Traveling Our Way -- Some "How To" Tips                                           July 6, 2001

Perhaps you're thinking of trying the nomadic life, or maybe you're wondering how we choose stopovers, decide on what to see, arrange for hotels, etc.  It's easier than you might think (for example, we often ask friends or locals for suggestions), and, as long as you're willing to "go with the flow," things mostly work out.  To travel this way, you do have to have minimal "expectations" and, of course, you have to be flexible.  My friend Mitch says we "travel like Innocents".

For people who like to plan, there are lots of resources on the web that can help with ideas and clear up uncertainties.  But if you travel as much as we do, planning takes too much time, and since I do it all, I get by with as little as necessary.  Instead we mostly just arrive.

Our overriding criteria for choosing places to go are safety and weather.  We  avoid political hotspots and places that don't like Americans.  Weather-wise, we like it mild and sunny, so we try to choose stops where the weather is likely to be good.  I like traveling in the "shoulder season" best; it's less crowded and less costly.

We met Mel and Nina at a wedding in Detroit.  They thought the travel life would suit them and are currently planning a six-month around-the-world trip.  They had some questions about making arrangements before a trip.  These are reproduced below, along with some answers.  At the end of this piece, there are links to previous travelogues that describe making arrangements during a trip.

Good luck and Bon Voyage!

These tickets are a great deal.  They allow you to stop over in 4 to 15 different places within one year, while continuing to head in the same general direction.  United and American / British Airways offer these tickets.  United Airlines and the Star Alliance partners go to lots of places, so there are great choices without having to pay extra.

The tickets are somewhat complex, and my travel agent wouldn’t bother with them, given the effort required and the minimal compensation she would receive.  Instead I suggest that you just call United to get additional info on tickets and stopover options.  Lufthansa will also book around the world, (perhaps the other major Star Alliance partners, Singapore and Thai Airlines, will as well) so one can get additional info by working through an itinerary with them.  Lufthansa's people seemed to be less knowledgeable and service-oriented than United Airlines'. 

We book all our stops in advance and naturally try to get the best final fare.  Since the final fare depends on miles traveled (there are 3 price ranges), try to minimize mileage if you're on the cusp between two price/mileage ranges.  This can sometimes be done by changing your stopover or transfer points.  Flying  business class is only about twice as expensive as economy, so it's a reasonably good deal and you can use the business class lounges before your flights.  In March of 2001, the breakpoints and business fares (excluding about $7 per stop in airport taxes) were: up to 29,000 miles = $5780; to 34,000 miles  = $6660; to  39,000 miles = $7810.

I recommend you book an itinerary and have it faxed to you.  In a few days, United will call you with a price.  Find out the mileage of this proposed trip.  Then see if you can’t improve the itinerary somehow.  Your reservation is good for 30 days; then you'll need to ante up.  You also want to allow plenty of time for your tickets to get to you.  If you plan to make a lot of stops, the tickets need to be hand written!  Also, you'll need a high credit limit if you book Business Class and intend to charge your tickets; you may be able to increase your limit in advance, just by calling the Company.

As for other carriers, we booked our trip from Athens to Istanbul on Olympic, as it saved us a day of travel and lots of miles (since we didn't have to fly Lufthansa back to Germany in between.)  We also booked our French Polynesia inter-island trip locally.  When we got there, we discovered that Air Tahiti had great fares that could only be obtained in FP.

So far, we've made no changes to our itinerary, except for dates, which are permitted anytime on this type of ticket.  Though the cost of an itinerary change is only $75 -- to make one change or a total itinerary change -- you probably need to contact a United ticket office, and depending on the country you're in and whether your total mileage would change, I expect it could be a hassle. 

We booked very little in the US.  In many countries, it’s easy to get accommodations upon arrival, and you can often negotiate better prices at the last minute.  For example, the Visitor Infomation Center (VIC) at Sydney airport that has great hotel deals for the night of arrival (and I just called them to arrange for another deal the next night!)  VIC's are a godsend; the staff usually speaks English, they know lots, and are often very accommodating.  We seek them out and I ask lots of questions.  

I think prices for hotels and packages in the Far East are lower if you purchase them in New Zealand, perhaps because the value of the Kiwi dollar is so low.  For example, we booked Thailand hotels in advance, since Thomas Cook in NZ had great consolidator rates at some very nice hotels.  Booking a hotel through a consolidator usually gets you a good deal, but this needs to be done in advance.

If you plan to arrive late in the day or are likely to be tired, it’s nice to have a room reserved.  Or if the language is difficult, it’s nice to have a place reserved while you figure things out.  Also, it's much easier to go with the flow when you've got a car, since there's always a room somewhere down the road, so you can just keep driving.  If you don't have a car?  Fortunately, this hasn't happened to us (yet).

When we really need to be in a particular place at a particular time, we reserve.  For us, this is rare.  Tonight we arrive in Lisbon, no reservations, but a car waiting.  In 2 weeks we arrive in Munich, also no reservations and a car.  Of course, some out of the way places don’t have many choices, and you could arrive at a small airport or town without many options -- another time to reserve.  

3. What about Internet connections in various countries.  Do we need special adapters?  Did you send e-mails by cell phone connection or through other services?

I use AOL everywhere (except Thailand; there were no local access numbers) using the hotel telephone.  There's a 10 cents a minute surcharge, in addition to the standard monthly rate.  To surf, an Internet café will likely be cheaper.  When we stay someplace for more than a month, we sign up with a local ISP.

You will need both phone and electrical outlet adapters.  There are about 10 different types, depending on the country.  Be sure to buy adaptors in the US; they're very difficult to buy elsewhere.  Since electricity is 220V in most places, your hairdryer and other US devises won't work without a bulky transformer; your computer should have a built in transformer, so all you'll need are adaptors. 

4.  Did you have any kind of travel insurance? 

No.  Our philosophy is, if you can afford the loss, don't insure.  Of course heath insurance is necessary, but ours does cover us everywhere.  One can buy special insurance to fly you home in a medical emergency.  It costs about $200, but we failed to get it organized.  It sounds like a good idea...

5. How did you arrange to receive and pay bills while you were gone?

We pay almost all our bills electronically (only Uncle Sam gets a check), and since we're homeless, we don't have many bills, making it easy.  Most creditors just take money out of our bank account monthly.  We do have someone who forwards our mail to us, whenever we have a mailing address.  You’ll want someone to pick up your mail and throw out the junk.  Also I’d consider paying whatever bills you can in advance.  (If you'll be gone for a while, you may want to cancel car insurance, put your phone on vacation rates, etc.)

6.  How do you handle routine medical care, dental care and getting prescription drugs ?

 We do our annual physicals at home before we leave, and then we do them again when we return.  As for drugs, we get a year's prescription (unfortunately, only available from our health plan provider in 3-month increments) and have them shipped to us with our forwarded mail.  We renew the orders on the Internet.  (With your doctor's assistance, or with the help of a second doctor, you can get a little extra supply from samples, or a half dosage prescription, which you can double up on.)  Recently our mail was delayed, so I went to a local doctor in Grunwald who was happy to write my prescriptions.  As it turned out, getting them filled in Germany was easy and they were less expensive than at home (even though they had to be ordered from an "international pharmacy"). 

We do get our teeth cleaned before we leave as well, but we also have at least one cleaning on the road at one of our longer stopovers; usually we ask acquaintances for a recommendation, but since it's only a cleaning, it doesn't really matter so much.

Now for those links that demonstrate how things work when we arrive someplace without reservations or plans:

A couple of nights stopover in the US (Macon, GA)

Ten days in Italy (The Lombardy Lake Region)

Finding a home in Germany (Munich)