Observations on my European vacation style

Since I transferred last year from being an expat to being a local, I picked up the German vacation allowance at our firm of 30 days, although last year was prorated down to 25.5 since I transferred in April. This year I came to the table with the full 30.

As as American who is used to between 13 and max 21 (and only because I vacation bought a week--the full given allowance was 14), to go away for anything more than 4 or 5 days was a serious adjustment. Last year, going to Iceland for almost 2 weeks cause me to get a bit stressed at the little details of the mail piling up and being out of the office for so long. Then I went to Lithuania for 10 days later and I still broke into a cold sweat, but not as bad.

This year I'm better into the proper mentality of things. I leave on Monday for Bergen, after enjoying CSD this weekend in Koeln. While I was on the American vacation mentality, to leave on a Monday would be wasteful--it was leaving the two weekend days on the table, when they could be spent somewhere.

I've also shifted gears a bit, and started the whole camping thing, something I didn't do in the US. When you're only going away for four nights, you can take a hotel, hostel, or Holiday Inn and it really won't dent your budget. Going away for 14 seriously tests that theory. My balance has been to spend my travel money on the transport so that I can go away to where I truly want to go, in this upcoming case it will be Bergen and the Faroe Islands. I bought a functional tent and sleeping bag that paid for itself during Iceland, and then upgraded for this trip as the conditions will be worse, although this one also pays for itself after two days of skipping a hotel.

For eating, I try to make a mix of things. Being vegetarian, I am perfectly happy to go to a local supermarket while on holiday and pick up a salad for lunch. In Holland recently, I found a bio/alternative outdoor market and bought bread, goat's cheese and a spicy salsa to balance things out and was delighted to eat it on a bench watching the Saturday shoppers on their way. So for lunch I tend to do something price wise equivalent to what I would do here in my daily Germany life.

I don't do breakfast, but I pick up a coffee somewhere. For dinner, I allow myself the freedom to go out if I see something that interests me. Alternately, if I find something local that the locals are doing, such as a Chinese place that they all go to for the lunch plate special, then I swap my dinner and lunch plans and do that.

Where I will not scrimp is my daily coffee and a drink at a bar if the mood so strikes me. I like to find a place to have my coffee, to ease into my day, and to do the map/tour planning so that I am set to go. I find I take a general decision in the previous night of what I want to do, but for the places I go where the weather is so unpredictable, I cannot make the final decision until morning, as well as I may wake up early or late and can then plan the final bus/train logistics and such.

As a solo traveller, I have had many interesting conversations when visiting a local bar; where I have learned much about the culture. Or while camping that often means going to the local supermarket and picking up a few beers and parking oneself at a communal picnic table where others of a like-minded nature will also meet to look at maps, write postcards, read, eat, and drink for a few hours after having been on foot for most of the day.

So the bag is now packed and ready to go, I'm off to Koeln to enjoy the parade and then perhaps a relaxing rest at the river since this is the first day in a long time that I have woken up and it's sunny. Today is supposed to be the only rain-free one for the next 10 days, so I plan to be outside to enjoy it to its fullest.

After today I hope to be enjoying the travels and not inside in front of a computer, unless the rain dumps down and chases me inside. Have a nice two weeks, I fly back late on Sunday Jul 22, and if all goes well, I won't be online before then, so try not to miss me too much. ;-)