Got Our Tour Docs for Best of Poland!

I can't wait for your trip report!

I am so looking forward to hearing allll about this trip!

So excited for you you’re gonna love Poland.

It is so funny to me to think of you and your hubby taking an RS tour to Poland, given that you lived there yourselves all those decades ago. That shows how much you love Rick's tours !

I know this is going to be a very special experience for you both, and I am glad you got your much-anticipated docs.

Like the others, I too can't wait for you to experience this and then hear about it !

P.s. remind me, when (generally) is the tour?

Kim, someone else questioned our decision to take the RS tour, but it was deliberate. We do love the tours, and thought this would be a good way to be reintroduced to Poland.

We were there in the early '80s, when it was still under a Communist government. We were there when martial law was introduced in December of 1981. We loved our time there, in spite of (or to some extent because of - we were anthropologists, after all!) shortages, rationing, our workplace closed down for months...

But we loved the country, we loved the people, and for a time even considered retiring there. (Life had other plans for us, though.)

Going back now will be a major cultural shift, and we decided to make it easy on ourselves and let someone else do most of the work. We are both excited and yet somewhat apprehensive about returning.

Not to mention the language gap! My Polish was pretty good when we were there, but it's been 40 years! Yikes! I've tried to review a bit, but honestly, I'm not expecting much.

Once again, a reason to let someone else do the groundwork.

I suspect, though, that having dipped our toes into the water, we will be returning in the future, perhaps revisiting our beloved Poznań, which the RS tour does not visit.

And no pressure, eh? You folks are already nudging me about a trip report? Aaaarrrggghhhh!

I am considering following CWsocial's lead, and filing a daily report, rather than waiting until we get home. Our trip is another lengthy one, with the Poland tour in late May, another RSE tour in mid June, and about 3 weeks total travel between and after those two. I've found, with similar schedules the last two years, that by the time we get home, trying to write a trip report for something that happened 8 weeks or so previously (and the associated hotel and restaurant reviews) is difficult. I do keep a kind of journal, more of a log, and refer to that, but I think I will try the daily posting and see how it goes.

Now, I'm not overly sanguine about my ability to keep it going. But we'll see....

You know I had to throw in that trip report mention specifically to torture you !!!

Someday when I am home, I will have to find my photos from Warsaw from just after September 11. The extraordinary outpouring of support from the Poles at the US Embassy there absolutely blew me away,

Jane I was so impressed with Tomas who is a Polish guide for that tour. He came along on the Prague Budapest tour I did in October as an assistant of sorts. He was so personable and proud of his country and the RS tour he really made me want to sign up. I’ll be very interested to hear all about your experiences. How fun for you. I can’t quite imagine touring as long as you are planning, however. Do you ever get sensory overload after about 3 weeks? I’m afraid that would happen to me.

Jane, tour docs make it real! Have a wonderful time and yes, lol, NEED a trip report! Poland is a not too distant destination for us! (Possibly 2027)!

I love tour docs day! Definitely makes it seem real.

And no pressure on the trip reporting, but some of us can't go very far right now (ahem, me) and really love to travel vicariously. I really like your idea about updating an ongoing trip report thread - that would put it all in one place for future forum member (and your) reference, and given your long away time it would be relatively efficient even if you only updated it every few days. And even if it is just small tidbits about what struck your fancy that day, they offer so much more color to the RS tour itinerary descriptions. BTW CWSocial's Turkey tour thread was one I bookmarked and used while planning my tour there.

Woohoo!! I know you are thrilled especially after all your hard work on the side jaunts. Now, um, let's see...on to packing? hahaha!

Kim...that must have been amazing to witness the support of the Poles at that extreme time.

Weird about the hotel instructions..."note to self" to put that in your eval because they really are read!

trying to write a trip report for something that happened 8 weeks
That does sound like hard work! I enjoyed posting spur of the moment entries as something hit me. Sometimes it's the little things that help someone else plan their tour.

Speaking of which ... "directions to the first tour hotel didn't include a new train line from the airport to the Gdańsk train station"
Thanks for mentioning this, which I will research before my August visit. And maybe you'll write a little trip log entry for it and I'll get the insider's scoop!

Change the title and this thread looks like the start of a trip report to me!!

“Change the title and this thread looks like the start of a trip report to me!!”

That’s hilarious!

So obviously a bunch of comedians here today.

Lyndash, no, so far we've been okay with taking 6 or 7 week trips. We tend to take things slowly, planning no more than two activities a day, sometimes only one. That leaves time for wandering, dropping into churches, browsing markets, and (at least in Stan's case,) naps. I will say that by about the 5th week or so, we're tired. But I guess since Covid, we've been taking trips that include two RSE tours, with about 3 weeks or so on our own, before, after, or in-between. And it's working for us. Like so many folks in our age group (ahem, advanced,) we want to do what we can, while we can.

CL, I'm planning to give it a try, and yes, CWsocial's Turkey report was what I had in mind. And do you follow Mardee? She has a blog that is wonderful, posting highlights (and sometimes lowlights) of each day. I'm not that ambitious, but I do like the idea of a running narrative.

Pam, I'm not ready to pack yet - I usually pack the day before we leave. However... since most of my beloved trip clothes have fallen to pieces in the last few years, I'm having to replace bottoms and about half my tops. So I am auditioning various clothing items that I already own. I did buy some slacks last year to replace the ones that fell apart (honestly, you would think that something from Kmart would last more than 30 years, right?) and I'm sorting through tops, looking for what pieces layer well.

CWsocial, check out the latest edition of the RSE Kraków, Warsaw, and Gdańsk guidebook; there's a very inexpensive (5 zł! that's just about $1.25) train that runs straight from the airport to the main train station. Sounds easier than the bus, and much cheaper than a taxi.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in the OP that our guide is Agnes Syroka, who appears in the guidebook as Agnieszka Syroka. I'm anticipating a wonderful tour.

Thanks everyone, for sharing my excitement.

I've found, with similar schedules the last two years, that by the time we get home, trying to write a trip report for something that happened 8 weeks or so previously (and the associated hotel and restaurant reviews) is difficult.

I hope you do post a report! I've kept a trip log ever since my first trip when I thought I'd remember the details forever and then six months later could barely recall them. What I've done the past few years is rely on Uncle Google. I send myself a few emails a day about what's going on and what I'm thinking, simply using the microphone button on my phone so that I can dictate instead of type. And whenever I walk into a museum or restaurant I snap a photo so I remember the name. When I get back home it's cut and paste to put together a travel diary, correcting a few typos from text-to-speech here and there.

John, great ideas! Going to try it out on my next trip!

Jane,
I sent you an email. Did you get it?

Judy B, I did; I’m chasing my tail today, but should be able to find some time later today. Politics!