There are always lessons learned while travelling, many of them are common sense….. which we all know is not all that common! Also, sometimes it doesn’t seem all that obvious at times! For those of you who know me, many of my lessons learned will revolve around the loo….. it’s a hot general topic for me, but also, when you are travelling, you aren’t on a tour of Europe, you are on a journey from loo break to loo break! So they can become fairly important!
- Allow a good 4-6 hours to cross the Montenegrin border! Particularly so if you have a plane to catch….! I’m not sure what is going on at this border, but it does take the record for the longest border crossing I have had thus far, 3.5 hours (I was limiting water intake on this bus ride, for obvious reasons).
- Always use the opportunities you have well. Often this is a choice between sleeping in, or getting out of bed and going to do something! You might recall that I got up stupidly early and went through the Old City of Dubrovnik. I did know that I had 1/2 a day in Dubrovnik on my way back from Montenegro, but decided to get up and 5am and head in. It’s a good thing I did, because of the above time delay at the border, I really only had 1.5 hrs in Dubrovnik on that transfer day and would have missed the Old City entirely. So take your opportunities when you get them!
- On a continuing theme, get up early and hit popular sites before breakfast. If you can, do it! You will miss the mass crowds, get great people free shots and be free for some pool/ocean/book lounging in the heat of the day later on. It can also just make your general visit to a site more positive…. no people equals: no elbows, no stupid heads in your photo, no pushing etc etc. I’m sure you can see the benefits. So get up at 6am…. do the old city and then sit down in a relaxing café at 10-10:30am and have your coffee and breakfast.
- Have a loo opportunity, use it!
- Use the loo’s on the train, they are free! (Many toilets in Europe will cost you 1 Euro, which is fine, but can add up over time!).
- Always take an opportunity to shower when you have it!
- Mountains are best tackled like eating an elephant, one mouthful/ one switchback at a time.
- If you are in Scotland over summer, get midgie spray before you get there….. trust us and the poor cop that pulled Lesely over on that one!!
- Lufthansa passengers (Germans?? I don’t know, I didn’t check, but this was particular to Lufthansa, so I am going to make an assumption here!), applaud after each successful landing.
- Black squid ink risotto is the same colour going out as going in.
- Eat all the food, you are on holidays, drop the diet and try all the good local cuisine… it’s well worth it!
- Watch out for scammers, in this world of selfies, it is very odd when someone asks you to take their photo for them…… I know it sounds mean, but don’t do it….. you just don’t know what’s about to go down.
- Talk to everyone, you never know when you’ll find someone to share dinner with!
- Always go out of your way to catch up with friends….. They really make a visit a local experience.
- Travelling with someone means you have someone to watch your bags when you go to the loo…… always a plus (especially when you’re at a “pay” loo and have a turnstile to go through! I didn’t have someone to watch bags at that point…. fastest loo break ever!).
- Fly with a week’s worth of clothing in your hand luggage (plus your 100ml toiletries and medications), you never know when you’ll be accidently overnighting in Frankfurt! (Although you don’t need a week’s worth of clothing for an accidental overnight stay….. do you actually trust an airline to get your bag to your next destination??!)
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