Share your trip planning ideas!

[mdpa]

Hi Everyone,

 

I wanted to share an idea I have used on our last two trips. Search and subscribe (twitter, app, save as favorite link, etc.) to the local news for your new destinations.

 

Example:

 

- Bermuda cruise last year I read the Royal Gazette almost every day. www.royalgazette.com

 

- Asia cruise this past January, I read and downloaded the app for South China Morning Post. www.scmp.com (BTW, owned by Alibaba just like Amazon owns Washington Post, coincidence?)

 

I have found this to be a very immersive experience. It makes me feel like I understand the local issues. This gives us something to do while we wait for our next cruise. Give it a try!

 

--

Doug

 

 

 

 

[mj_holiday]

Many times I have searched to find a book that fits the area of the world we are going to.  I don't remember the name but before we toured in turkey I read a novel about a boy growing up in a rural area of turkey.  Before visiting Amsterdam I read  "Amsterdam : a history of the world's most liberal city" Before we visited Egypt, I also read a Novel set in the time of pyramid building.  These books have given me a better understanding of both the country and the people.

 

I will also visit TripAdvisor about the cities we are going to.  I will look to see about HOHO buses in our embarkation city for arrival a day or two before we sail.

[mdpa]

4 hours ago, mj_holiday said:

Many times I have searched to find a book that fits the area of the world we are going to.  I don't remember the name but before we toured in turkey I read a novel about a boy growing up in a rural area of turkey.  Before visiting Amsterdam I read  "Amsterdam : a history of the world's most liberal city" Before we visited Egypt, I also read a Novel set in the time of pyramid building.  These books have given me a better understanding of both the country and the people.

 

I will also visit TripAdvisor about the cities we are going to.  I will look to see about HOHO buses in our embarkation city for arrival a day or two before we sail.

 

Great Idea, earlier this year I listened to a wonderful audio book on Martin Luther (Eric Mataxas) and the background about the influence of the Vatican in the 1500's will make our trip to Rome much more interesting.

Edited December 12, 2020 by mdpa

[Grandma Cruising]

Good idea to research and subscribe to local press in an area you are going to. I always do lots of internet searching and look at tourism sites, but hadn’t thought about press.

[silkismom]

www.timeout.com/Tokyo is a fun subscription with lots of ideas--if our cruise ever goes.

[the mice]

I have a DVD recorder that I have used to record many travel shows from my TV.  I even found a workaround to record from my Verizon FIOS service, although only in standard definition mode, by recording on my FIOS DVR and then copying to a DVD, putting several shows from the same area/city onto 1 DVD.  I now have a very extensive collection of all Rick Steves shows, Dream Cruises, some Anthony Bourdain, Samantha Brown's Passport to Europe, Rudy Maxa, Curious Traveler and many more.

 

As for books, I remember many years ago, before a trip to Florence, I read Irving Stones' "The Agony and the Ecstasy."  When we arrived there, I felt like I was walking in the footsteps of Michelangelo, making for a wonderful experience.  

[TeaBag]

i often go to previous roll calls for the same itinerary and see what tour companies they selected.  Cruise reviews often have some good advice also.

[upwarduk]

I read ‘The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society’  which was set in Guernsey during World War 2. I had never been to Guernsey and wished we could have taken an advertised tour, visiting places mentioned in the book. However it was not an Azamara tour and I was uncertain whether we would  be tendered in time to take the tour. Guernsey is notorious for tenders not taking place, but we were lucky, even though the ride was bumpy.
The attached photo shows us on our return to the Tender.