Planning
I'm a planner. I like to know as much as possible about my destinations, what I'm going to do when I'm there, and how to get around. I always start with a travel guide or two. Generally, I start by reading the guidebooks through. Then I go back to the locations that I wish to visit and use flags to tag the important sights, food, accomodations, etc. Everything is color coded. My book looks like a rainbow.
Because we were taking a Rick Steves' Tour, I had less planning. However, all the tour events were marked with their own color. Then, I began looking at sights that were not included and consulted other books and the internet to decide what was most important. My brother didn't provide much input. He pretty much just told me that he would follow me wherever I led him. (At one point, he even told me I could order for him if I wanted to.)
Once we decided on the Tour, I booked our flight. I find that www.kayak.com is the best sight to search for airfare. Then we booked train tickets from Springfield to O'Hare. Once we found out where we were staying with the Tour, I booked us a night before the Tour in the same hotel.
I also find that I like booking tickets in advance whenever possible. I was able to purchase our Hop On Hop Off Dublin Bus Tour, Guinness Storehouse, and Aircoach tickets ahead of time. (All three were discounted when booked online! We were also able to purchase engraved Guinness Pint Glasses with our tickets. We just picked them up at our visit.)
After most of the details were done, I had a little bit of fun as well. I listened to Rick Steves' podcasts on Ireland and Northern Ireland. I watched his Travel with Rick Steves episodes. I would have liked to have watched a few movies set in Ireland - The Quiet Man, Ryan's Daughter, and Angela's Ashes and read some more books, but with the busy semester I had leading up to the trip, I didn't find the time.
Since returning I have watched Michael Collins and The Wind that Shakes the Barley and have read Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks.
Because we were taking a Rick Steves' Tour, I had less planning. However, all the tour events were marked with their own color. Then, I began looking at sights that were not included and consulted other books and the internet to decide what was most important. My brother didn't provide much input. He pretty much just told me that he would follow me wherever I led him. (At one point, he even told me I could order for him if I wanted to.)
Once we decided on the Tour, I booked our flight. I find that www.kayak.com is the best sight to search for airfare. Then we booked train tickets from Springfield to O'Hare. Once we found out where we were staying with the Tour, I booked us a night before the Tour in the same hotel.
I also find that I like booking tickets in advance whenever possible. I was able to purchase our Hop On Hop Off Dublin Bus Tour, Guinness Storehouse, and Aircoach tickets ahead of time. (All three were discounted when booked online! We were also able to purchase engraved Guinness Pint Glasses with our tickets. We just picked them up at our visit.)
After most of the details were done, I had a little bit of fun as well. I listened to Rick Steves' podcasts on Ireland and Northern Ireland. I watched his Travel with Rick Steves episodes. I would have liked to have watched a few movies set in Ireland - The Quiet Man, Ryan's Daughter, and Angela's Ashes and read some more books, but with the busy semester I had leading up to the trip, I didn't find the time.
Since returning I have watched Michael Collins and The Wind that Shakes the Barley and have read Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks.
Packing
Packing light is important. The first time I traveled to Europe, I was in high school and I took a big giant suitcase. I didn't know about sink laundry or even the thought of wearing a shirt more than once. For my second trip, I adjusted to Rick's philosophy and took a carry-on suitcase and a backpack. People think that it is nuts to take so little - but truth be told, it isn't like you are traveling to the middle of nowhere. If you find that you didn't bring something, you can find a place that sells it. I actually found that I probably still took too much. My goal in this trip was to take as little as possible.
I packed my carry-on size suitcase with the following:
To be honest, I could have made it with a few less things, but I was trying to avoid doing as much laundry on the trip. I sink washed socks and underwear. Sean had his laundry done while in Dingle - I had two shirts washed in his load. |
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Activity
Rick Steves' Tours tell you that they are going to be active. Just how active? Here is my info from my Fitbit Charge HR.
Stairs: The Fitbit uses barometric pressure changes to indicate flights of stairs. Most of these are from hills, not really stairs. Not 100% sure how accurate it is either, but it does pretty well with the stairs I climb everyday.
Distance: measured in Miles.
Distance: measured in Miles.
What would I do differently?
Honestly, there is probably really only two things I would do differently:
- I would have like to have arrived a second day earlier, or stayed an extra day after the tour. I really would have liked to visit Newgrange, the ancient burial site. We weren't able to do this with all we had packed into our first day and a half in Dublin. After talking to a couple tour members that went, I feel that I would have really liked it.
- Enjoyed more night life in Galway and Dublin. To be honest, Sean and I are pretty much homebodies in our normal lives. The days of the tour were pretty tiring, so staying out at night really didn't appeal to me. I do wish that we would have went to Temple Bar at night and gotten to experience a little more of Galway city.
What did I think about the Tour
I loved the tour. I would highly recommend it to any one heading on their first trip to Ireland. Declan was an amazing guide and there is so much history and interesting excursions packed into this tour. There were things that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise, like visit the site of Michael Collins' assassination or take the Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle. My only complaint about the tour, is that some places needed more time - like Rock of Cashel. Most of the sites we visited were great and we had plenty of time for pictures and wandering.