campgrounds in a cheap puptent bought at Caldor (anyone remember Caldor?) using individual sleeping bags made by cutting up and sewing appropriately a quilted king-size bedspread bought at Marshalls.
4.  Reaching campgrounds by hiking or by bus from the nearest train station.
5.  No reservations (except the plane)
6.  At best, a vague itinerary
7.  Roundtrip plane ticket

Here are the gateway cities and campground locations:

1978 (15-day BritRail train pass)

London (arrive)
a.  Nottingham
b.  York
c.  Edinburgh 
d.  Chester 
e.  Paignton 
London (depart)

1980 (15-day Eurail pass)

Brussels (arrive)
a. Aachen, Germany
b. Bacharah, Germany 
c. Weissenburg, Germany
d. Innsbruck
e. Florence
f. Biot, France (near Cannes)
g. Grenoble
h. Bern
i. Luxembourg
Brussels (depart)

1982 (15-day Swiss Pass)

Zurich (arrive)
a. Interlaken
b. Zermatt
c. Ascona
d. Interlaken (again)
Zurich (depart)

A few things you might consider:

A.  Backpacking can involve hotels (or hostels), campgrounds, or some combination.  Which will it be?

B.  Where do you want to go?   Pore over a map of Europe and dream.   Michelin Map 970 is excellent but a bit unwieldy.  That is, your map folding and unfolding skills will be tested.  The 1980 trip to seven countries in two weeks covered roughly 1,500 miles.  Needless to say, while it can and was done, 1,500 miles is ambitious for a two week backpacking trip.  For Michelin Map 970, 1,500 miles corresponds to a piece of string about 32 inches long.  Regardless of map, you might scale a piece of string to the distance you feel you might want to cover in two weeks and move it around as you test various itineraries.

C.  With A and B out of the way, you should be in a good position to decide plane flights appropriate for your itinerary as well as a suitable train pass.

Should you wish, feel free to email me directly for more information.

Good luck and happy travels.

Dick Stewart

From: Attila Valyi 
  To: idyllchat at lists.untours.com 
  Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 12:23 PM
  Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] Re: IdyllChat Digest, Vol 13, Issue 2

  Hello everyone!

  My wife and I are looking to backpack Europe in June 2008 for about 2 weeks. We would like to purchase a 5 day Select Pass to 5 countries for 2 months through  www.eurail.com. (http://www.eurail.com/eurail_select_pass?start=1&currency=usd)

  Has anyone out there tried this service yet? Does anyone have any good pointers? Is it more expensive to just purchase the train ticket when you're there? 

  Can anyone help us out with these questions?

  Thanks

  The Valyi's

  ----- Original Message ----
  From: Roberta Churchill <bobbie929 at comcast.net>
  To: RPonsonby at aol.com; idyllchat at lists.untours.com
  Sent: Monday, August 6, 2007 10:46:59 AM
  Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] Re: IdyllChat Digest, Vol 13, Issue 2

  What has this to do with Idyllchat?
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: <RPonsonby at aol.com>
  To: <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
  Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 3:41 PM
  Subject: [Idyllchat] Re: IdyllChat Digest, Vol 13, Issue 2

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