90 days. 2 divs. 1 dog
Follow two novices as they navigate taking their easily distracted dog across Europe avoiding too many Divvy travel faux pas!
Calais - Kent - Surrey
Day 90
2 Divs.
1 Dog.
6 Visitors.
17 countries (Entered and re-entered!)
51 apartments, hotels or campsites.
6,703 Miles travelled.
Numerous Seas, lakes, rivers, canals, waterfalls swum in.
Embarrassing amount of Pastries consumed.
Unknown Fines pending!
Unexpected amount of dogs in prams.
Untold Experience.
Thanks for following along and your support.
Hmmm Where to next?!
FRANCE III
Day 89
Wake up to the sound of Seagulls. Just bliss to know you are by the sea just by a single bird! We walk into Calais and it’s colourful, characterful and preparing for the Olympic torch. A whole garden transformed and dedicated to the Olympics, balloon flowers in every colour and animatronic dragon rides! We walk every tourist attraction going and it’s a lovely afternoon. We come back for Wilson to have a quick snooze before we head out for a swanky dinner! We head to a place we booked on passing earlier and Wilson says good night and gets under the table. The food is exquisite and worth the rest of our budget! We meet Jenny and Kuno, a lovely pair, mother and Son from the Netherlands, who once the meal is done ask if they can buy another bottle of wine to share with us. So lovely we accept and chat more. Then that bottle goes and she calls for another bottle. It’s a lovely night of stories and getting to know new people. Wilson has been an angel and is on his side in a deep sleep. The end of the night they offer going for more drinks but this hound is ready for bed. Upon our return, later than we hoped and slightly worse for wear, we have a message from our landlord saying that check out is normally 10 but would we like 11 instead. Um YES we would!!! Result.
Impressive animatronics of the dragon ride!
FRANCE III
Day 88
It is so hot I can not sleep. I try everything. Mini fan on the face, putting cold water over myself, read, write, do puzzles, try downstairs and still, I’m awake. But the morning comes, we pack up and it’s Patisserie o’clock. We walk back to the lovely square of Bèthune for coffee. We walk a different way to see the church and Stu goes in for a look and walks into a funeral. He dips his head and takes his colourful shorts out of there. We then drive to Saint Omar for a stroll by the canal and then press on to a nature reserve called, Argilière de l'Aa. It’s a wonderful example of creating a space where nature is the star. An enclosed lake just for them, but bird viewing stations and a mown circle on the periphery for humans to enjoy, look but not destroy! As we walk under archways of trees there’s a sea of dragon flies, damsal flies, butterflies, all the flies really, big and small and Jays flying through the tunnel as we approach. Then it’s on to Calais via waterways and canals and it’s a magical route that I cannot capture with a photo!! We arrive and follow the instructions and unbelievably we have been given the wrong key box number AGAIN!! So bizarre. Once again Stu guesses the right code and when we let the owner know they say, oh yes, sorry it’s that!!! We are in and it’s up to a loft conversion, but let’s call it the penthouse, why not! We have filled up the car with some of our quota of wine and purchased some Tuna steaks for a salad. Then we head to the beach and it’s a gorgeous evening. Bright but with that lovely sea breeze. Animals aren’t allowed on the beach but it’s 9pm and families and kids have departed and it’s gently peppered with some rebel owners letting their 4 legged friends have a late night run. Stu says he doubts they will arrest us all so we enjoy the empty beach and Wilson is in heaven. Back home for a better nights sleep, I hope!!
FRANCE III
Day 87
The night was a boil in a bag kinda night. But we make use of the heat with a final clothes wash knowing all will dry in an instant! We Walk to La Gare d'Eau - a park with a canal and lake. I do the 5 seconds hot test before we leave (putting your foot on the ground and if you can’t hold it for 5 seconds then it’s too hot to let your dog walk on it) I get to 3 seconds and it’s burning so Wilson has to wear his shoes!!! He trips up like a kid in his mums high heels but his feet don’t burn, so, you’re welcome boy! Wilson has loved swimming. He’s been in and out of so many water sources, always checked by us first to make sure he can get out and yet…! Today he can’t get out. Stu has to pull him out, nearly falling in himself and pulling his quad at the same time! A lovely walk (well Stu lightly limps), with fisher ’boys’ around the lake - lots of young lads fishing was lovely to see although we can’t work out why no one’s at school?! We find shade but it’s so so hot. We return home and play cards and write a poem about the canal on the Somme. Then we pootle in to see the actual main square of Bèthune which is beautiful. A huge bell tower with a row of houses with very different facades and eateries and wineries all the way round. We dine as the sun plunges behind the tower and then go to a vinyl cafe. Ironically the music is barely audible and not pumping tonight, but a few drunk people stroke Wilson with joy and we have a drink. We go home ready for our final destination tomorrfow!
Disco dog
FRANCE III
Day 86
I wake up aware that Wilson is within his 5 days to get his tapeworm treatment that allows him back in the UK. Suddenly worried we have been a bit cavalier in not booking as when we call the vets in the UK sometimes there’s not an appointment till the next week! So I email a few places as we pack up the shed, I mean studio. No response so I call. Trying to book a vet appointment with no common language was amusing. I start with ‘parlez-vous Anglaise’ with the very fair response ‘non’! But somehow manage to get a 4pm appointment today by saying chien and today? She says ‘oui, um… un deux trois QUATRE’ So I think that is booked in fine for 4? We begin our journey to Bèthune and pass an inconspicuous 24 hour pizza vending machine! It looks so out of place as it’s in a tiny little sleepy town!! (That is still 1 more takeaway place than we have in Hurst green) Our stop for today is in Pèronne. A gorgeous town full of histoire! We start with the gates of Britain. The route taken from here to Britain and flanders… but more importantly it has a moat that Wilson can/does have a swim in. We look at the castle and walk the town but it is so hot and we have food in the fridge in the car so we decide to chug out of there. But as we go we see a vintage shop and buy a vintage drinking tankard, it was needed! As we walk back to the car we find €50 on the floor! We stay still for a few minutes in case someone appears saying ‘I’ve dropped some money’ but no one comes so we say Merci to the universe and plough on! We exit lovely Pèronne, twinned with Blackburn so the Union Jack is flying high here and head to our possible 4pm vet appointment. The communication is not good when I arrive, as to be expected when neither have a common ground so I write it on my phone on translate. One receptionist reads it, then another and then they call the vet out. He lets me prat around with the translations for a bit before coolly saying ‘you can just speak English if that is easier!’ I really have booked an appointment at 4 and it will cost €49’s, so the money we found couldn’t have been more perfect. In the waiting room so many cats are brought in! Cats meowing. Cats in shoulder bags. Cats in boxes! But we have sorted it and the paper work is signed so Wilson can definitely come home with us! We get to our next apartment and head for dinner. We find a review that says they often stop at Bèthune on their way back to the UK and go to L'O à la Bouche for dinner. They are wise people, the food is delicious. We head back and watch the end of the England match and then it’s bed time but heat rises and it has! Luckily we have 2 little fans with us because it’s very hot. Fingers crossed for some not too sweaty sleep.
Wilson eyeing up the moat to swim in
FRANCE III
Day 85
We plan to drive to Saint Quentin but decide it is so hot that walking round a city is maybe just not the one. So we drive 7 minutes to a canal instead. We walk the canal and it’s blissfully serene and we see nobody. Wilson has a swim and when it gets too hot we find some shade and do number 94 in the forest book: ‘CATAPULTING’! I find the perfect Double pronged stick but only have a hairband for the elastic. The challenge is to reach the river from the bank and it starts bad and gets worse when Stu hits the dog (gently!). I change tactic and suddenly my ammunition is hitting the river. Success! Stu fails until I coach him in my way and then he too reaches and perhaps does the furthest shot so far! The sling shots are driving the dog mad as he is curling up in a tiny ball in our laps saying ‘stop it you imbeciles!’ We have achieved what we wanted and head back to the car. We drive for a much needed drink. We approach a building where a man sits outside the only cafe/bar/brasserie/tabac/newsagent and possibly post office in town! We find the only other table and go in to order and the man outside leaves his table to see what we want, he is the owner it turns out!! He brings us our drinks and goes back to his paper with a cigar outside. Cars and tractors pass and they toot him and he gives them a little wave. It has such great reviews and it seems such a local spot. We had planned to go out for dinner but all that is near is 1 burger joint that looks like it hasn’t been open for a decade. We decide to do our own gourmet burger at home and Stu out does himself with homemade ketchup and everything! Bit of football and tidying up to move on tomorrow.
FRANCE III
Day 84
We leave Laquenexy for Sancourt. We plan to stop at Reims but on the way we see a sign for Châlons-en-Champagne. Stu says he read it is a quarter of the size of Reims but just as beautiful. We decide this is the place. Free parking as it’s Sunday, so there will be no countdown timer as we look around. It’s clearly big on religion as it has a an impressive Notre dame church, an even bigger and grander cathedral and if you didn’t like either of those a smaller modest church. All within a few hundred metres of each other! It’s a lovely town and is also preparing for the Olympic torch ‘where the Flame will highlight the National Center for Circus Arts.’ We did see a very creepy merry go round with contortionist animals on, that we wondered if it were to do with the circus. Any child boarding that ride is a brave one! Now we are back in France the tolls keep coming. We go through 3 (adding up to about €30) But as we enter each toll none will work for us. We press the button and no ticket comes! Everyone else is whizzing through fine. We have to ask for assistance and then at the next one it happens again and we press for assistance. But as we are waiting and holding everyone up, Stu looks up and notices the ticket has come out of the upper high, ticket booth for lorries. We realise the roof box is causing the sensor to think we are a truck! Stu slithers out the window to retrieve it and at the next toll we are ready. We approach, look up and Stu climbs out the window, a flawless toll booth experience! We left a very large spacious apartment and have come to what you would call a shed, labelled as a studio!! Saying that, it is beautifully decorated, has an enclosed patio that is a sun trap and use of the owners huge garden with an actual river running through it! We cook the toulouse sausage we have bought and it’s so good Stu immediately Google’s if we can get it back home! We go for an evening walk when it’s cool enough as it was boiling on the sun trap. The pharmacy said 36 degrees at 6pm! We play the alphabet game with the subject ‘anything to do with our trip’ - there are some dubious answers - for N stu says ‘Nollendotfplatz’ every time. We did not go anywhere near the Nollendotfplatz, it’s just something that is said in Cabaret the musical set in Berlin, but still he says it’s a valid answer. He said it so many times it ironically has become part of the trip! I beat him at cards and then, Boom, we book the final 2 nights! Destinations complete.
France III
Day 83
A slow and steady morning. Focusing our energy on trying to book the final places for, unbelievably, OUR LAST WEEK! But sometimes you get booking fatigue so we save some and will come back to it later. We wash all things stinky dog associated, and then stink up the house with a baked Camembert! Metz is the next stop and the parking we choose is a couple of hours only so we do a whistle stop 2 hour whizz. Pounding the streets to quickly see as much as possible. The city is much bigger than the quaint towns we have grown accustomed so 2 hours probably isn’t enough. It does allows us enough time to see the cathedral, German gates and view its many shops! But if we had longer we would have sat in the beautiful gardens we found just as we were leaving, found something out about the German gates and probably had some baked goods somewhere! But we get back to the car with about 3 seconds to spare and head back. I drive to the shops for emergency wine, it’s for the mussels we are going to cook so integral to the recipe! We then go for another surprisingly long walk because we get carried away. We find a little place for dessert but they say we need to eat more so it’s a no go after our moules frites. We come back and book the next 4 days. 2 to book and we are done! It feels Unbelievable. It’s gone so quick yet we have squeezed in a lot!
Wonderful German gates in Metz, France. Absolutely no information learnt about them!
France III
Day 82
We spend some of the morning looking at our final steps of the trip. No decisions made we go for a stroll to ‘Les Jardins Fruitiers de Laquenexy’. It looks beautiful but as we go to get our tickets we see the sign NO DOGS! So we stroll back for lunch and decide we will come back in the car and Wilson can sleep as we visit. Luncheon dealt with, we park up at the gardens. We look at the sky and wonder if it’s about to Chuck it down. Our eyes tell us one thing whilst apple weather says another. We are right. Within minutes it pelts it down! We decide to go to the supermarket in the downpour and then it’s third time lucky! And boy is it worth it. A fabulous garden with a maze that leads to a bamboo covered forest with a deadly plants section behind a wooden protection. Strong smelling Curry plants and apple orchids a plenty. A whole little shop of horrors selection of Venus fly traps and carnivores in the Jurassic park font. Leading into a Fern section of canopies and ground cover with a timed water mister you had to dodge. Calm, tranquil yet exciting and fun. Brilliantly done. A real gem in the middle of what you might say nowhere. When we get home the day has cleared and it is turning into a beautiful evening so we go for a small walk round the town that turns into a pretty long circular walk starting in the tiny town but veering off through the crops, farms, (that we may or may not be shot for?) joining a path . It’s very beautiful but of course Wilson ends up with some kind of Oil in his paws, so whilst Stu cooks, I soap, wash and pick slick out of his feet!
France III
Day 81
We leave the jacuzzi in Poteries, Strasbourg and on exiting the building there is an 8 week old puppy that eagerly comes over to say Bonjour. The little fellow is adorable and when I ask what type dog he is, the woman says ‘bully’ we repeat ‘bully?’ ‘Oui, XL’ she says! It’s such a cutie but he gonna be a BIG boy! Saverne is our first stop. Not planned but it looks so pretty we pull over. The Olympic decorations are everywhere but with gusto here as the torch will be passing through in just a couple of days, we are too early for the celebrations! We walk along the river but don’t get far as it starts to rain, not before grabbing bakery goods from the market we dive into a lovely wine bar for coffee. We sit under an awning and watch as the market deconstructs with military organisation. The rain lifts and we wiggle through beautiful gardens with roses a plenty and look forward to seeing how our garden is upon our return. We drive an incredible country side route that has vast views of farmland either side for miles. A rollercoaster road in the middle where you can see the camber bend up and down. Masses of farmland mean an abundance of Black kites flying over head so we grab the binoculars for the next stop. Mittersheim. A centre for nature and sport. A canal one side and a huge lake with inflatable equipment to kamikaze over on the other! We walk the canal which is so peaceful and totally mad that we see basically no one. The dogs paws are much better so he is loving having a sniff and carrying sticks, Stus loving the serenity and I’m loving the birds, but soon boys tongue is rolled out like a cartoon character so we return to the car for water and a further sensational drive. We arrive at our apartment and put the key code in the key box, but… nothing! We squeeze it, wiggle it, pinch the sides harder and still, no. Then what do you do? Stu just tried some different numbers and voila, it opened!! In the meantime the woman has actually contacted with a ‘désolé’ wrong number! But if this were an escape room we didn’t need the extra clue! It’s a great place and we get some washing on for clean kegs for the remainder of the trip and watch England v Denmark on an iPhone. It was woeful. A wondrous walk in the evening as the sun sets over the crops on the solstice and it’s bed time.
France III
Day (around some of Europe in) 80 (days)
If Colmar, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Eguisheim were all ‘little town, it’s a quiet village’ Strasbourg is the mother city version of them all. We have a much more successful journey using the tram after the disaster of Valencia. We check BEFORE buying the tickets and Dogs are allowed on, though they must be muzzled. Wilson was very brave as he has no experience of a muzzle but he mostly laid down and was very still but occasionally would try and paw it off. We arrive and it seems so large after the tiny towns we have visited. An almighty formidable Notre dam cathedral, a beautiful old town named ‘Petite France’ with timber beams, and a river laced with bridges decorated with flowers. This is a beautiful part of France. If you like wine, and being in the set of a Disney film, then it should be considered for your next 5 day break!! Strasbourg is the size and vibrancy of a huge city but the medieval whimsical-ness of a quaint pop up book! With all these places you can just get lost down small roads and follow where looks pretty. One lady passes and says ‘For your dog’ and gave us a dog treat but the weird thing was she had no dog!! Curious!! There are dams, locks and weirs along the river. To watch a very modern tourist boat be lifted up via the 17th century lock and enter the next section halting all pedestrian traffic to open a swing bridge for it to pass, makes for lovely viewing. We stop for another little glass of Alsace wine at a restaurant on the river front and Wilson takes the chance to snooze. Meandering through back streets and then the feet are achey so we Tram ride back. Time to fill up the jacuzzi, eat and veg out.
Tourist boat waits to come through the lock
France III
Day 79
So our landlady recommended 4 beautiful towns and today is the final one on her list: Riquewihr. We say au revoir and she sends us off with an extra bottle of water as it’s going to hit 31 degrees today. We arrive and park at Riquewihr and a man gives us his parking ticket (as in to park not pay his fine!) and free parking is always a win. The entrance to the town is through an archway built in the Hotel de Ville. Cobbled streets, wine makers and a Christmas shop! We enjoy looking at a persons garden and so they pick herbs from the garden and lets us smell each one. No real common language between us but everyone understands ‘mmm’ in an approving manner! We are heading to Strasbourg (which I always thought was Germany but non, LE françAIS). The drive is idyllic. A good soundscape can make a journey magical and we have on ‘French country side’ and the passing of Vineyards, Castles on hills and quaint houses makes it just perfect. We stop for petrol and you have to pay first. Stu questions how will he know how much? and the person who works there says in a thick French accent ‘You ‘ave to guess’! We stop for lunch at a private boat yard but we have just missed service so it’s a carpark lunch. It has got incredibly hot and disgustingly muggy so we head to our apartment and seek shade! The place is ridiculous. Gold glittery walls, a wall of fake foliage above a Jacuzzi that sits in front of the TV right next to the kitchen! It is beautifully done. It is too muggy for dogs or humans to walk so we fill up with cold and have a Wim Hoff Style jacuzzi!!! We crack an Alsace wine we have bought and play music while we shiver in the jacuzzi… (it felt like a good idea at the time!!) We eat at home as we have blown the budget on jacuzzis and glittery walls! The only problem we have today is the Mosquitoes! They are out in full force and on the muggy rampage. I do the late night walk of Wilson and do not fair well, ending up with about 10 bites.
Check out where the bakers dog spends his days!
France
Day 78
So our first visit today is a place called Eguisheim. These places are like toy town meets the set of Beauty and the beast! Anyone standing at their shutters prompts me to say ‘I need 6 eggs’ which Disney fans will totally get! There are wine caves a plenty being the Alsace wine route but with the car it’s not the day for tasting! We learnt a lot of the old medieval houses have no foundations hence why they are so wonky?! They definitely look like they are all holding each other up. We are back in the land of the white storks and the bizarre clicking noise lets you know to look up and they will be either on a church or a grand building. They def have class when it comes to accomodation! We pootle home, driving through miles of Vineyards, for lunch at home. Stu cooks a medium rare tuna steak and it is divine. I ponder the price if in a restaurant as it was that delicious. Then it’s on to Kaysersberg. Again it’s insanely picturesque and we climb up stone steps to the top of the castle. Legs burning but spirits high as we look across sensational views. We come back and cook some saucisson and Stu is on a roll as he cooks his best carrot, onion and red wine gravy. Head chef had some triumphs today!
The Alsace Wine route
France - The Alsace Wine Route
Day 77
We start the day by going to ‘Tuna market’. Now the clue is in title but the excitement that our lovely landlady said ‘you must go’ with, I thought it was a market market! Now, It was a delightful fresh food market/supermarket but I did go expecting more trinkets!!! But we got some delicious meat for dinner but no earrings! Then it’s a paper map kinda day! I take Stu on the Colmar tourist trail. It takes us through squares, parks, past pastel houses with timbered buildings on to Little Venice with gondolas (but lazy style as they are motorised!) and lots of information signposts read out in ridiculous French accents for our own enjoyment! We can go to inside markets as we haven’t got the dog and don’t have to worry that a tail will knock off every item on the shelf. We enjoy the Alsace wine route a little more with a drink by the river. It’s a very bright, sunny and beautiful day but after a few hours it starts to go grey and it’s time to check on the dog. He’s had a lovely nap and his paws seem to be improving. It’s time for the lovely boeuf skewers we purchased from the market and then The England match. We then tackle trying to order a ‘crit air’ sticker, which is a low emissions sticker, and get it sent to an apartment we just booked mainly to have an address! Top tip… order the crit air sticker BEFORE you leave to travel to France! In our belated research we discover we actually needed it for Rouen where we cluelessly rocked up, visited and left. Lucky we weren’t stopped!
Ooo lala we are back to France
Day 76
Once we check out of our apartment we re-order the car at the side of the road. A car pulls up beside us, staring and we say ‘Hello?’ Cue Roman! A 78 antique clock dealer who lives 3 doors up. He lived in Birmingham in ‘71 whilst training to be a teacher and was thrilled to talk to some English people as he said Brits are best! He had a wonderful accent of German brummy! Said words like ‘dear’ ‘oh crumbs’ ‘you’re a card’ and gave us his actual card and told us to WhatsApp him! We head to Furtwangen (mostly for the amusing name) and are in time for the morning market. We grab bakery treats and stock up on cheese. Then to Frieburg. Now by chance I clicked on Waze maps, as though there are ‘no limit’ roads here, when there is a limit there’s often a red eyed road robot camera to catch you out and we have been caught twice grrr, and Waze tells you where the cameras are. But what it also tells us is that we need a low emissions sticker to enter the city. Now instead of avoiding again we decide we will go to the citizens service agency and acquire one. However the catch 22 is you have to go into Frieburg to get it, but it’s Saturday and it’s shut and then you are in the area without a sticker and if you are stopped you will get a €100 fine so we get out quick still without a sticker! So over the border we go, viewing the mighty Rhine river, on to our apartment in Colmar. The lady who owns it is so lovely and says we can leave Wilson in the place and if he barks she will let us know, so we can go out and Wilson can carry on resting his paws. An 18 minute Walk in to the sensational medieval city that literally looks like a film set. It does not look real with wonky little houses with wooden beams. We are on the Alsace wine route. We find a restaurant and have some garlic snails in a soup which is delicious and a Pinot gris from the area. We have a quick stop at the Parc du Champ-de-Mars, a big open space where the sun is still beating down, kids play in the fountain and a bar is playing Latin music whilst people salsa. A lovely atmosphere. Returning to Wilson to re-treat the feet, much to his delight. We watch some football and settle in to our new place.
Colmar
div (plural divs) (UK, slang) A foolish person; an idiot!
Divs guide of how NOT to travel!
Divs guide of how NOT to travel!
Divs guide of how NOT to travel!
Some of the most competent people‘s confidence completely crumbles, when faced with travel. We will share some of the divvy things done by us on previous adventures in a Divs guide of how NOT to travel! And share our beginners lists for preparing for our 3 month European adventure! I think we are all agreed 2 nights in a deserted campsite
Some of the most competent people‘s confidence completely crumbles, when faced with travel. We will share some of the divvy things done by us on previous adventures in a Divs guide of how NOT to travel! And share our beginners lists for preparing for our 3 month European adventure! I think we are all agreed 2 nights in a deserted campsite in Hastings is ample prep for a 3 month European extravaganza!
Release the anxious hounds
Divs guide of how NOT to travel!
Divs guide of how NOT to travel!
Dogs can be unconfident too and that’s another reason why people put off their trips if they have a dog that’s not ‘normal’! We are taking this much loved maniac with us and would like to share the ways in how it may be possible to holiday with a nervy fellow… he was bitten as a pup and distrusts other dogs, he’s generally anxious in new
Dogs can be unconfident too and that’s another reason why people put off their trips if they have a dog that’s not ‘normal’! We are taking this much loved maniac with us and would like to share the ways in how it may be possible to holiday with a nervy fellow… he was bitten as a pup and distrusts other dogs, he’s generally anxious in new situations so we wouldn’t take him to your usual dog filled places… so taking him round Europe may be a success or he may go on the DON’T’S list in the future!
The Team
Divs guide of how NOT to travel!
The Team
1 Actress, whilst waiting to greet King Charles backstage after a performance who politely remarked
‘beautiful dress’ replied;
‘I fell out of it earlier’ (followed by a small mime exposing herself!)
1 teacher, for less privileged young people who probably don’t know (or care) his first job as a 9 year old was on tour with Take That as a m
1 Actress, whilst waiting to greet King Charles backstage after a performance who politely remarked
‘beautiful dress’ replied;
‘I fell out of it earlier’ (followed by a small mime exposing herself!)
1 teacher, for less privileged young people who probably don’t know (or care) his first job as a 9 year old was on tour with Take That as a mini Robbie Williams. *link will be provided!
1 dog - Full name: Wilson Mad Skills Turner - with accolades such as rolling in a cow pat, jumping in a river and running through a couples picnic stealing sandwiches as he went, just as we were due to hand him over to a new dog sitter, legend.
Divs Do’s and don’ts of travel!
DO - CHECK YOUR PASSPORT!
Now, you may be thinking seriously? We are starting with this basic level? But NOTHING ruins day 1 of a holiday or adventure than realising on the day your passport is out of date, trust me on this, I know!
DO - CHECK IF YOU NEED A VISA
When booking your trip you may not know, and an airline won't neccesarily tell you, that you need a visa. But if you are lucky, you will have a friend who says 'did you manage to sort your visa yet? Mine is on the way' with just enough time to poo your pants and contact the embassy. Cause NOTHING ruins an expensive adventure to China than realising you need a visa with only 5 days to sort it, trust me on this, I KNOW!
DON'T - Get in the wrong lane on a toll road abroad
Slow down and remain vigilant when figuring out which lane on a toll road, else you enter a prepaid lane, explain to the lovely Italian man the error of your ways and he will smile and say 'No problem, carry on' and let you through. To which you'll sigh a sigh of relief , smile at each other in the car, praise Italy for it's understanding attitude and be met with an 80 Euro fine the other end!
DON'T - Do a wilderness wee in black fly season
OK perhaps not the natural entrance for 4th on the list but I've just bought a lady urinal as in Canada, in the height of blackfly season, during a very freeing wild wee at the start of our trek I was bitten upon the vagina! This didn't make the next 6 hours of walking that comfortable! So at number 4 this remains.
DO OR DON'T - Use the safe
I guess mostly do use the safe in your hotel but occasionally don't! If there seems to be any damage at all to the safe, then think again. We were aware some money had gone missing from a safe one holiday but put it down to an extra cocktail or 5 that we had miscounted. But the fools hit us twice and when we told the hotel manager he said it was impossible... However with a tail comb, a sense of MacGuyver and a wiggle of the wrist, the 'impossible' safe door swung open!
DO - Check out our sensible list!
Check out our page in the drop down bar that really does cover more useful information than avoiding vaginal bites and sub par safes... For example Checklist for the new dog requirements to enter Europe. Laws and regulations for uk vehicles. Checklist for your human needs. Camping ideas that we have so far.