Lauren’s Travel Tips
Welcome to Lauren’s Travel Tips! In this section of Snobby to Simple, I will occasionally be offering up tips and ideas about traveling simply based on my research and experiences and the insights of my traveling friends. I hope you discover something new and informative each time you visit. If you have any specific travel questions or comments that you would like to see addressed in this section please feel free to email me at Travel@snobbytosimple.com.
A Simple Way to Travel Through Europe
The idea of traveling through more than one country during a vacation can intimidate people. How are we going to see everything we want? How are we going to lug all of our suitcases from place to place? How are we going to communicate when we don’t know the language? A simple, and uncomplicated way to do this is by taking a cruise. I had been on cruises before, but the idea of taking one through Europe never occurred to me until I was looking for an easy approach to visit different countries. I cruised the Mediterranean for 2 weeks visiting Italy, France, Monaco, Croatia, Greece, and Spain. It allowed me to visit beautiful, European countries and sample a little bit of everything without a lot of the hassle.
When you are visiting a place like Europe, you want to see as much as you can, everything you’ve always dreamed of seeing - Michelangelo’s David, the Acropolis, the Coliseum, - and experience the culture of the country. I was worried that I would not be able to get the real feel of the country and see everything I wanted to see if I was only there for 1 or 2 days. However, the excursions available to you on a cruise cover anything you could want to experience. They have daylong trips where you hit more cultural places such as, restaurants, landmarks, and museums than you can imagine, as well as half-day trips that specialize in experiencing specific aspects of the country. All of the excursions are led by tour guides from the area, so you get an insiders perspective of their country.
If planning your own day is more to your liking, there is a social director that is available to you at each port, helping to direct you to where you want to go and making recommendations on places to eat, shop, and visit. I did both. On the day tours I saw everything I wanted to see, and even more that I didn’t know existed. During my free time I tapped into the knowledge of our social director and discovered great places with a less touristy feel.
I do recommend if you are planning on taking advantage of the cruise’s excursions to book them as soon as you book the cruise. They tend to fill up quickly. Know what you want to see, what is important to you, and do your research, so you can better pick what is the best option. Talk to friends about their experiences and look into the information the cruse lines provide about the ports they visit.
Another way cruising simplified traveling through the different countries, was that it allowed me to pack whatever I wanted and not have to worry about taking my suitcase everywhere I went. I only had to deal with it for the flight to Venice where we left from, and the flight home from Barcelona.
Everybody has their own style of traveling, but for everyone vacations are amazing experiences shared with friends and family. The last thing you want to do is complicate the uncomplicated. The next time you are thinking, “I would love to explore different countries”, but are afraid you are taking on too much in one vacation, give cruising a try. You might be surprised by how easy it is and how much you can experience from a cruise ship.
Snobby to Simple Suggestion:
As much as I love to travel, I must admit I am not that great at flying. Something that always helps is listening to music on my iPod. You can protect your iPod when traveling with our Personalized iPod Holder or iPod Nano Holder. It can be personalized with up to three initials and is soft leather.
