Travel advice sought

[Scooter]

"French or Foe?: Getting the Most Out of Visiting, Living and Working in France" by Polly Platt - great book you can find used on Amazon for reasonably cheap.

[TPFKA@W]

Ah, but that's exactly the plan! If they haven't already picked up from your terrible accent that you can't actually speak French, you say this useful phrase: "Monsieur/madame, un peu plus lentement, s'il vous plait; mon francais n'est pas trop bon." At this point your respondent is charmed that the barbarian is at least making an attempt to speak something of the most elegant language in the world, and will therefore acknowledge the effort -- although clearly an impossibility for your anglophone tongue -- by saying, "Would you be more comfortable speaking in English?" You then express your relief and gratitude ("Oh, merci beaucoup") and get on with the conversation. It's very much a matter of politesse, which as I recall is still taken seriously in many quarters.

I laughed so hard at this that the dog came in to see what is going on. It is hands down the best advice offered in the thread and true, absolutely.

[Econoline]

A phrase that served me well in Italy was, "Mi scusi, c'è qualcuno qui chi parla Inglés?"

[BoSoxGal]

Hmm . . . I am afraid it may be a long time before I can again afford to travel, which makes the whole 'choose one country and get a feel for it' a tough choice.

I'd say if I went that route I'd be torn between Scotland, Ireland, or France - where I'd love to spend a week in Paris and the remainder in Provence, walking bicycling and eating - lots of eating!

I took 3 years of French in HS, don't recall a lot but spoke it well at that time. I'm hoping it might serve me well enough to charm the locals into speaking Anglais for me.

If you had to choose only one country to visit, which would it be? Or would you recommend someplace else entirely - like Thailand?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Practically, the UK being smaller is a lot easier to visit and see lots of stuff. Plus mostly they speak English there. And it is besides far more interesting than those continental places. That's if you're into buildings and history

If it's open spaces, go to South Africa

[Sue U]

Depends on the kind of experience you are looking for. Lately, I've been dreaming about India.

[MajGenl.Meade]

India? Any particular part? I spent some time down in Madras as it then was. Interesting experience but probably not a holiday destination

[Big RR]

I think knowing a little of the language of any of the places you visit is useful (if only as a goodwill gesture), and it can help break the ice many times. People will go out of their way to help you if you make the first step. I recall a time in France when I was lost in a smaller city; I don't speak enough French to converse, but am fairly fluent in Spanish, so I was happy when I saw a Mexican restaurant. When I talked to the host (who spoke little English, they brought out the Mexican chef; I asked him questions in Spanish, he translated them and asked the host in French, and then translated the hosts comments into Spanish. I still laugh about it because it looked like a bad sitcom, but it got me where I wanted to go.

One other tip--if you don't speak the local language well, either write down your hotel's address, or better yet, carry a matchbook (smoking is pretty big in Europe and many hotels still have these) or card with this information on it at all times; it helps with taxis and directions.

[Sue U]

India? Any particular part?

Well, that's precisely the problem. I'd love to take at least a few months to travel, so it's probably going to have to wait for my retirement. But I'd start in the north and travel down the Indian Ocean side, then head back north along the Bay of Bengal side. Not sure how I'd manage the interior. I've also been reading about small-operation river cruises.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Bring tiolet paper, good toilet paper. When I was in Germany for the summer of '75 they had something close to 60-grit sandpaper to wipe your butt with.
Times may have changed but better to be safe than sorry.


There was a guy over at the e-penguin forum (e-penguin himself) who toured the word right out of university and did it on a shoe-string budget. You might want to sign up and ask him how he did it.

[Gob]

Depends on the kind of experience you are looking for. Lately, I've been dreaming about India.

Hen has nightmares about visiting India. She'd give away everything she had on her in the first 5 minutes there, and everything we own in the next 10.

[Bicycle Bill]

Practically, the UK being smaller is a lot easier to visit and see lots of stuff. Plus mostly they speak English there.

Or something reasonably close to English, anyway.  Cockney rhyming slang, on the other hand — you might as well be trying to speak Klingon.

-"BB"-

[Jarlaxle]

I appreciate that there is wisdom in that suggestion, @w, but I'm definitely the sort of person who likes to do the planning in advance myself, as it extends the pleasure of the vacation months longer. I will however check with an agent to see if she can find me a cheaper flight, but in 10 years of using travelocity and tripadvisor websites I've never found an agent who beat my own lowest price fare finds.

Lots of other great advice too, hope to hear more.

Research, research, research, especially on the flight! My mother saved close to $650 by flying out of Boston instead of Greene. Check Logan, TFG, and Manchester, NH.

[Daisy]

Practically, the UK being smaller is a lot easier to visit and see lots of stuff. Plus mostly they speak English there.

Or something reasonably close to English, anyway.  Cockney rhyming slang, on the other hand — you might as well be trying to speak Klingon.

-"BB"-

If you think cockney is incomprehensible you should hear how they speak in Wigan

[BoSoxGal]

I really want to go to Scotland, which many friends have said is the best of the U.K. destinations - but when I watch Scottish independent films I have to use subtitles, so I'm not sure a shared language will be all that helpful.

[BoSoxGal]

Then there's the all Europe travel alert just issued by the State Department . . .

[Gob]

I really want to go to Scotland, which many friends have said is the best of the U.K. destinations - but when I watch Scottish independent films I have to use subtitles, so I'm not sure a shared language will be all that helpful.

TV has avoided punishment for a foul mouthed guest saying 'cunt' on the Jeremy Kyle Show after bosses said only Scottish people could understand her thick accent.

The woman, appearing on a segment of an episode called 'When I prove I didn't cheat will you let me see our daughter?', casually spluttered out the offensive word during a heated row with her partner.

During the pair's frank exchange of views, she said across the stage: 'Ya cunt, it will make a change then.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z443RqBheD

[Big RR]

I really want to go to Scotland, which many friends have said is the best of the U.K. destinations - but when I watch Scottish independent films I have to use subtitles, so I'm not sure a shared language will be all that helpful.

to me that's part of the fun of it. But what I recall in Scotland is that the people are often much easier to understand in person than on video--not sure why, it just works out that way. This is not true in Wales however, where I have often found myself at a loss understanding the accented English.

[Gob]

Are you sure it wasn't Welsh?

[Big RR]

The person I was with (from London) assured me it was English. I imagine you just have to acquire an ear for the accent and syntax.