Please indulge me as I offer a few travel-related observations, rather than my usual set of recommendations—but I was traveling in the United Kingdom and continental Europe last week, and I was struck (again) by how ingrained travel is in the collective psyches of Europeans.
Once they buy necessities—like food, clothing, and shelter—next on Europeans’ list of “must have” items is travel. And what I like is that they open their minds to exotic locales like Sri Lanka, Morocco, and Tasmania.
One key to ingraining a culture of travel is getting kids on planes and trains at a young age. Based on what I saw last week, kids on the road outnumber adults about 10-to-one. And they’re not intimidated by foreign languages, confusing railroad timetables, or snobbish Gallic types.
Next, from a societal perspective, travel feels nearly mandatory. Many European countries expect kids to take a gap year—either between high school and college, or immediately following college—and see the world.
What struck me on this most recent trip was that it’s no longer just the British, French, Germans, and Japanese traveling. I met people from Greece, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, India, Poland, China, Portugal, and more. They all seemed quite pleased to reap the rewards of their voyages abroad.
Finally, I did see a fair number of Americans, but in a sweeping generalization, they seemed the most unhappy of any group. Their complaints seemed to center around how hard it is to get around compared to the States—which kinda misses the point of travel . . .
More Than a Rant About Travel
I couldn’t post something without one recommendation, and I’ll actually offer two.
The first is the new fast-train service between London (St. Pancras, pictured) and Ashford, Kent. In just about 35 minutes, you will be whisked from the great city to a centrally located jumping off point for any place in the south of England. Ashford is a hub for many train services—including the Eurostar, which travels to various continental European destinations. Currently, the fast-train service only runs in the morning and evening, but beginning in early 2010, all trains between London and Ashford will be fast.
Second, and more impressively, I took the Eurostar from Ashford to Paris. The trip was pleasant and uneventful—and quite a bit quicker than the last time I took it. What was remarkable and impressive was the level of customer service. On my return trip, though no fault of Eurostar, we arrived late . . . by all of four minutes. Honestly, I didn’t even notice. Yet, one day after my trip, I received an e-mail offering a free single or half-price return trip on Eurostar to compensate me for this “inconvenience.” Nice touch.
For those who might be intimidated by the idea of just showing up at a train station in the U.K. and figuring out how to get from point A to point B, The Train Line Web site is a boon. You can be absolutely sure of your route and your tickets, and you can consider lots of options. Plus, I found that the deals offered by the site usually more than offset the booking fee you’ll have to pay.
Photo by harshilshah and licensed via Creative Commons
Comments