Every Traveler Heavily Depends on Great Transportation Infrastructure

Born in the slums of Manila near the railroad tracks, my favorite mode of transportation had been the vintage jeepney that became popular after the war. Since I migrated to the US, RVed the continent, and traveled the world, I have experienced other transportation infrastructure that serves each traveler well. Here are the best and our favorites: the roads of America and the railways of Europe.

The Great North American Road Network

Our eight years of RVing full-time in the US, Canada, and Mexico gave us great experiences on the great North American road network. The largest component is the US highway system, the most extensive in the world. Today it constitutes about 165,000 miles of roads. 90% of US tourist traffic is carried in the system.

This is complemented north of the US by the Trans-Canada Highway, Canada’s transcontinental federal-provincial system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Atlantic in the east. The main road spans 4,860 miles across the country, one of the longest of its type in the world.

And, in the south, the roadway network in Mexico also does not disappoint, especially with the concretization of Hwy 15 that connects to Arizona. There are 72,577 paved miles, making it the largest paved network in Latin America, 6,508 miles of which are multi-lane expressways, including six-lane ones.

This great North American road system is complemented by a network of campgrounds and motels/hotels that provide lodging options with no equal in the world. Road travel in America is ultra-convenient. In addition, RV models range from small camper vans to huge luxury motorhomes. We also experienced the same satisfaction in the Australian road network.  

The Reliable European Railway System

The European Railway system consists of the following:

Tier One: Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, and France.

Tier Two: Great Britain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, the Czech Republic, Norway, Belgium, and Italy.

 

Tier Three: Lithuania, Slovenia, Ireland, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Bulgaria.

 

We have used all seven in the Tier One systems, six of the eight Tier Two, and three of the ten Tier Three. We especially loved our train travels through Llubijana and Bled in Slovenia, Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck in Austria, Munich and Oberstaufen in Germany, St. Gallen in Switzerland, Vaduz in Lichtenstein, Paris in France, and Brussels in Belgium. We covered all of that in four weeks and a half.

We have tried economy and first-class trains, taking us to small towns and big cities. The rail network is seamlessly interconnected to buses, taxis, and Ubers. Not a single train ride was late or canceled. The stations were sometimes airport-like in the big cities. In the small towns, quaint little shops are built around them as walking malls. I love train travel in Europe.

Bill did, too, because he did not have to worry about driving and enjoyed the scenic views of country and city life that unfolded before us: dwarf apple trees, tiny garden sheds, rolling hillsides, etc. Sometimes, the wide windows can even be opened for a better camera shot. We enjoyed the bars and dining cars, too. I even found comfort food for my upset tummy on a train ride between Innsbruck and Vienna.  Trains were certainly better than driving rental cars on the other lane and on narrow roads of the UK.  

The airline industry has successfully introduced more flights and even budget ones in Europe and the US. They are getting popular, too. But my husband and I will always prefer to travel across America by road and Europe by train!

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Choosing Planes, Ships, Trains, Buses or Automobiles

Our six-week European Swing was designed around my daughter’s wedding in Scotland’s Guthrie Castle. It was indeed memorable. But it was also highly educational. It gave us a great view of the differences among the different modes of transportation.

The first two weeks were in Scandinavia and Russia through a combination of airplanes and a ferry (from Finland to Russia) to transfer from one country to another. We used public transportation in Oslo, Helsinki, and Stockholm. In St. Petersburg, we were on a bus excursion from the ferry. We found that car rentals and fuel were sky-high.

The next two weeks were spent on an MV Explorer cruise through Denmark, Scotland, Iceland, Ireland, and England. We embarked in Stockholm, Sweden, did city walking tours in Copenhagen, Denmark, Lerwich, Scotland, Isofjordur, Iceland, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, and took bus excursions for Rekjavik and Akureyri, Iceland.

The last two weeks were in the UK. We disembarked in Southampton, England. It was a Sunday and car rental companies were closed during the season because their entire fleet would have been rented out for the weekend to be returned only on the following Monday.  So besides car rentals, we used trains (and other modes) for road trips across the UK.

First, when it was just my husband and I, we walked the towns and used trains from Southampton to Brighton, Brighton to Canterbury, and Canterbury to Gatwick. That’s the airport where we picked up my daughter and her two daughters.

The five of us then rented a Renault Captur, big enough to carry us and five bags. In two days, we covered Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath from our hotel  in Warminster. Then we toured the Cotswolds and southwestern Wales from an Airbnb in Cheltenham for the next two days. On the last day, we visited Windsor Castle from Heathrow Lodge.

Third, after my daughter’s wedding, we joined our BFFs and partners using trains, buses, a private car, cabs, and the tube, whatever was appropriate and available, touring London, Liverpool, and Edinburgh. 

Here is what we learned. Cruise ships can be the least expensive mode, especially if you get a highly discounted one like we did through Groupon. Organized excursions, however, can dramatically raise the cost. Use them when necessary and explore by yourselves, whenever possible. The biggest drawback, however, is you get the least sense of a place and people with just 8 hours at port. But if you are a foodie, you can get the best variety and quantity of food on a cruise ship. There is also a ready like-minded community to travel with. Finally, there is no need to pack or unpack!

Planes, trains, cabs, and buses are less convenient, having to haul luggage through different means of transfers, especially on windy, damp, and cold days. But these road trips can give you the best sense of place and people because you can stay as long as you want. The longer you stay, the cheaper the lodging becomes.

Even if you must drive, a road trip by car may be even more cost-effective (car rentals become cheaper the longer the period), as long as parking fees and the cost of fuel aren’t exorbitant. But maybe not in the UK since driving is on the wrong side of the road, the back roads are very narrow, and the speed limits are higher than those in the US. It can sometimes be quite scary!

We concluded that a road trip gives you the best sense of place and people. We always prefer to travel by car but if fuel and parking costs are not reasonable or driving conditions are unfamiliar, then trains, buses, and planes are the next best. We will reserve cruise ships only as an exception. One such exception is short ferries from one country to another. But when in town, walk around and use public transportation!  

            

Another Wedding in Hawaii…at the Kualoa Ranch

Just nine months ago, we renewed our vows at the Paradise Cove in Kapolei, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Last month we were back on the island for another wedding, this time at the verdant Kualoa Ranch in Kaneohe, Hawaii. It’s a 4,000-acre natural landmark of beaches, mountains, and valleys with historic sites and buildings. Best known as the movie film site for such cinematic greats as Jurassic Park and 79 other movies and shows, the Ranch offers many tours and ziplines for exploration.

My husband’s first grandchild and his bride chose the Paliku Gardens on the ranch as their wedding venue. It has spectacular views of Kaneohe Bay and Mokoli’I Island, otherwise known as the Chinaman’s Hat, as well as rolling pastures, and green gardens. The short and sweet ceremony was held at an Upper Garden with rustic steps leading to a lower open pavilion where we were served a farm-to-table experience of Kualoa-grown beef, fish, vegetables, and fruits.

Both the groom’s and the bride’s families were well represented as well as the couple’s friends, all coming from the islands and mainland USA. Everyone was booked in different hotels and resorts around Waikiki, 45 minutes away. We always got together with my husband’s three children and their spouses for a taste of Hawaii the day before and the two days after the wedding.

For brunch, we returned to Liliha Bakery at the International Marketplace, the restaurant and bakeshop that popularized the island’s cocoa puffs. Its signature butter bread served with all entrees was a standout. Another great discovery was Basalt, both a marketplace and a restaurant. I was extremely pleasantly surprised that they served an upscale version of Tapsilog, the popular Filipino breakfast, along with other classics.

For the evenings, we had three discoveries. The night before the wedding, we met at Moani Waikiki, a Bistro and Bar, one of the 13 eating places of the Garden Level on the third floor of the International Marketplace. The night after the wedding we returned to Doraku Sushi Waikiki at the Royal Hawaiian Center, a favorite restaurant of the new couple. We loved the grilled butterfish and tempura brownies aside from the vast array of sushis. The night before we all went home, we chose to do Italian and gathered at the Taormina Sicilian Cuisine. They had a truffle carbonara, the grilled monchang, a local fish, and the house-made tiramisu.

My husband and I were the first ones to arrive in Honolulu, closely followed by his youngest and the mother of the groom. While waiting for the others, we took the time to visit the Valley of the Temples, a beautiful sprawling memorial park nestled at the foot of the Koolau Mountains ten minutes from the town of Kaneohe and 12 minutes before the Kualoa Ranch.  There are sections for Buddhist, Shinto, Protestant, and Catholic burial sites.

The centerpiece of the park is the Byodo-In Temple, a replica of the historic Byodoin Temple of Uji in Japan’s Kyoto prefecture built in 1052. This 11,000 sqft landmark was built in 1963 and was dedicated in 1968 to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese in Hawaii.

Inside Byodo-In is an 18-ft. Lotus Buddha in gold and lacquer. On the grounds is a three-ton brass peace gong. A large two-acre pond abundantly filled with beautiful koi fish surrounds the temple as well as lush Japanese gardens with a Meditation Pavilion in the middle. All that beauty can be seen against the backdrop of the towering cliffs of the mountains.

At the gift shop, you can buy "wish" cards for a dollar and fifty. Tradition says you should keep it if you like what you find inside. Otherwise, ask the gods to improve it by tying it to any of the tree branches around. Secretly, I wished that I go back to Hawaii again soon. Every time I do, I find another version of beauty, another side of peace, and another level of happiness. 

The One Real Secret to Traveling Light, RVing or Not

We learned how to travel light when we went RVing full-time across America. It was a conundrum! How can you travel light when you are taking your whole home with you? But now we take pride that every winter when we spend three months in Mexico, my husband and I just take one carry-on and one backpack each.

It all started when I came to America. I had downsized to two suitcases and one Balikbayan Box. When Bill divorced, he bought a duplex, lived in one unit, and rented out the other. When we met and we got married, he moved into my condo. Six months later, he sold his business and I retired from teaching at the university and squeezed all that we needed into our 24-ft. Class C motorhome. There were some boxes we left in my daughter’s garage and the small storage unit of my condo we rented out. When we bought our 37.5 Class A motorhome, we transferred all that we owned to the big rig. We were learning fast how to keep life’s essentials to the barest minimum.

Creeping Clothes

My husband has one rule: do not buy a new item until you want to get rid of an old one.  When tight pressure and extreme temperature caused my flare-up of hives, I changed my dress size to Large and gave away my clothes before I bought Medium ones. Two years later, I changed back to Medium and Goodwill got lots of clothes again.

Pounds of Paper

We learned to be more digital. We read e-books and e-zines. Our files became electronic, except those documents that need to be presented in their original form like passports, birth and marriage certificates, divorce/annulment papers, etc.  Health records are all electronically held in e-patient portals. Photos were scanned into photo frames.

Food and Fare

We had service for four and no more! When there were more guests, we used disposables, even for wine glasses. Cooking pots were just three, small, medium, and large, and skillets just small and medium. But we kept a small slow cooker, and our rice cooker was a small microwaveable container. Other coffee machines had larger footprints so Bill used a French Press. And the refrigerator held only a week’s worth of food. I loved my combination microwave/convection oven and the mini dishwasher.

Bathroom Burden

Our linens and towels were good for us and two guests (the RV sleeps six). The problem was my habit of collecting soaps and shampoos from motels and hotels. That was solved by immediately giving them away to the homeless as part of a zip lock bag where I added a small toothbrush, small toothpaste, a pack of crackers, a can of potted meat, and a small tissue packet.

Other Stuff

There were large storage bins under the RV. We had a small portable fire pit (for sitting out on cold nights), a small barbeque grill, an outdoor folding table with four folding chairs, two suitcases, and two carry-ons, Bill’s fishing gear, a ladder, a small space heater, a small electric fan, and a small vacuum cleaner. We also carried a DVD player, a small micro-chip-based Ziller karaoke system, a 32-inch and a 15-inch TV, a satellite dish, and two laptops.  

 

Our RV was about 350 square feet of living space and weighed 20,000 pounds. But fuel was expensive, so we learned to keep things to a minimum. We learned so well that we only needed 1,200 sq. ft. for a home to settle in after our RVing days were over. The key lesson to traveling light is the same for all travel, not just for RVing. And it is this: when you live light with the barest minimum, you will also travel light!

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