SF East Bay Hosts Travel Talk: June 15 (online, everyone welcome)

PREVIEWS

FUTURE ONLINE MEETINGS: 2nd Saturdays, except as noted
(May - no online meeting)
July 13, 2024, 11am PT - 1pm PT
(August - no online meeting)
Sept 14, 2024, 11am PT - 1pm PT
Oct 12, 2024, 11am PT - 1pm PT
(November - no online meeting)

IN-PERSON MEETINGS:
Please watch for separate announcements for our in-person meetings.
Click HERE for the most recent announcement with the dates of upcoming in-person meetings.

TOPICS for June 15
Oh my, this is a going to be a fun meeting! Please continue to let me know if you'll have travels to share. Obviously, this "travel group" is traveling! (With some notable exceptions, ahem!) If we don't get to all the trips below, we will continue in July!

Travel Talk: join us in June (and most likely July) as we chat about these destinations!

June meeting - tentative and still in flux with trips and travelers
(Carol) Cambridge and the Baltic Capitals (if you haven't been, it's time to add these to your list!)
(Tammy aka Diveloonie) Diving in Cuba and a domestic trip to all 5 Utah National Parks
(Chani) Christmas Markets
(Sandancisco) Stockholm and Uppsala
(CWsocial) 10N in London

(Midway through the Travel Talks we'll take a short break and allow up to 30 minutes for Travel Tools)

Travel Tools: this summer, I'll be searching for a new credit card, with better travel benefits. I'll be interested to hear from those who have airline cards, and those with cards with other travel benefits, such as my BofA card which has a nice Trip Interruption/Cancellation benefit.

Please refresh your memory on your own card and join the conversation.

PREVIEW OF JULY MEETING (tentative)
We won't get to all of these travels in the June meeting, so please join us in July to hear more!

These are some of our tentative destinations with our travelers:

(Barbara) 6N in Rotterdam and a 2 week cruise of Norway
Road trip through France
(CWsocial) Chichester and Arundel
(Jean) Puglia, Umbria, Abruzzo regions and five days in Palermo
Convent stays in Italy

Disclaimer: travel talk can be contagious. The management cannot be responsible for an ever-lengthening travel wish list. Listen to the travel stories at your own risk!

Please add me. Thanks!

Will we need to consider making attendees sign a waiver?

I think that will be prudent.

Please include me, I’ll be returning from a 6 night stay in Rotterdam combined with a 2 week cruise of Norway on June 13.

Sounds fun. Please add me.

I hope to attend unless any unexpected events. Currently on the long bus ride to Tallinn. Don’t want to talk about it :)

Count me in! I will have returned from Cuba and a domestic trip to all 5 Utah National Parks.

Goodness! Exciting stuff to hear about! Tammy, you know I want to hear about your trips! And those Utah parks could make me plan a return trip there…. Carol, hopefully Tallinn is good to you once you arrive! Barbara, that sounds amazing!

As long as I find internet and a good place to attend from (one of my few hostel stays), I should be there. I will be in Dublin.

Oh no, June 15 is the 3rd Saturday. That’s the day of our Sacramento Travel meeting and I can’t do both. I’m sorry I’ll have to miss yours.

I plan to be there. I could show just a few photos from the second half of my France trip if there’s time.

”The management cannot be responsible for an ever-lengthening travel wish list. Listen to the travel stories at your own risk!”

LOL! That’s what happens during our local Coeur d’Alene/Spokane monthly meeting, too!

I will be freshly back from a month in Italy, so if anyone wants to hear about the Puglia, Umbria, Abruzzo regions or my five days in Palermo, hopefully I have good memories to share!

Please add me. I'm not going anywhere, but interested in the travel tools discussion.

Can I just say (wiping away a tear) how proud I am of y'all?!? We're seriously back!

Once I have a good idea of everyone's recent and upcoming travels, I'll decide how to allocate our time across this meeting and the meeting in July. So please continue to let me know!

We will also allow 30 minutes mid-meeting (immediately after the break) for the Travel Tools discussion.

Andrea, sorry that we will miss you! I had to bump to the 3rd Saturday as I will still be traveling on the usual 2nd Saturday.

CL, at least we have rontayca's RS Best of Turkey tour-report-in-progress to follow along. Merhaba to your cats!

Ummm, Jean, of course we want to hear about Puglia, etc.! In fact, it seems we'll have a mini Italy theme, with you and SharYn both just back. That's good because it's been too long since I've been to Italy and I will enjoy the inspirations!

I would like to join this meeting. I like seeing the faces behind the screen names.

I am going to Barcelona in October and cruising the Mediterranean.

Last October I went to London and then down to Southampton cruising to Lisbon.

just curious - how many hours of zoom room have you convinced avirosemail to contribute for this marathon???? I'm 8 hours ahead of you and might be dead by then!!!

actually possibly 9 hours because I think we will be road tripping through France (or possibly Belgium) about then... I may have to report from on the road

Hah! Bring snacks and a pillow, we're pulling an all nighter!

Nah, Nigel, we'll keep it to our usual 2 hours. Clearly we won't hear about all the trips, probably just a few and we'll continue in July. And beyond.

I remember when we were digging old trips out of the attic to reminisce about. This is a good problem!

I'm 10 hours ahead, but willing, nay looking forward, to joining this lovely group again.

CWsocial, I totally understand. Sometimes I have to shift the date away from the 1st Sunday of the month for the International meeting for the same reason. Have a good meeting.

Sounds like a fun meeting! Count me in!

Please add me!
Thanks,
Cynthia

Please add me. This will be my first time to visit this group but there are lots of familiar names! Looking forward to seeing you all!

Well, I’d like to try my first online meeting! Sign me up - I’m home for the summer - all travels on hold while we deal with a situation - so it will be some vicarious fun for me.

You are all "in." This will be fun to look forward to. OK, Nigel, maybe we'll bring our pajamas and pull a travel all-nighter. Hah!

jody, welcome and glad you can join the fun. I will send you a forum message with some preliminary setup instructions.

Everyone, avirosemail has hooked me up with our meeting invite and I will send that out in the week leading up to the meeting, so it doesn't get buried in your forum inbox.

If I go radio silent for a while, it's only because I am traveling. There is room for anyone who would like to join. I'll send the meeting link after I'm back and much nearer the meeting date. I just wanted to get this announcement set up now, while I have time.

OK, back to packing!

happy travelling

Valerie - I hope your situation is nothing too serious. I'm glad you'll join us for the online travel sharing fun!

I've just sent you the "preliminary setup" in a forum message and will send the meeting link much closer to the date.

Nigel - thanks! Keep the place warm and dry for me? Or at least just showers ... I can deal with those!

Why not? Lynn (Boise) is always telling me I should meet you!

Janet, it’s a great meeting and a great group!

Janet, welcome! I've just sent you a forum message with preliminary setup instructions to follow so that you'll be able to join the meeting.

So, you all may be wondering how we are going to hear about so many trips in 2 hours.

First, we will save some for our July meeting.
Second, I'm going to impose a little structure so that we can hear about as many trips as possible.

What Were Your 3 Favorite Things About Your Trip

Timing: each traveler will have 6 minutes, with questions (after) for up to 10 minutes.
Photos: if you'd like to share photos (optional) you can share up to 4, each of which can be:

1) a map of your trip (optional)
2) a single photo - a favorite thing or "wow" moment, e.g., my balloon ride in Cappadocia!
3) a slide or photobook page of photos with a theme, for example "the cool castles I went to in England" or "beautiful cathedrals I visited in Italy" or "fabulous scenery from Slovenia" or "the best day ever on the Amalfi coast"

If you prefer to just tell us about your trip, please use the same idea and tell us your 3 favorite things or themes from your trip.

Whenever my brother asks about my trips, he always phrases it as "what was your favorite thing about your trip, Sis?" (There's only so much "conversation" he can tolerate!) So think of this as a variation .... "what were your 3 favorite things about your trip?"

I just realized I will still be in Switzerland on June 15, so I won't make it to the meeting. But I bet it will be great and hope to see everyone at the next meeting.

Good idea, CWSocial! We’ll have to prepare using a timer so things will move along. One problem: hearing the best things will whet our appetite even more!! :)

Well, Barbara, in case it rains that night and you are tucked inside, I find I like attending from Europe. Times often work well for a bit of early dinner and then a meeting. LOL. And if you show France pictures in July, I will miss them!

Barbara N, I'm sorry that we'll miss you by a tiny bit, but we'll look forward to hearing about France or Switzerland in July and perhaps the other in the fall.

I will try to make June 15 if not traveling to Santa Barbara for Father’s Day.

Hi CWSocial! Please count me in. I might be a little jet lagged then but I’ll try to stay awake.

Oh poor us, we're such a bunch of stay-at-home types! WOW, I'm so glad to be included in this amazing group. Hey CWS - I have no memory of how to log into call, suppose it's in a DM, will try to join 10 minutes early. (PS, OOPS, I found it! No worries.) Hey, this sounds like a PACKED 2-hours!! Hmmmm what was my favorite thing about last visit to Stockholm? The Historical Museum Viking helmet or the coffee?? OK, I'm done.

Hi all, we're still on for June 15! I'll send preliminary setup instructions to anyone who needs them in June, well before the meeting.

For those who will be sharing your trips, I hope you're coming up with your "favorite things." I know I won't be able to narrow it down to 3, so I may have to share my "3 favorite things" about just one city or one day trip destination.

"Your trip is a gift from you to you."
I just read this in Jean's trip report, which she excerpted from this Rick Steves page:

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/tips-for-traveling-solo

So true. I can't wait to hear about your trips! And get ideas for my own!!

Sandancisco, thanks for a glimpse into your favorite things about your recent Stockholm break. I have been so grateful to get so many great ideas from you for my upcoming visit.

I'm wrapping up the middle section of my current England trip. My "favorite thing* so far has been discovering how much I can find to do in a mid sized town, with small museums and local day trips that wouldn't make anyone's "Top 50" list for England, but have each been absolutely delightful as part of my 10 days.

3 favorite things……. Can I share pics of all the wonderful people we encountered in these off the Top 50 cities - that wanted to talk to us? Lol. Yes, this is going to be hard.

pappillon54, it will be fun to see you there!

I’d like to log in and listen if there’s room and if I’m not on the road. I’d love to know what’s happening now in Utah. Back in the day I wore out several pairs of boots and at least one pack scrambling about all 5 of her nat’l parks and many surrounding mesas, canyons, and rivers.

Yes, it's definitely going to be hard to choose 3 pics or themes that represent our trips. I'm going to have to zero in on something - a city, or maybe even a destination within a city. OK, I have a bit over a week to figure it out!

Yes, there is room for everyone who has replied and anyone else who would like to join. I need to pencil in a few more trips, so I'm looking forward to hearing about all the wonderful places I might go!

CWSocial - it might be worth getting on line early or ahead because the most recent version of Zoom has had quite a facelift.

I just hosted a meeting and things were not where or how they used to be.

Lots of new whistles and bells, and reshuffling of where things are. You can fill an entire square (rounded edges now) with reaction emojis now!

So, as I said, worth firing it up before you need it....

and .... since people started signing up for this magnificent knees up way back in April (remember April?) it might be wise to send out links a day or two early in case they forgot or forgot which day and time..... (not me, I never forget anything! -- HA)

Most of you are aware of how my recent trip ended abruptly. June is too soon, but I would like to plan to attend in July, and I could share some highlights of my Puglia, Sicily (Palermo), Umbria, Abruzzo trip.

CW, I'm going to try to get there, and would love to get a link. Thanks!

I've sent meeting links to everyone who has said they'd like to join on Saturday for our marathon travel talks!

For those of you who are new to our meetings, I've also sent Preliminary Setup instructions. Please make sure to follow those, otherwise our meeting security "guard" will not let you past and we won't even know that you are trying.

Those of you who have attended prior meetings, you should already know the steps. Please message me privately if you'd like a quick reminder!

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday and there is still room if others would like to join!

I've updated our June and July schedules with travels that I know about. Please let me know if you have travels to share so that I can add them to our Travel Talk agenda!

Mardee - would you like to share a few favorites from your wanderings in England? Shall I add you for June or would you like more time to share photos in July?

Looking forward to hearing from our travelers on Saturday!

If you haven't already, please let me know (on this thread) if you plan to share your three favorite photos of your trip.

If you'll just be telling us about your favorite things from your trip, no need. We'll just raise hands. We'll go through trips taken first. If there is time, we'll hear about upcoming trips.

We'll also take time to talk about travel benefits of credit cards so please remind yourself about your card benefits.

See you all on Saturday!

If you're sharing 3 photos (or 4 with a map) keep in mind that it's ok if a "photo" is actually a collage of photos with a theme. For instance, "castles in England" or "beautiful churches in Italy."

That's what I'm doing!

I’d like to attend. Is there still room?

Debbie R, welcome! It's not too late.

I've just sent you a private message on this forum. Please let me know that you've received that and I will send you some Preliminary Setup instructions and the meeting link.

For anyone else who might like to join, I will check this meeting announcement until about 10am PT tomorrow morning.

Travel Tools reminder of our discussion

This summer, I'll be searching for a new credit card, with better travel benefits. I'll be interested to hear from those who have airline cards, and those with cards with other travel benefits, such as my BofA card which has a nice Trip Interruption/Cancellation benefit.

Please refresh your memory on the travel benefits of your own card and join the conversation.

What insurance benefits does your travel credit card offer? Trip Cancellation/Interruption?
Do you rely on your travel credit card for insurance benefits? or do you buy a separate policy?

If you are sharing pictures (or collages of pictures) please let me know - if you haven't already.

See you all online tomorrow!!

Last call (nearly) for anyone else to join?

I am sad to be missing all the fun for June and likely July, with no meeting in August. Hoping I can make it in September!

can't believe that TTM is going AWOL. My day is ruined! (crying emoji)

Missing you already, TTM

I was scheduled to be included but I am recovering from pneumonia and have to bow out. Maybe next meeting?

Looking forward to seeing the faces behind the screen name.

bostonphil

TexasTravelMom, I think you are going to owe us about 7 trip reports by the time we catch up with you next! Fortunately, I have some inside scoops on a couple of your locations ;-) Nigel, we'll catch her in a hotel room one of these times!

bostonphil7, you are welcome anytime. Feel better!

I am sad, too, Nigel! I am home in July but so is my youngest and that is precious time. :)

September from the Baltics somewhere for sure!

I’d like to join if there’s room for me! We’re thinking of heading out to Europe next summer and would like ideas to plan it out. Thank you.

Mardee - would you like to share a few favorites from your wanderings in England? Shall I add you for June or would you like more time to share photos in July?

Oops, CW, should have checked back as I missed that about sharing.

Well, I'm not sure. I'm going to try and make it but I'm watching my 5 year old grandson today (sort of unexpectedly) and he has a tendency to photobomb any Zoom session. Next month might be easier. I'm heading out on a 3 week road trip in July (mostly to see family) but won't leave until Sunday, July 14, so that might work better if you're talking about Sat,, the 13th. Either way, I might come and try today though. Sorry for the way-too-long explanation!

Mardee, no worries, July will be great!

TnTGlobeTrotters, that's great, we'd love to help you catch the fever for your next destination!

I'm sending you a private message on this forum now. Please reply to me there so that I can send you the Preliminary Setup and instructions to attend the meeting.

ETA: just saw your message, thanks! I've sent you some messages with everything you should need to join today. Welcome!

WHAT TO EXPECT TODAY
Everyone, see you online soon. I will start the meeting in about 10 minutes.

This is the current lineup of destinations with photos:
(Carol) Cambridge and the Baltic Capitals
(Tammy aka Diveloonie) Diving in Cuba and a domestic trip to all 5 Utah National Parks
(Chani) Christmas Markets
(Sandancisco) Stockholm and Uppsala
(CWsocial) 10N in London

Plus anywhere else anyone is going to tell us about! We'll intermix photos and not-photos to give each presenter a moment to set up. After a short mid-meeting break we'll take Travel Tools, this month being credit card insurance benefits. Then back to travels!

The three books I read about Bletchley are:

The Rose Code: A Novel
Book by Kate Quinn
A forum recommendation and historical novel that started me on the journey, thanks Christine!

The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II
Book by Candace Fleming

Geniuses at War: Bletchley Park, Colossus, and the Dawn of the Digital Age
Book by David A. Price

I got a notice in the mail yesterday of a class action settlement regarding Travel Guard ins.

Apparently they overcharged for plans. We submitted a claim. It will be interesting to see what we get, if anything.

Today's meeting was jam packed with good photos and stories and tips --
maybe a little too jam packed? Would it fit in the sizer at the gate?

Thanks to everyone who shared photos and stories about their trips. There were lots of wonderful photos!

Thanks, CWSocial, for the details on those Bletchley-related books.

Great meeting Ya'll! I can't wait to plan trips using some of your ideas! Great pictures. See you next month!!

We missed the previous meeting due to travels so it was great to see and hear about the travels of others. That is it was great until we started talking about insurance and medical evacuations - then it turned scary :) Nonetheless, it was a great meeting!

Thanks again to CW and Avi and all the other presenters.

Diane, interesting. I hadn't seen that insurance news.

Carol, true, that was a bit of a downer to think about. Let's hope none of us needs it!

avirosemail, hah, you're right, I may have overpacked for this trip! Thanks for hosting through it all, and for all the fun facts!

Thank you to everyone who presented and to Catherine and Avi for wrangling us all--great collaboration as usual. I think I'll be buying medical evacuation insurance before my next trip abroad.

Happy travels to all,
Cynthia

Well thanks again to CWSocial and to those who showed their amazing travel pics - The variety from Cambridge to Cuba, Budapest & Riga, wow. Actually I found that last photo of a medical situation better than any discussion of travel insurance to get me to actually BUY evacuation insurance. Thank you. Here's a link to Travel Insured, suggested on the call. https://www.travelinsured.com/lp/wtp?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw97SzBhDaARIsAFHXUWBmRht-SHhXzlcF80BcGSDkqDRgyx-oLi0qtvdJuerjUqLDhqoIeasaAvwaEALw_wcB.

A reminder that my annual, multi-trip TravelInsured evacuation policy benefits are:

Medical Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains
up to $100,000 per Trip
Per 2 occurrences per policy term

Political/Security Evac & Natural Disaster Evac
up to $150,000 per Trip
Per 2 occurrences per policy term

It is not a "fly me to the hospital of my choice" policy nor an "at any cost" policy.

It's not yet 9 am here, and I've already bought the audio book of The Rose Code, and downloaded Kindle samples of the other 2 books CW recommended. Thank you! On the topic, have you seen the BBC series, The Bletchley Circle? There were 2 seasons in London and a 3rd in San Francisco. I highly recommend them. No clue how to see them in the US, but they are available on DVD (amazon?). Lots of detail about life in wartime London and 10 years later in London and San Francisco, suspenseful as well. Thank you CW for bringing back some great memories.

I loved Carol's presentation. The Baltic cities may well be my next European trip. Carol, you made Riga and Vilnius sound great. I've been to Tallinn briefly and would love a return visit with time to explore, but I think I'll go later in the year than you did.

Tammy, I'm so glad you got to see a little of Utah. Zion is my favorite place in the world, and now I'm more excited than ever at going back at the end of October. My best memory of Bryce was walking up close to the hoodoos - so incredibly lovely, some looked like fairy castles. Are you (maybe your husband) eligible yet for the NP life-time senior pass?

It seems my last photo was a very good segue into travel insurance. Safe travels to all.

On the topic, have you seen the BBC series, The Bletchley Circle? There were 2 seasons in London and a 3rd in San Francisco. I highly recommend them. No clue how to see them in the US, but they are available on DVD (amazon?). Lots of detail about life in wartime London and 10 years later in London and San Francisco, suspenseful as well.

I watched it a few years ago and loved it, especially the first season. You can stream it for free if you have Amazon Prime. I think it's also available on Peacock.

Thanks, Chani! The weather is iffy. In Riga someone told us that they were wearing shorts the previous week. Go figure. The bus ride between the cities is scenic so we enjoyed that part of the trip as well as the actual towns.

And I agree with Zion. We used to camp in a motor home in many national parks. We often spent two weeks in Zion several days in Bryce. What great memories! I hope you can return.

I found some of the Bletchley Circle programs and am rewatching The Imitation Game, both on Prime.

I've also emailed my tour buddy to see if she's interested in a drive to Utah parks, thanks Tammy!

Well, darn!
This would have a great meeting to catch but somebody (me!) hadn't checked the Forum for weeks...
(Sad face)
I've marked my calendar for all the upcoming ones.

Well drat, SharYn, I did wonder. I knew you were back from your trip, but thought maybe you just had real life plans! I'm glad we'll see you in person!

CW, I hope your tour buddy wants to visit Utah with you. Depending on how extensive you want to make it, I highly, highly also recommend a visit to Goblin Valley State Park. It’s like another planet!

Tammy, she said yes! Most likely fall of 2025. I'm taking notes ... Goblin Valley State Park added!