The idea
This journey has been stewing for over 30 years, fed by a mix of authors through the years. My travel desire, specifically the desire to travel full time for an extended period, taking off a year to travel the globe began exactly when I read the last page of Robin Lee Grahams’ “Dove” the tale of a 16 year old boy that sails round the world. I dreamed of sailing Lake Erie in a small homebuilt boat, like Robert Manry who crossed the Atlantic in a 12 foot sailboat (Tinkerbell) My thoughts of travel always had something to do with a boat, usually one that I would build myself. I received a degree in Naval architecture from the Naval Academy in Annapolis and my dream dozed for years until I read “Cruising Serefyn” by the Lynn and Larry Pardy who sailed the world in their home built cutter around the globe. Saryfin was a world of her own, independence in a 20 foot footprint, their stories of travel through the Baltic and Med planted a seed that would one day result in my request for duty in Naples Italy, and a springboard from retirement to travel. The history of the world comes alive in sites like Paestum, Sicily. National geographic Though my early travel plans always included a boat of some kind, hopefully like the Pardies, one that I would build myself, the author Paul Theroax opened my eyes to travel in a very different manner. My passion for the works of Paul Theroux’s began with the reading of the book “The happy Isles of Oceana” while station in Japan in the early 90s an account of his travels by Kayak through the South Seas. I read this based on my love of Kayaking, but his writing was so much more, Thereaux has a harsh perspective on the world and the personalities in it. From this and every other Theraux book I could get my hands on, I realized the depth of knowledge that travel could give you. Despite being a family man, Thereaux travels alone- as a vagabond. Our plan was sound, to retire from the Navy after 20 years and take an extended sabbatical before settling down into phase III of our lives. I finished my 20 years about the same time I completed a tour as the command of a helicopter squadron. For many reasons, including finances, we decided to “Stay Navy” until my promotion to Captain, save more and await an age we thought the children would be better appreciate and benefit from travel. Following a In August of 2007 I accepted orders to Naples Italy for my “twighlight tour.” We decided we could complete 3 years, retire, keep our household goods in storage for another years while we sail for a year. It was at this point that the dream of sailing the world began to morph, and it started with a trip to Costco. I love Costco, we buy everything we can there, and while perusing DVDs on one trip I saw a Rick Steve’s DVD for Italy. I bought it and we as a family ate it up. I should insert here the fact that we didn’t get cable or satalite TV in our house, we watched only what we rented or bought much more selective. So with little competition, Rick Steves was a hit and on my next trip to Costco I bought his 70 series collection of travels through Europe. We watched every episode with amazement at how much we could learn from travel videos, they were full of information on the Roman Empire, Middle Ages. It put a face on those phrases we have to read about in history class. The videos would explain differences in Architecture, Art and Government. If you could learn so much in an hour video, imagine what you could learn actually visiting and studying. The idea of the Road School was born. Rick Steve’s, our “traveling gyny pig” The love of boats predominantly romantic, rarely practical. Walleydo RV I had to subjegate my romance of sail for the practicality of the trucker. RVs tied to RV parks, need for electricity to power Satalite TVs. Visit to British Museum before and after trip.
Why an RV
Where do we go?
It is overwhelming to look at a map of the world and decide where exactly you want to go and when.
We planned in very general terms. We first listed sites we wanted to see. This was a wish list, everything was on the table. The list was grown over years, whenever a place would peek our interest, from a book, magazine, TV show or conversation, we would add it to the list. Graves of ancestors discovered on ancestry.com or a neat museum from a Rick Steves show would go on the list. This wish list was then input into google maps. We put a pin in every spot we wanted to see hoping that a track would emerge that would allow us to visit most of our favorites in some organized route.
Next came the hard part, elimination. Spots that were clearly so far away from any conceivable route were eliminated unless they were a "must see." Elimination continued even while we were on the road as we enjoyed some site so much we had to stay longer.
We had a tentative "what" now came the "when." The results were predicable, North in the summer, south in the winter, but we needed to ensure that sites we traveled far to see were open. Only once did we miss a site because it was closed and that closure was due to a massive freak snow storm in Dover England. To check the best time of year to travel to a place, we found Lonely Planets guides to be our best resource, but it was still very general. We did not look for the optimal time of year to go, that would have limited our trip to the summer months, but what times of year areas were not accessible, or all facilities and sites were closed. If you know you can’t travel Norway outside of the summer months, then Norway is in the summer. We began the trip in the fall, heading into the Scottish Highlands. We were a month late getting started so we ran into two months of winter weather and snow that could have been avoided if we had started on time. From Scotland it was a losing race against the weather south to Italy. We didn’t emerge from the snow until the French Riviera. We started north again to cooler climates in the spring.
Rick Steves was our Guru and inspiration. Seeing a fellow traveler clutching a tabbed, worn little blue "through the back door" guide made them an instant friend and ally. The cult of Rick. Stumbling on a Rick Steves travel DVD set at Costco was the match that started a fire that illuminated our world. We watched all 70 episodes as a family and realized how much of the world and learning could not be reached by boat. I eventually realized that all the work I was doing planning the trip has already been done. Rick has suggested itineraries in each of his guides. We simply took the longest each book had to offer and spliced them together. We strayed from the published routes in areas, but never without a bit of trepidation.
It is overwhelming to look at a map of the world and decide where exactly you want to go and when.
We planned in very general terms. We first listed sites we wanted to see. This was a wish list, everything was on the table. The list was grown over years, whenever a place would peek our interest, from a book, magazine, TV show or conversation, we would add it to the list. Graves of ancestors discovered on ancestry.com or a neat museum from a Rick Steves show would go on the list. This wish list was then input into google maps. We put a pin in every spot we wanted to see hoping that a track would emerge that would allow us to visit most of our favorites in some organized route.
Next came the hard part, elimination. Spots that were clearly so far away from any conceivable route were eliminated unless they were a "must see." Elimination continued even while we were on the road as we enjoyed some site so much we had to stay longer.
We had a tentative "what" now came the "when." The results were predicable, North in the summer, south in the winter, but we needed to ensure that sites we traveled far to see were open. Only once did we miss a site because it was closed and that closure was due to a massive freak snow storm in Dover England. To check the best time of year to travel to a place, we found Lonely Planets guides to be our best resource, but it was still very general. We did not look for the optimal time of year to go, that would have limited our trip to the summer months, but what times of year areas were not accessible, or all facilities and sites were closed. If you know you can’t travel Norway outside of the summer months, then Norway is in the summer. We began the trip in the fall, heading into the Scottish Highlands. We were a month late getting started so we ran into two months of winter weather and snow that could have been avoided if we had started on time. From Scotland it was a losing race against the weather south to Italy. We didn’t emerge from the snow until the French Riviera. We started north again to cooler climates in the spring.
Rick Steves was our Guru and inspiration. Seeing a fellow traveler clutching a tabbed, worn little blue "through the back door" guide made them an instant friend and ally. The cult of Rick. Stumbling on a Rick Steves travel DVD set at Costco was the match that started a fire that illuminated our world. We watched all 70 episodes as a family and realized how much of the world and learning could not be reached by boat. I eventually realized that all the work I was doing planning the trip has already been done. Rick has suggested itineraries in each of his guides. We simply took the longest each book had to offer and spliced them together. We strayed from the published routes in areas, but never without a bit of trepidation.