Travel then and now

I understand. and agree

The one thing I probably miss the most about travel then versus travel now is the winging it aspect of travel with the only knowns being the arrival date and the departure date.

I would not travel that way today.

I'm happy you are enjoying Paris!

When I traveled a few years ago with a friend who was using a cane we were shocked at how security people and museum employees would move us to the front of the line without asking. So very solicitous!

The one thing I probably miss the most about travel then versus travel now is the winging it aspect of travel with the only knowns being the arrival date and the departure date. I would not travel that way today.

I wholeheartedly agree. I still remember those wonderful days of finding lodging as you got there (or sometimes the night before). I miss that spontaneity. And I really miss the Great Britain Book-a-Bed-Ahead program...

Yes, and we found great bargains just showing up that same day, but then the next trip to Venice, we stayed in a different hotel every night as they were all full.
But in all those years, we never had to sleep in our car.

You can still "wing it" - although with a twist. In June I travelled for 2 weeks in England, booking accomodation and transport 1 -2 days before, using my iPhone with Booking.com app, TfW app, and National Express app. For my home journey I booked train&Ferry on my tablet, bought local train tickets in Netherlands on a kiosk and my international train ticket (from Amsterdam to Copenhagen) at a desk in the train station one hour before departure.

It gave me a wonderful freedom to be able to change plans (almost) on the spot.

What a wonderful post - and another reinforcement that people are good in unexpected places and unexpected ways. :) I love that you are still traveling and just making the adjustments you need in order to do so.

I have always been a genius at finding good lodging planning ahead (including back when to rent apartments you used catalogues before the internet) and a total clod when it comes to last minute booking. We have rented some places on the road that seemed like the Norman Bates hotel.

But the big difference now is crowds and tourist tat. We hiked the Cinque Terre decades ago when I just saw a picture of Vernazza on a calendar and said 'let's go there'. There was one other couple on the trail all day and a class of Italian 14 year olds and their teacher -- and us. It was stunning. Each village was beautiful, not a tourist in sight nor a souvenir shop. It was one of the most glorious things we ever did. Now it is Disneyland south.

In Volpaeia there were zero other tourists the day we were there.

And even places like Florence and Siena which have always been major tourist destinations were far less overrun. We saw Michelangelo's Moses and Pieta and David without fences and plexiglass. We wandered around the towers of Sagrada Familia in Barcellona for a whole afternoon, zipping wherever appealed. Now you get one, one way walk through a small part of the site. Park Guell was just a park and you could just go there and enjoy an afternoon; now it is a fee for entry 'attraction' And I got to travel to and from Europe in 1960 on an Ocean Liner.

Of course all this means I am very old, and that means too old now to tackle Machu Pichu and my travel days are numbered. But then I did get to climb to the top of Angkor Wat which is not longer permitted.

I have read about the haughty attitude of the French my whole life. Just got back 2 weeks ago and found it to be completely false. Kind, helpful, very pleasant. Only one semi-snotty sales lady, but I get that back home too every once in awhile. I can’t wait to go back again to this beautiful country.

What a beautiful post! And oh how it sounds like a wonderful experience to travel years ago!

I'd echo the same sentiments about the French (and Europe in general) gestures towards small children / families. My husband and I just returned from two weeks (1 in England 1 in Paris) with our 1 and 3 year old. While we've traveled aboard before and with a toddler, we of course did wonder how it would all go (and a bit concerned how to navigate all of our gear and two small children). And as I knew it would - it all worked out just fine. SO much kindness from strangers, whether holding a door, helping grab a bag from the plane or offering a friendly smile to occupy a little one on the plane. Most notably at the airports (LHR, CDG) and Eurostar - the consideration given to families is remarkable, a completely different attitude then what we faced upon returning on Saturday at JFK (on man, this was the only bummer part of our trip - in the future i will go out of my way to avoid JFK as a return airport).

We kept out expectations low, days filled with lots of time in parks (and gosh London and Paris parks are the best!) and still had the best time --- travel is such a gift, to expand our minds outside of our day to day lives and teach ourselves and children the world has sooo much to teach us.

We have been traveling in France for decades and can count ugly French people being nasty on one hand -- That one waiter in Lyon last year, one waiter in Paris about 5 years ago, a rancid pharmacist in the Butte aux Cailles and quite a few people at CDG (which apparently mostly hires the worst stereotypes of the French). But most shopkeepers we deal with don't speak English and are lovely about piecing together meaning from my poor French and gestures; people in general are great to provide directions or clue us in when we are going astray. We have found French people to be very pleasant and considerate.

I too have never had anything but positive experiences in France (CDG as an exception). I remember about 15 years or so ago a relative went to Paris for their honeymoon. They did not know a word of the language, are loud here, and did not let their bank know they were traveling. Yes, you guessed it, they think the French are rude.

I very much believe you get what you give. Be polite and respectful, and you get that back. France is no different in that.

I also have had only positive experiences in France. It's amazing how these stereotypes persist. On our last trip to France, we left something important on the train, and after we realized it, we went back to the station, and a train rep tried very hard to locate our pack for us. And before we realized we left it on the train, we thought we left it in a taxi, and a young driver at the taxi line, alerted other drivers to search for it in their trunks. Alas, it was never found, but the people we encountered tried so hard to help us. And it necessitated us to stay in France for a few more days! Can't complain about that!

And younger people offer me their seat on the train and bus!

I love interacting with people, and always take a language course before visiting, and even with my rudimentary skills, I found people very kind.

I constantly hear my fellow Americans complain of French rudeness.

There may be one or two or three, but I can honestly say I've never encounterd any rude french people. As long as one conforms to the social customs, is pleasant, smiles, and at least attempts to use their language, there is very little chance of being treated rudely.

So far as traveling "back then", I do miss paper maps, not having timed entries, not having to have reservations for hotels, and getting good information from the local TI. Today that might be considered old fashioned, but it sure was fun.

Thank you for that generous and lovely post! Yes, faith in and kindness to our fellow creatures goes a long way when traveling. Hope you are able to travel for many more years, and spread the spirit.

Only this morning at a favorite cheese shop in Batignolles where I bought lovely butter, eggs and a couple of nice cheeses, the shopkeeper who spoke not a word of English was great about my bad French, helped me decide on my cheeses and when I left gave me a free glass jar of goat yogurt.

2 thoughts:

You often get what you give.

And thanks to people like Rick, Americans are now better travelers and the Ugly American stereotype is fading away so we blend in better.

...the Ugly American stereotype is fading away so we blend in better.

Sad to say, the stereotype hasn't disappeared completely. We still see examples of them, but as one waitress in the alps said about a group of loud americans, "We've come to expect it".

Stereotypes never disappear and always exist because, frankly, they often have some basis in fact. We ran into one chatty waiter in Salzburg and he said he liked talking to us because we're American and friendly and easy to talk with. Which is funny, because we're just about the most antisocial couple you'll ever see. But as Einstein said, it's all relative.

Here in LA I can spot German tourists pretty easily because they wear dark socks and sandals. Never understood that one.

Traveling now is lot easier than it was 40-50 years ago, thanks to advances in technology. Language -wise it is easy, no longer daunting, if that was a pressing concern. Back then signs and explanations were only or mostly in the local language. I have no problems traveling German and Austria using only German and sticking with it. In France due to my linguistic inferiority I have to lapse into English when I can no longer put the French sentences together.

I used Let's Go since the early 1970's, a good source for budget travel. The so-called rudeness on the part of the French I had heard of that back then too but then, so what? Is that supposed to deter one from going to France in the first place? I went to France my 2nd time in Europe in 1973 and have been returning there ever since. Yes, Paris ...it's the place.

Everything was better then.

I wonder if twenty or thirty years from now today's travel technology will be called "the good old days".

One thing I don't miss, is standing at a street side payphone, making a long-distance call back to Canada, using a calling-card ... yeesh!

I think that using GPS instead of maps saved our marriage.

I totally agree with you on going where you want when you want 50 years ago. I miss that a lot. It's hard to plan the whole trip with reservations, ahead. What if you like a place so well, you want to stay a bit longer or someone along the way tells you about a place you hadn't considered. And finding a 'pension' usually near the train staion, was fun, checking out a few first. And the cost, oh my God, how cheap everything was. The $ was very strong. A 'pension' with a shared bath $3. A hostel $.30. In Spain, the equivelent to a 'pension' was a $1, or with a private bath $3. $.80 for a very good bottle of wine, in France. I also remember walking through the Cistine Chapel with only a few others. I also think the Mona Lisa was just on the wall in front of me. I might be wrong on that, but I think so. Does anyone remember American Express in Amsterdam at the end of the summer. In front of the building was a market for tourist selling all sorts of things very cheap because they were about to leave Europe. VW bugs, camping equipment. I bought a moped, sold my return flight ticket and stayed for 3 more months. I road it from Frankfort down through the black forest to Paris. It was one of the best experiences. The Black Forest was fabulous by Moped. That first trip was so exciting!
A new adventure everyday. The eurai lpass was great. Just hop on any train any time and go to another country in an hour or two. Or spend the night in those big compartments with pull down seats. If you got on a not so busy train, you had a big double very plush bed. Those were the days, never to be forgotten
There are advantages now that I love, like GPS on your phone. That's the only thing I can think of right now . But I still love it!

Everything was better then.

Only for some people.

Loved that message from Pariscope about calling from the phone booth with calling card. I think I can top that one though -- as a student abroad in Paris in 1983, calling home from a phone booth at Gare Montparnasse (near where I lived) with a pocket full of those big 5 franc coins, each one of which could buy a cheap meal at the student restaurant or the boulangerie (and I didn't have a lot of them to spare), hoping mom or dad will answer, because I'm going to spend these very valuable coins asking them to wire me some money so I can travel in Europe some more over the summer, they did answer, so the 5 franc coins start disappearing down the slot, one every few seconds, click, click, I hope I don't run out before getting the answer, which (whew) was yes, we'll send you $800, which funded about 8 weeks of good travel in Spain and Portugal (where things were cheap back then!).

...a street side payphone, making a long-distance call back to Canada, using a calling-card...

Reminded me of when we had to buy an internet cafe card from a company that had locations all over Italy.

I totally agree with you on going where you want when you want 50 years ago. I miss that a lot. It's hard to plan the whole trip with reservations, ahead. What if you like a place so well, you want to stay a bit longer or someone along the way tells you about a place you hadn't considered

Even 25 years or so that was still possible. We travelled in Italy & France with our trusty RS book and no reservations, yet within the first 2 or 3 hotels we were able to find a room out of the book. I guess the advantage was few people were using the internet and long-distance calls were expensive so hotels generally had some rooms available for walk-up guests.

I still remember Hotel Lorelei in Sorrento, we asked if they had a room and they said sure, would we like an ocean view? Well, why not? It was simply stupendous! The hotel was a bit run-down but each morning the front desk person would ask if we were going to leave or wanted to stay another nite. Finally we left because otherwise we would have spent our entire vacation there. Might have been good to have done so, the hotel went out of business and was abandoned and decaying for many years, although I'm happy to see that it's been restored and is now a 5-star hotel (unfortunately out of our price range).

Oh you kids!

When we first went to France we saw women using the lavoirs to do their laundry. Washing machines weren't that common yet. We stayed one night at a campsite very close to Mont Saint Michel, actually just off the road, and a French woman advised us to use Savon de Marseille (it was only a bar soap then) when doing our laundry. She assumed we'd be using the lavoirs, and we occasionally did because we found laundromats only in big cities.

Everywhere we went we camped, even in Paris.

There were no supermarches or hypermarches. A Monoprix was as big as stores got, and those were only in cities. Street markets were bigger back then. There were no dead villages, as there are today. Every village had at least a boulangerie, epicerie, and bar. Berets were common. Now they are a rare sighting.

We did this for over a year in western Europe and North Africa, and while we didn't quite hit $5 a day, $7.50 was pretty close. (It was $15 a day if you include buying a car and tent, plus travel to and from Europe).

We didn't go back for over 40 years and then we spent more in a three-week trip than we'd spent in our whole camping year.

When I was a student nurse in Scotland in 1972 , my 3 friends and I booked a package tour to Corfu.
We flew to London, then flew to Corfu, bus to the village on the opposite coast, two full weeks half board in quite a lovely hotel on the beach, and back again.
70 pounds each for everything.
We thought we were very grown up at age 18.

That would be a dinner out in some places now!

In 1974 my husband and I backpacked in Europe for almost 4 months with the Eurail pass, the "Europe on $15 A Day" guidebook (or was it $20?), and a map. Didn't even have a watch. Talk about winging it! Landed in Athens, then took the overnight ferry to Crete, and rode the once-a-day bus to southern Crete to the fishing village of Plakias. Beautiful place! Could've lived there on $5.00 a day each including outside cold showers! Now it has several hotels, tourists, and umbrellas on the beach. Oh how I miss Sophia's little café, where we asked for a chicken dinner and waited for over an hour. Finally passed by the kitchen where someone was plucking the feathers from a chicken! Was that our dinner? Best we ever had! Went on to work on a farm outside of Oslo for three weeks, took the Marrakesh Express that Crosby, Stills, and Nash made famous, and camped on the beach in Alicante, Spain. Back In Paris, we were "stranded" at a campsite along the Seine for about 10 days waiting for a flight home on Olympic Airlines that had been delayed because of a coup in Cypress. My, what an adventure that was and instilled in me the love of travelling! Now we stay in hotels and pace ourselves. We hope to return next June to Europe, especially Paris, for our 50th year of that trip and also our wedding anniversary! And yes, we're still travelling! Hugs to all!

I am looking at my Fromers Europe on $10 a Day book and remember our first trip to Salzburg out of Berchtesgaden Germany (1968). The Army had a GI recreation area and I think the rooms were $2 to $5 dollars. General Walker Hotel. My wife will debate anyone about then and now. She went 2 years and only talked to her mother once by phone. To do that we needed a reservation at the post office, and it had a time limit. I remember after every sentence you had to say "over". The mail was at a snail's pace and trading tapes off a tape recorder was the only way to hear a familiar voice. (Last summer we were walking down the street in Wurzburg Germany talking to our daughter on our phone in Chicago). Remember travel with American Express Checks and using American Dollars. Traveling to Berlin was a real pain done on a night train through East Berlin. Border checks and changing money and languages were a major issue. How many countries we visit freely now that were not available for travel back "Then". No, we marvel at how things changed, and we keep hoping for more.

I started traveling overseas in 1981 when I acquired a job in Saudi Arabia. I had Frommer's guide and Europe on $10 a day, etc.

Far fewer people toured in Europe. It was usually the wealthy or American military stationed in Europe.

You didn't have to book tours in advance or even book your train in advance (just go to the train station and take the next train).

I loved Italy the most, still do. France was great, but I have to admit in the 80s that Parisians were not as friendly as other Europeans. I had a French friend in Saudi Arabia tell me that he wasn't from Paris and that Parisian waiters were rude to him since he wasn't a Parisian. Also, he told me that there was a large Communist Party in France (3rd largest in the country) and many of them were not happy with Americans. Still, I have been back to Paris and love the city, not finding as much rudeness.

My favorite area of France is Normandy. Also, love Provence.

I've only been to France once and it was a week in Paris. I totally found the French to be polite and helpful; not rude. I do speak a bit of French but terribly and it was a couple decades since I used French before I went to Paris. When I got to Paris (and this was more than 2 decades ago), I fell ill and had to explain my situation to a pharmacist to get medicine. Well, I didn't know the words for the particular condition I was experiencing and it was a rather embarrassing condition to describe. And at that time, it was before I had a cellphone and internet searching was not that popular. The pharmacist was very helpful and did get me the pills I needed.

I also found that in spite of my rusty French, folks would insist that I try to speak to them in French rather than switch to English. I obliged and we could communicate enough. I was clothes shopping at one point and didn't know the word for "belt" and the shopkeeper figured it out at some point :) I think if you show you are attempting and have a good attitude about it, many will respond back in a kind way.

Adjusted for inflation and considering the Europe on $5 a Day was for a double room with the bath down the hall, included breakfast, and an inexpensive dinner, my wife and I easily spent less last month in Germany

I wonder if twenty or thirty years from now today's travel technology
will be called "the good old days".

This has already happened, no need to wait. I have some RS guides from earlier this century and he talks about travelers checks and making phone calls from the American Express office and then using those newfangled internet cafes. And every so often you'll see a yellow Kodak sign hanging outside a souvenir store ...

There is a book people might be interested in "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, Then and Now" available on Kindle. The author, Dick Davis, went in the 1960's and redid the trip a few years ago using a copy of the classic guide to visit the cities, hotels, and restaurants mentioned in the book if they still exist.

One thing I found surprising was that the early versions of the book such as from 1960-61 only covered 11 major cities. Apparently if you wanted to visit small or even medium sized towns you were on your own (or dependent on the stories you heard from other travelers).

I love love love this post!!! I too was lucky enough to travel "back in the day". Nine weeks in 1972 on 5 dollars a day, three months in 1974 on 7.50/day and four months in 1978 on 10 dollars/day. I can remember showing up at youth hostels hoping there was a bed available. Making appointments at the post office to call home collect. Picking up mail at the Post Restante windows in various cities. Eating a lot of bread because it was cheap. 2 months of unlimited train travel in 1972 was I think about 130 dollars good in 13 countries. Hitchhiked through Great Britain because those countries were not included in the pass. What great memories. After 1978 I think it was about 20 years before I made it back to Europe, and I have been several times since then but for much shorter periods. Still love it and love the people. In 2024 I am going to try to be over there for about three months (being retired helps).
Yes a lot has changed. I think its great to look back and I am so appreciative of how it use to be (less crowds, less cost, less stress). I am thankful that I experienced it the way I did and I am also thankful for how I get to experience it now. It's different and not necessarily better or worse. We have to adapt, embrace and change with the times.
While I no longer travel with just a backpack, I do still enjoy packing light, prefer staying in small hotels and family run establishments, and experiencing everything a large city or small village has to offer.
I will be turning 70 in December-in Paris!
Keep on traveling and treat others as you wish to be treated.

...so appreciative of how it use to be (less crowds, less cost, less stress). I am thankful that I experienced it the way I did...

Regina, absolutely!! Never made reservations for anything. Just went with the flow. And costs were next to nothing. A night on the town, including drinks, a nice dinner, and a club after dinner, rarely cost over six or eight dollars. Ten if one really splurged.

Like @janettravels44, I also got to travel to Europe on an ocean liner in 1960, when I was 10 years old. My parents took me and my eight-year-old brother on a two-month car trip. We bought a new VW bug in Wolfsburg, drove it for the summer, and shipped it home when we left. As far as I know we didn't have a guidebook; when we got into town, we'd go to the tourist office, and they'd find us accommodations. I have my mom's diary from those days and she complained when she had to pay as much as $2 for a hotel.
When I was 17, I went back by myself for the summer, with a Eurail pass. I rarely stayed in hostels. I'd go to the train station after dinner, look at the departures, and get on whatever train would arrive somewhere the next morning. Sometimes I had to sleep sitting up, but usually, I had a compartment and a faux double-bed to myself.
It wasn't until 40 years later, in 2007, after our kids were raised, that I was able to get a sabbatical and return with my wife to Europe. Again, we got a Eurail pass, but it certainly wasn't as convenient for off-the-cuff travel. On the other hand, I could now afford to stay in hotels with a bathroom, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. In fact, we've been back almost every year, just getting back from a month in Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Austria. Travel has changed, but so have we.

Very true about not having to reserve. The three trips I made in the 1970s I never reserved when I stayed in Pensionen instead of the usual hostel, never entered my mind to reserve beforehand. You " winged it " by just showing up.

Not until my 1987 trip to Berlin (that was super lucky as the city was celebrating its 750th anniversary of its existence, just a great time to be there at that momentous occasion) did I call up from here to reserve a EZ (a single), the WC down the hall as was the shower, ie, the old traditional German style, only the sink was in your room (mit fließendem Wasser...with running water).

You never made train reservations, was not necessary. I did that once back then, reserved a seat in a six seat compartment on the night train from Vienna to Amsterdam in Sept 1971.

A gift from my wife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK-SVR86ThY

Regards Ron

Crowds have increased and the world seems more homogenous then it did. OTOH I find a phone a wonderful convenience - maps, bookings, payment, forums such as this, etc.

We might all be a bit nostalgic for our remembered youth.

What was it that George Harrison once borrowed from ancient India all those years ago: 'The further one travels, the less one knows?'
I sincerely hope that we all continue to learn stuff while traveling and that travelers have tried to somehow put that knowledge into use over the decades. I mean not just learning about local cultures and history, but also say, how one might better treat others, the meaning of respect, the golden rule and all that.

Two of the most experienced travelers we've known seemed to have learned very little indeed over the decades. One fellow claimed to have been to almost all the countries on the planet, having combined a merchant marine background with a subsequent teaching career. Sure, he could rhyme off all the attractions in a given nation, but he remained so selfish that his own wife once warned us to watch out. I personally witnessed his own interactions with his children, and God it was ugly. I made excuses to leave then. Shudders.

The second traveler was a close relative. She too was a narcissist. It was all about her. She'd arrive in country 'X' with all the naivete in the universe, learn very little while there, then return home content to have checked off that box. There was little hope of having much meaningful conversation with her or trading travel tales---she'd soon cut you off and carry on bragging and boasting.

Cringeworthy.

So for me, traveling then and/or now hopefully results in somekinda gains regarding awareness and respect for all.

I am done. The end.

There is a marked difference now as opposed then , ie in the cold war days, when you went to the commie countries.

Basically, language-wise, forget about any English unless you stayed in the high-end, international hotels catering to business types. The lingua franca then among the common folks was German. "They" didn't expect you to know Hungarian or Polish or Czech so they would address you in German.

Obviously, there were the red tape requirements for entry and staying there, ie mandatory minimum currency exchange amount per day. I am glad and grateful that I had the opportunity outside of a guided tour to have visited 2 commie countries back then, Czechoslovakia (Prague) and East Germany (East Berlin) as a solo traveler.