MALU'S TRAVEL CHALLENGE (Why (not) travel?)

Member Name: Boonoiy

Product:	Why (not) travel?
Date:	09/01/04 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Get away

Disadvantages: Have to come back

q: how many times a year do you travel?

Really? As many times as possible. I get a grand total of 22 days off a year and I try and use them to go away.

q: for how long do you go away?

Usually for a week but I've been known to skip abroad for 10 days or a long weekend. Depends on funds and time off work.

q: do you stay in your home country or do you go abroad?

Mix and match - I live in London, my parents live in Yorkshire and my In-Laws live in Fife (Scotland for those out of the know). We tend to hire a car and do a week shared between the two. We like to get up for one of these trips at least twice a year and have a good break abroad too - last couple of foreign holidays have been: Spain (Benidorm) for 10 days last October and Germany (Berlin) for a long weekend in December 2002 (MY GOD it was cold!)

Q: Do you organise your holidays yourself or do you go to a travel agency?

I like to organise stuff myself, you can find great airfares on the web and I've a couple of blinders through Opodo, we booked our apartment in Spain and our hotel in Berlin separately from the flights and found that we'd done better than going through a tour operator from speaking to others there.

Q: Do you prepare your holidays in advance by reading guide books and studying maps?

Not at all, just get a guidebook when I'm there if I can be bothered. I don't mind stumbling about for a while lost - it adds to the holiday if you've got something to work at while you're there.

Q: Do you travel alone/with family or friends/with an organised group?

Family or the wife as a rule but I've done a couple of the "Lads' hols" things in my youth.

Q: Do you prefer the sea / mountains / plains / cities as destinations?

City breaks and beaches are my thing.

Q: Do you mainly relax or are you an active holidayer?

Rel
ax! Rancho Relaxo is my ideal holiday resort (from The Simpsons). I do try and find the local bars and cafes and then relax in those and the walk to the beach and a game of beach tennis (you know - with the little wooden bats and something that looks like a squash ball - known in the Boon household as "Pok-Pok!") could be considered an activity if I were to really relax the boundaries.....

Q: If you go abroad do you learn at least some words of the foreign language?

I know quite a bit of French and I can get away with pointing and shouting "Grassy arse" in Spain but I don't make too much of an effort, I'm really too lazy (and English) to go learning other languages for the sake of a 10 day trip, pointing and shouting usually does the trick for me (except for in Scotland where nobody can understand anyone else anyhow..... ;-)).

Q: Which means of transportation do you prefer?

I love to fly but hiring a car is a great way to get about in the UK.

Q: Do you send picture postcards to your family and friends?

We usually do but the latest ones didn't get back for 6 weeks! The tackier the better is my motto, postcards of beach scenes, gnarled old women sitting in front of houses and donkeys with straw hats are always a safe bet if you can't find one of a small boy peeing or a breast painted to look like a mouse!

Summary: