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Raising a glass to Ed from Pensacola

Somehow an old thread from 2013 - 2014 has been reactivated although closed, probably because somebody has been removed from the Forums and the removal of a post reactivated temporarily this old thread and popped it up the list.

It is https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/a-year-in-europe-e0667e72-9738-4d16-9f76-6a97c9faaf44

about an individual wanting to spend a year in and out of Schengen.

As I realized it was a dinosaur and that I had posted to it way back in 2014 I saw that an old friend who we have lost track of had also contributed to the thread.

Good to see your name, old man, good to see it. That's Ed from Pensacola who I understand is still kicking around but not around here.

Here's a glass to you... and good memories of old times. cheers!

Posted by
3262 posts

I saw that too Nigel!

Ed attended a couple of Atlanta Group meetings several years ago and it was always to fun to get his perspective on travel!

Cheers to Ed from Pensacola!

Posted by
755 posts

Yes if I hadn’t seen Zoe’s name I wouldn’t have noticed that it was an old thread. RIP

Posted by
33719 posts

I missed Zoe's post. Thanks for mentioning it,

RIP Zoe

Posted by
2262 posts

That's really terrific. In the short time that I got to enjoy his posts, I learned a mountain of useful stuff, and probably not half of it was regarding travels to Europe, truly a know it all, and a pleasure to read. Our relatively small time of five weeks in Europe was enhanced by Ed's presence here.

Posted by
9198 posts

Oh, I miss Ed. He was one of the posters that made the forum really worth reading every day. Wish he would drop by here again, or at least stop in Frankfurt for a coffee.

Posted by
32344 posts

I too miss Ed's always interesting and witty posts. Hopefully he'll pop by the forum sometime.

Posted by
2073 posts

Nigel, thanks for putting this under our attention. Good to know he is still kicking around, miss his unique style of contributing too. If Pensacola deserves a place on the “Traveling through the Alphabet list” it’s because of Ed. Cheers!

Posted by
10580 posts

Ed was a great addition to the forum for years and was immensely helpful through PM’s while I was planning one of my trips. He’s greatly missed. Thanks for mentioning him Nigel.

Posted by
8913 posts

As I recall, not everybody liked him, but he certainly was memorable. And I think that's the way he liked it.

Posted by
4228 posts

Yes, I too miss his posts. And to add to Zoe’s reason for a visit, we stopped in Krapina, Croatia because of the name.

Posted by
2252 posts

What fun to see the names of old friends. While I never met either Zoe or Ed, I enjoyed their posts immensely and miss them. I learned a lot from them both, as I continue to learn from quite a few of you who are still posting here and contributing to my travel knowledge. Thank you all.

Posted by
7891 posts

Ed was often A Man of Few Words, but got his message across effectively, as in the link in this thread.

Nigel, I see you mentioned back then that Croatia wasn’t a Schengen participant. Times certainly do change. As of just 16 days ago, not only is Croatia now in the Schengen Zone, but the Euro is its money!

Posted by
1627 posts

Funnily enough I was thinking of some of Ed's advice recently. A poster was saying they didn't want to bring a cell phone because of the exorbitant international fees. I recall Ed saying something like "travel cheap so that when something goes wrong you can hose it down with money".

Posted by
7150 posts

I am reminded of Ed often because I have saved an old post of mine and I go back and read it sometimes. He helped me a lot with a proposed trip I was planning, one I still haven't taken but haven't given up on yet. He always had good advice and wasn't concerned with the niceties when giving it but cut right to the meat of the matter. I learned a lot from him and and I wish he was still around.

Posted by
6713 posts

Ed could be brusque and maybe a tad impatient with someone who didn't see things his way, but he was always entertaining and I'm sure his information was always good. I remember his reaction to people who warned darkly about the ordeal of driving in big cities like Paris: "It's just streets." And the need to occasionally solve a problem by bringing out "the money gun."

I'm glad he's still kicking around (but how do you know that, Nigel?) and I wish he'd return to the forum. Maybe the webmaster could create an "Ed" category to lure him back and keep the rest of us honest. But I'm not sure I could pass the entrance exam!