Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

You may have wondered why I was writing about trip planning. As it happens, we’ve recently returned from a two week trip to the United Kingdom. It was going to be a two week trip to England, but some friends in Wales said “you’ll be so close, come visit for a day”. And so we did.

One of the advantages of traveling in the United Kingdom is they have an extensive train network, so to bounce around between various cities, I booked train tickets. The disadvantage is that I now have three different apps on my phone for the tickets for each part of the journey; distinct parts of the country tend to be serviced by different companies. There’s some overlap, and when there are system problems – a bridge repair or signal cable theft cancelling your train – the notification lets you know which other companies will allow travel as you reroute.

The photo above is Headstone Manor, a manor house with a moat in North Harrow, in walking distance of my cousin’s house.

It goes without saying that we had a fabulous time. We started by visiting family in two different cities; of my seven remaining first cousins on that side, we were able to spend time with six of them. (The seventh is currently in Australia, so we didn’t get to see him.)

We then visited with friends in Southampton in southern England, where we visited a labyrinth on a hill, the “Round Table” (analysis of the wood dates it to the 1200s, almost 5 centuries after the first mention of King Arthur in literature), a wildlife preserve with a focus on otters, and Corfe Castle, which we reached on a steam engine train. Oh, and a Build-a-Bear shop that we didn’t make it to the last time we visited Southampton.

And then we were off to the trains again, heading to Birmingham for Conversation 2023. Similar to WorldCon, Eastercon rotates between diferent locations within the United Kingdom. I had last attended in 2000, when it coincided with a planned trip to Scotland. This was a delightful opportunity to meet a collection of online friends, and an even rarer opportunity to attend a convention that I wasn’t working at… no party, panels, or other responsibilities. As an added delight, next year’s WorldCon, which will be held in Glasgow, hosted a cèilidh.

As the convention drew to a close, train cancellations (due to the aforementioned signal cable theft!) made for an interesting travel day as we made our way to Wales, where we disembarked from one train and headed to a smaller local station to take a scenic ride through the Welsh countryside on another. The scenic ride was optional and quite worth the time.

We ended our stay in Manchester, meeting my Dorkstock UK counterpart (Dorkstock UK was held a couple consecutive years in the early 2000s) after more than twenty years of friendship. Not surprisingly, we met up at a game store.

As I reflect on the trip and all the planning that went into it, it amazes me that my father used to organize visits like this, with a day here and a day there staying with different friends and family, using only snail mail and telephones.

There are many things to take into consideration when planning a trip. I typically start with where we want to go, why, and how we’re getting there. There’s a significant difference between planning a trip to tourist sites versus visiting family and friends (especially if you’re visiting for a specific event), though there may be some opportunity for overlap.

Back in 2013, we did a big road trip (12 days) targeting national parks and monuments within the United States. Except for our stop near Mount Rushmore, we only stayed a single night in each location, mostly at KOA campsites. On our trip to Florida last year, we stayed two nights near the Everglades, three nights in Miami Beach, and just one night everywhere else, almost constantly moving as we progressed from Key West to Orlando. In contrast, on our last visits to Oregon and Guatemala, we stayed in the same place the entire time because the purpose of those trips was to visit with family in one area.

Three of the four trips I mentioned involved flying to get there, and two of those involved renting a car to get around. When travelling by car – either at a destination or on a road trip – consider whether you need to print directions ahead of time. I know that sounds archaic, but in 2013, there were cell phone dead zones in some areas we travelled (Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, for example), and even our GPS had trouble connecting. In other areas, we’re happy to rely on local transportation options, such as our 2018 trip to Philadelphia.

Once you arrive at your destination, where do you plan on staying? You can pick a hotel or bed & breakfast based on the activities you’d like to explore in the area, such as staying in the heart of Key West or a hotel in Florida City for proximity to the Everglades. In each of those cases, I wanted to minimize any extra driving where possible, knowing that parking is at a premium in Key West, and Florida City has the closest hotels to the Everglades.

When your trip is longer, like ours was last year, you may want to consider laundry options as part of your planning. Our three-night stay in Miami Beach was the ideal time for doing laundry, though a bit annoying because the minimum laundry card purchase was more than we needed. (I ended up handing off the laundry card to another visitor who was a dryer load short on his card.)

These are just a few of things I take into consideration when planning a trip.