I've Created a HUGE Headache for Flights!

[artnbarb]

I think I've gotten myself into a huge mess - and I thought I'd figured out a work-around, but now I'm thinking no!

Originally the plan was to fly to Scotland in late August, spend a week+ there, then fly to Bucharest for a small gourp tour (with my daughter and SIL). After the tour ends (in Albania), we're all flying to Umbria - us for 7 weeks, +/-, them for 2 weeks before flying to Portugal. All the intra-European flights seemed doable, although I do have to wait until the fall schedules are published - some of the flights only go on certain days of the week, and I'll need to double check next years schedule.

Now I'm having second thoughts about the Scotland trip. Much as I love Scotland, perhaps this is just a little more challenging (aka strenuous) than I like - perhaps more challenging for Art, but even for me it seems like a lot. (This is, after all SLOW Europe!) If we were just going to Scotland, or to Romania, or even to Umbria, we wouldn't need as many clothes, but for the longer trip, and limited/unknown laundry facilities, I'm thinking we just might be hauling too many/too heavy suitcases all over Europe. WE did/do plan to arrive in Bucharest 3 days before the tour begins, so there may be an opportunity for laundry, but I'm still not sure that my plans aren't too ambitious for us.

So then I got the bright idea to eliminate Scotland all together, meaning we'd have to fly from Louisville to Bucharest. My plan was to find a flight with the longest possible European layover so we could check into an airport hotel, have a nice long sleep, then fly on to Bucharest. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to work as well flying TO Europe as it does from FROM Europe.

Now I'm back to the original plan including Scotland, but I'm wondering if there's something I'm overlooking - some alternative that I haven't thought of.. I'm hoping this isn't too rambling and confusing! TIA

 

[Ian Sutton]

I'm more inclined to factor in laundry half days into a schedule, than lug heavy bags around (and budget airline baggage allowances can play their part as well). It often works out well as we prefer apartments, and many have laundry facilities, so that's not even a half day hassle, but something that can be worked around during that day.

If staying in a Scottish city, or suburb or even decent sized town, there should also be a launderette, and many will do 'service washes', where you drop the dirty laundry off, and pick it up later the next day. a little more expensive, but if saving that time is valuable to you on holiday, it may be a bargain. Thus finishing your Scotland stay in Edinburgh or Glasgow, could have you sorting the laundry out on the day before flying.

I can't comment on laundry in Romania/Albania, but this looks like it might be your period where doing laundry is awkward, though if it's over a week, I'd expect the tour company to have a laundry service (at a price).

Once in Umbria, you'll have to do laundry, over a 7 week period, so it's not really going to affect your calculations.

Thus I'd be looking at enough clothes for the eastern europe tour, plus 2 days worth for the last 2 days in Scotland, plus 1 more for the day you travel to Umbria. If the tour is a week or longer, then I'd definitely enquire with them about laundry services.

With Ryanair etc. flights to places like Bucharest can be cheap and frequent, and with a clever choice of where you stay at either end, wonderfully convenient. Thus it doesn't surprise me that it's logistically (in terms of the flights) working out best with your original plan.

So in short, no I don't think you've got into a big mess at all, but with a little of a 'slow' mindset, you can use the laundry day(s) as something of a rest and recuperation day, especially just before leaving Scotland and on arrival in Umbria.

 

[artnbarb]

Thanks for the encouraging words, @Ian Sutton ! Our first laundry problem is this: we'll arrive in Scotland on Friday, staying in Edinburgh (The Tattoo!!!) On Tuesday we'll leave for a 4 day excursion (with Rabbies), returning Friday evening, then plan to fly directly to Bucharest on Saturday. The direct flights from EDI-BUH are limited, or were last summer. I'd much prefer to fly directly out of EDI than to have to fly to London Stansted to connect - one less chance something will go wrong!

Because of this, we're somewhat hopeful we could do laundry on Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues before our tour officially begins on Tuesday evening. I'd much rather be IN Bucharest than spend an extra day in Edinburgh, where doing laundry turned out to be more challenging than you'd expect last time we were there. Chances of getting same day service on a Saturday seem remote. I'd much rather spend the extra time wandering around a new city. I will, at some point, write to the hotel in Bucharest to ask about laundry options.

I guess right now I just have to decide if this amount of traveling and moving is something we're up for. I'll be 73 then, and for now I'm still in decent shape. Art will be 79, and the neuropathy in his feet will only get worse. Because he doesn't feel his soles, his balance is precarious, and he walks very slowly. HE wants to keep traveling, but IMO, he needs more than an optimistic outlook! <sigh>

Note to everyone: TRAVEL AS MUCH AS YOU CAN - NOW!

 

[jan]

I remember we have the same birthday so i'm thinking I am 2 years older than you. We are right now in a hotel near MXP, flying tomorrow for a week in Prague after 5 weeks in Italy. This is all to say that the NON Slow travel part of our trip has been more challenging than I expected. Some has been fine but we had some shitty weather and on short stays that's tough. Suitcases are heavier than ever. Feet hurt more. Just think hard but don't over do it. and be forgiving if your plans don't work out perfectly.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Thanks for the encouraging words, @Ian Sutton ! Our first laundry problem is this: we'll arrive in Scotland on Friday, staying in Edinburgh (The Tattoo!!!) On Tuesday we'll leave for a 4 day excursion (with Rabbies), returning Friday evening, then plan to fly directly to Bucharest on Saturday. The direct flights from EDI-BUH are limited, or were last summer. I'd much prefer to fly directly out of EDI than to have to fly to London Stansted to connect - one less chance something will go wrong!

Because of this, we're somewhat hopeful we could do laundry on Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues before our tour officially begins on Tuesday evening. I'd much rather be IN Bucharest than spend an extra day in Edinburgh, where doing laundry turned out to be more challenging than you'd expect last time we were there. Chances of getting same day service on a Saturday seem remote. I'd much rather spend the extra time wandering around a new city. I will, at some point, write to the hotel in Bucharest to ask about laundry options.

I guess right now I just have to decide if this amount of traveling and moving is something we're up for. I'll be 73 then, and for now I'm still in decent shape. Art will be 79, and the neuropathy in his feet will only get worse. Because he doesn't feel his soles, his balance is precarious, and he walks very slowly. HE wants to keep traveling, but IMO, he needs more than an optimistic outlook! <sigh>

Note to everyone: TRAVEL AS MUCH AS YOU CAN - NOW!

 

[Ian Sutton]

I agree with you re: Stansted to connect, as that would be soul as well as energy sapping, plus adds stress.

Yes, a quick early laundry trip on the Tuesday in Edinburgh could set you up, and probably just a single load + tumble dry, maybe grabbing lunch or at least a coffee and cake whilst the main wash is on.

so that leaves that day's clothes, plus wed, thu, fri clothes for the trip, and the clothes for the trip to Bucharest on Saturday. So ideally get the Bucharest hotel to do a service wash, and you're looking at ~ 6-7 days worth of clothing. I think that's a practical balance of flexibility whilst keeping baggage size and weight down.

August at least means lighter clothes, but a little (healthy?) obsession about bag weight can also help e.g. I try to travel with just the *pair of shoes I wear on the flight, rather than 2-3 pairs. Shampoo is a lightweight lush hard shampoo soap bar, etc. I think I might be sounding like a 'marginal gains' exponent, but it can make a difference.

* which of course allows me to buy a pair in Italy, when all the heavy lifting has been done, and their shoes can be very good indeed.

 

[artnbarb]

No chance of doing laundry on Tuesday because the Rabbie's tour leaves bright and early. No point in trying to do it the day before since will have arrived just 3-4 days before. Meaning my only real option for laundry will be in Bucharest before that tour begins. I'm remaining uncharacteristically optimistic about that.

Regarding August weather, I have to say that I've never been as cold as I was at the Tattoo in August! Not every time, but August in Scotland doesn't necessarily mean warm weather!

I think my original post was somewhat scattered. There were 2 questions: The first is, Are we biting off more than we can chew at our age? That's something I'll have to wrestle with. (Art will always say "let's go!)

The second, and main question, is this: if I decide to cancel the Scotland leg, what are reasonable options for getting from Louisville to Bucharest without arriving like a zombie? I wish someone besides Iceland air would offer a layover without additional charges!

 

[Pauline]

I would cut out the Scotland part. You’ve been to the Tattoo. Have a nice tour in Bulgaria, etc. then your usual stay in Umbria. Scotland adds extra flights and clothes for cold weather.

Regarding the flight, if it isn’t easy to find a good stopover just push on through but give yourself an extra couple of days in Bucharest and use them to get a good recovery rest.

We had to do this on our recent Switzerland trip. We spent 3 days driving there from the UK and gave ourselves a full day of lounging around the apartment to recover. Steve and I are the same ages as you and Art. I am really slowing down these days.

 

[artnbarb]

I would cut out the Scotland part. You’ve been to the Tattoo. Have a nice tour in Bulgaria, etc. then your usual stay in Umbria. Scotland adds extra flights and clothes for cold weather.

Regarding the flight, if it isn’t easy to find a good stopover just push on through but give yourself an extra couple of days in Bucharest and use them to get a good recovery rest.

We had to do this on our recent Switzerland trip. We spent 3 days driving there from the UK and gave ourselves a full day of lounging around the apartment to recover. Steve and I are the same ages as you and Art. I am really slowing down these days.

I'm leaning more and more to cancelling the Scotland part, but that flight seems really long! I haven't really started 'shopping' for flights, but I guess I should see what the realistic option are - as well the the prices. That's a whole other discussion - I'd really like to fly Premium Economy for the flight TO Europe, and because those seats are so limited, I hate to wait as long as the experts say to buy tickets. I guess I'll set some alerts and see what the historical prices are.

 

[Karen Frerichs]

I have to agree with Pauline... I am Art's age, and was surprised at how much less I can do/feel like doing these days during my trip to Paris recently. SLOW travel, indeed!

 

[artnbarb]

UPDATE! We've decided to drop Scotland from our itinerary. and will now start our vacation with the Romania/Bulgaria/Macedonia/Albania tour. It looks like flying from Louisville to Dublin might be the least painful - it's probably the shortest flight to Europe, AND Indianapolis has just introduced a direct flight to Dublin.

If the 4 of us fly together it probably makes sense to rent a car a drive to Indy rather than flying into Chicago. Now wer'e talking about spending a day or tow in Dublin before flying to Bucharest. RyanAir has a direct flight, leaving Dublin at around 4 p.m.

Lots of moving parts in this one, but we'll get there eventually. Thanks for all your input, and mostly for letting me vent. I always need to talk things through before making a final decision.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Yes Dublin a sound choice for tapping into the Ryanair network.

Reasonably good airport links to the city, and it will reward you for as long as you choose to stay there. Personally I'd lean towards 0-1 or 3-4 days in Dublin, as I find the packing/unpacking an annoying part of travel. An overnight stay can mean leaving the main suitcase mostly untouched.

An overnight stay can just be pure recovery, possibly simply getting an airport hotel and never even making it into the city. The extra days allow for getting properly over the grind of modern air travel (and jet lag), plus getting some enjoyment (and getting the clothes wash in).