Meeting others while abroad

On Flyertalk, a FF board, they sell these neon looking luggage tags for members to identify each other. Lots of chatter about running into others with tags at various airports around the world.

If RS made luggage tags for this purpose, they'd probably be in the shape of a moneybelt.

I met up with a Rick Steves tour once while in France. They were staying at my hotel! Also, you can't help but run into people with his books if you stay in the Rick Steve's hotels. I had a nice time with a couple when I was in Chamonix.

I think the idea of a specific tag is kind of cool. It would be nice just to say, "Hi, remember me from the travel board :-).

It's easy to know Rick Steves readers you meet. Their itineraries follow his recommendations exactly. I met a group on the Rhine who were having trouble ordering in a restaurant ("How do you say beer in German"). I helped them a little. When they told me where they were going, I said "Sounds like a Rick Steves tour." They were amazed that I knew.

I find it amusing that Rick tells people to get out and experience Europe while his readers then slavishly follow his exact itineraries.

Rick's recommendations are all very good, but they aren't an exhaustive review of all the good things in Europe. You can miss a lot if you don't look further.

I don't want to derail this interesting topic, but I did want to respond to Brad's post...

I think a lot of people are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choice (and expense) of a European trip. It's much easier to just follow a itinerary that has been set and vetted by someone with 20+ years experience. And sometimes it just makes good sense. For instance, my dad and I are going to Rome and plan to follow the "Caesar Shuffle" (Colosseum to Forum to Pantheon) because our hotel is near the first and we want to have lunch near the last.

That said, I do encourage people to restructure them to suit their own tastes. Rick certainly has his own biases (case in point: I didn't enjoy Blenheim Castle in England at all, which is one of Rick's favorites or at least used to be). But I think being able to pick and choose is a skill that, for most people, comes with the experience of getting at least one European trip under their belts.

If anybody from this board wants to meet with a local while in Frankfurt, Germany, just let me know. You can almost always squeeze in a pint of beer and some nice talk ;-)

Liz, we plan to see Blenheim Castle on this trip because we'll be staying close to Oxford and planned things to do around Oxfordshire. What didn't you like about it? I would be interested to know. Don't want to waste my money on time.

I have read elsewhere about Rick's recommendations and would like to know how different his are from Fodor's or Frommer's?

That sounds good.

Generally when we travel abroad, if I come across an American (or American family) looking lost, or confused over something, we stop to chat a little. One time we were in the Caribbean and the couple had no idea what they were getting themselves into. It was a scam to take you out on a boat and THEN you pay once you're on your way back to shore. I had read up about it, so we were avoiding the smaller boat trips that sounded too good to be true. Anyway, they were so grateful that they invited us back to their hotel for drinks. We still keep in touch once a year (Christmas) and share travel stories.

Eli-
I met up with someone I had met on this board. He's from Canada and I am from California. He saw my post under "eurpoean travel partners wanted" on the Graffiti Wall. We started an email correspondence. Turned out we were both traveling solo and our paths would cross on part of our trip. I was starting in Italy and would be heading to Nice, France from Rome. He was in London and would be heading to Nice. We had a 2 day overlap in Nice. Neither of us wanted to share expenses (hotel) or be with someone 24-7 but both wanted to have someone to meet up with for dinner and to share tales of our day. So we did just that! Worked out perfectly. Nice guy, had some good meals, good conversation and good company.
I have also met people from other sites (Couchsurfing). Met locals in Barcelona, Amsterdam and Lisbon from that site and shared nights out, some site seeing and "locals" tips. Good times!

I also wanted to add that if you have been on a RS tour, you get a "souvineer patch" that you can put on your bag or a hat or clothes or whatever, which would help you identify other RS tour alum.

And you can often meet up with other people who have been on the same tour as you: for instance, I believe that a couple who was on the same Rome tour with me last year will be on the same Florence tour with me this year. And on the Rome tour there were three friends who had met on another RS tour (Paris I think?) and had decided to take the Rome tour together.

Eli--will send you a PM about Blenheim.

I think it would be nice to find out if there are others around my son and daughter's age. Maybe since we'll be in France for 2 weeks they might meet some locals in the little town?

Hello Eli. You asked for an opinion about the Blenheim Palace in England. I walked through it with a guide, and I did not like it much. Its architectural style is "English Baroque". Other mansions in England have other architectural styles. I like "Georgian". You might be able to see the furniture in the "state rooms" in Blenheim palace, in a video traveloque from a public library near you.
A mansion in England that I think is more beautiful is Chatsworth. Blenheim palace is at the small town Woodstock. At Woodstock I liked the old pub on the main street: I ate lunch there while waiting for my room to be ready in the B & B. That pub is more than 200 years old, the table looked like it is more than 100 years old, that place has four fireplaces. It is spacious. I think the reason Rick Steves said he recommends going to Blenheim Palace is that it is at a convenient location, between the Heathrow airport and the northern Cotswold villages.

Even if I did meet someone from this board, the anonymity of the format would probably prevent me from identifying anyone (and vice versa). Plus, most of my trips to Europe these days are far from the typical path of travel, like Eastern Europe and Limburg province in Belgium.

Hello Eli. You asked about the differences between Rick Steves' recommendations (in his travel guide books on countries) and the recommendations in the Frommers books. There is a big difference. Each of them puts a high priority on visiting places that are not recommended by the other. I agree with very nearly all of Rick Steves' "SIGHTSEEING PRIORITIES" that are in "INTRODUCTION" in his travel guide books on countries in Europe. (In the countries that I have been at).

Thanks Ron. I did order a couple of Rick's books, and am borrowing some from other writers to compare the information.

Will borrow some DVDs too to check out your recommendations.

Not from this board, but as mentioned in prior posts it's pretty easy to find RS readers in just about any recommended restaurant, hotel, etc. While on a RS tour in Italy, a couple of tourmates and I tried to get a table at a busy restaurant in Siena. As we attempted go push open the front door, we ran into a woman trying to take a picture of the crowd in the restaurant. Out of probably 20 tables, at least 10 were Americans holding up their 2006 Rick Steves Italy books. Both funny and sad - he's great for the businesses, but by recommending the site, you're assured of having a less than "local" crowd (before you beat me up, Rick himself has written on this very subject of the "RS recommendation" irony).

It's not hard to spot a RS fan in your travels. I've seen Passengers with the RS Carry-on and that is often a great opener for conversation!!

Eli- I met up with a woman from this forum last September in Prague. She put a message on the RS graffiti wall that she would be in Prague and wanted to go on a tour with some RS folks. We had breakfast together and did a walking tour. We had a great time. I would use the graffiti wall again to find travel friends or partners.

While we have met RS aficionados during our trips, we have learned more from and enjoyed being with even more, the Europeans met along the way.
We have encountered an eclectic mix- from the proud mother in Bellagio who told us (in Italian) about her son, the San Francisco chef thru the hotel manager in Zakopane,Poland who squired us around to sightsee and took us to an amusement park w his family to the high school teachers and ccollege professors who explained things to us in Warsaw. Each such experience was special and one that we will remember for many years

Interesting note on the Rick-nicks... first time I walked through Gimmelwald, I saw more Americans carrying Rick's book than I did Swiss villagers!

We are staying about 20 minutes outside the centre of Rome and I spoke to the owner today. He told me we would be the only tourist in our building, and that in fact, the restaurants are family owned, the grocery store/markets etc., are all Italians so I think this will be a great opportunity to meet people and make friends while we are there. His daughter is going to bring us the key and be around if we need any help. She has teens also so maybe mine would hook up and have some fun with the locals.

I haven't met anyone from this forum, but I would love to.

In 1999, my husband and I were in Ireland. We met a couple at a "tea" break. Weather was cold and rainy. They apologized for the weather and hoped we had better weather for the rest of our trip. (A 15 minute conversation.) I asked for their email address and told them I would let them know how the rest of our trip went. I kept in touch via email. Two years later I emailed them that we were returning to Ireland. They invited us to stay with them in Northern Ireland. We were skeptical since we didn't "really" know them. We decided at least 1 night if not 2. We stayed a week and went on several walks with them. There went our "planned" itinerary but it was a great decision. We've been back a 3rd time staying a week. WONDERFUL!!! The Irish are very friendly and kind. Just start talking and you will meet people that will remain your friends forever.

When on any of my previous 5 RS tours, I always see other folks with RS books and almost always go over and introduce myself and see how they are doing and if I can answer any questions related to what our tour has already seen. Had nothing but good encounters. Speaks well of these types of folks.