Main trip is booked - Check
Airfare is booked - Check
Hotel is booked - Check
Parking is booked - Check
Trip File has been created - Check
To the computer we go, first stop is Amazon.com. We scour Amazon for guidebooks, everything from Eyewitness, Brandt and Lonely Planet to name a few. We do not limit ourselves to just travel guides. These books give us a good over view for many aspects of our journey. These various aspects include bit not limited to, a brief history, local culture, locations not to be missed, climate, public transportation, some lodging and restaurant information, local holidays.
I will look for books that may help me understand the people, the culture and the history of the country to which we will be traveling. For example “Long Walk to Freedom” for a trip to South Africa. David McCollough’s “Path Between the Seas” for a Panama Canal cruise. The Antarctic exploits of Shackleton. This gives deep special meaning to places we visit, Mandela’s cell on Robben Island, Pegasus Bridge in Normandy, Tiananmen Square, The Tower of London, the list is long, and the memories very special. I actually get chills at times thinking of those experiences.
Some trips may necessitate wildlife guides. This is where my love and wonderment of the natural world comes into play. So many different critters in this world simply amaze me. Why are they the way they are, what are their behavioral habits, what is their habitat. Armed with this knowledge makes spotting the critters easier. Antarctica, Tanzania, and South Africa were rather wildlife guide intensive.
Maps, you bet we need maps. Will talk later about GPS and phone maps. I like paper maps. They give me the big picture, and the lay of the land. After the trip I often plot the waypoints I have created on the GPS to mark our route and then frame the map. I did this recently for our Antarctica trip.
As we read these various sources of information we make a running list of sites we want to visit and animals we want to see.
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