Simpler travel?

I was exhausted just writing my travel planning post last week! And if writing the post was exhausting, what does that mean for the actual trip???

I faithfully follow Susan of un femme d’un certain age and have mentioned her blog a number of times.  She and her husband traveled to Italy, France, and London last fall.  It looked like a great trip, but she said it was too much moving around.

She just returned from a two-week apartment stay in Paris, with a side trip by train to the Champagne region.  They flew in and out of Heathrow and spent a few days in London on their way home.  No rental car and only 2 hotels to manage.

I told my husband that staying put in an apartment sounded like a slice of heaven! 

He came up with what I consider a brilliant idea for our upcoming trip!  We have an apartment lined up in Italy but had 2 additional hotels reserved in different Italian cities near the end of our stay.  He suggested we cancel those and extend our apartment stay instead.

We already planned a trip to Florence to see friends in Florence while we are there and will stay in a hotel there.  But we are still down two hotels which is a win and a cost savings to boot!

Yes!

He did the deal with the apartment and I had a lot of satisfaction cancelling the hotels! 

We haven’t been to Italy since May 2019 and it is easy for me to get carried away.  So, I need to remember what I enjoy most:

• Having a cappuccino at our favorite hangout(s)
• Picking up the New York Times at the local train station
• Lunch at our favorite beach café
• Walks along the water
• Shopping at local spots for food and vino
• Exploring nearby towns
• Seeing our Italian friends
• Afternoon naps in our apartment
• Tons of reading
• Ending the day with an aperitivo, also at our favorite hangout(s)

I think our simplified itinerary is going to be just the ticket. End of!

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

Lao Tzu

Allene