Do It Yourself International Travel

After deciding I was done with Travel Tours, I thought I had enough knowledge and travel ackground to create my own travel adventures. The first time I did this was on a trip to India. I had a friend who had traveled there previously and knew of a tour guide whom he highly recommended. So, I contacted this individual and told him what I wanted to see and asked for a price quote. He responded asking me for the dates I wanted to travel, the specific sites I wanted to visit/see/enjoy and the hotels where I planned to stay, as well as the flights in and out of Delhi. So, I researched all of these things and came up with a plan. I booked hotels and flights and responded to the tour guide. He quoted me a price and we agreed. When I reached India and stepped off the plane, there he was, holding a sign with my name. We retrieved my luggage and he took me to the hotel where I checked in and then we were off on our firt sightseeing adventure. Throughout the trip, my tour guide was there with advice and always looking out for my well-being. Throughout this trip I managed to see everything I had wanted from the Taj Mahal to the Red Fort, Jaipur to Old Delhi. It turned out to be an amazing trip and I didn't have to wait for other people, I saw what I wanted to see and not what the tour wanted me to see. 

Encouraged after the India success, I have done this several times since. The most recent DIY International Travel was a trip this past summer to Prague, Bratislava, Budapest and Vienna. I was not alone on this one. My daughter and granddaugher joined me on this fun adventure. We panned together, settled on dates and the amount of time we wanted to spend in each city. We researched airfares, hotels and sites we wanted to see. Then, we made our air reservations both internationally and within the Continent. International air was the easy part. Reserving hotels was easy enough. The challenge was not knowing exactly where they were located in reference to the sites we wanted to visit. The good news is that all turned out to work well. On this trip we had to consider transport between these capitals. We chose the trains, as it is an easy and inexpensive way to get from one point to another. The bigget challenge here was two fold: some of the information was in German and not easy to translate and knowing if the station location was close to our hotels. We also chose to take the river boat from Bratislava to Vienna which was one more task to ensure we were ready.And finally, prior to leaving, we booked some tours within the city that we didn't want to miss. The Parliament in Budapest. A nightitme rivercruise in Budapest. A cruise on the Vtalva River in Prague. We also researched cit transportation and found that Uber is both safe and inexpensive throughout the areas we were visitng. The final research was the currency within each locale. We wre fully prepared once we boarded our flight. 

We chose to fly through Canada to Madrid. Once in Madrid the air transportation was a challenge, but persistence won out. while in Prague, our first stop, we took the hop on, hop off bus which enabled us to see many of the sites on our itinerary. We found Uber here was very easy and safe. The train ride from Prague to ratislava was long, but uneventful. Walking in Bratislaa was easy and led us to the areas we wanted to see. Another train ride, this time to Budapet and then an Uber to our hotel. The Ubers in Budapest are basically city taxis with meters, so not quite as inexpensive as the real Ubers we took elsewhere. The city tour including the Praliament is a must, as is a day at one of the mineral baths and a nightime cruise on the Danube. After three full days we once again boarded a train to return to Bratislava where we boarded out boat to cruise the Danube to Vienna. This is a muxt do between these two cities. With limited time in Vienna, we spent time at Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Another must see. This tirp turned ut to be an exciting and fun adventure, all planned on our own. Next up?????