Recently I took a flight to Riga. It was my first fast travel experience in a while. Here is what happened:
We were waiting waiting at the airport for our delayed plane.Most people appeared stressed and annoyed, some started to argue. Many had paid for fast boarding which went out of the window when the plane eventually arrived. Once on the plane a passenger and her daughter were told that they could not sit in the seats they paid for. Instead the seats were taken by off duty cabin crew. No apology or refund was given. Another passenger who had pre-ordered chicken for lunch was told that there was no chicken and he would get a pork dish although the passenger had clearly stated No pork on his order. The cabin crew member just shrugged and told him to buy something else off the menu.
Then the plane left over one hour late due to one off duty crew member boarding 30 minutes late and another not turning up at all so all the luggage had to be offloaded to find his bag. The return flight a week later was better but also delayed. An off duty crew member told some passengers to move seats so she could have the aisle seat. The on duty cabin crew hardly put in an appearance so busy were they chatting in the back of the plane behind the closed curtain. The experience was really not worth the cost of the flight plus all those extras which people now have to pay to get any comfort at all.
Talking to friends and colleagues about their summer travel experiences, flying and airports got by far the most thumbs down from everyone. So how about slow travel?
A week before the flight to Riga my son and I had gone to a family occasion in Hamburg. We had planned to stay just for the weekend. On the way there we took frequent breaks and swapped driving so the other could relax. On our departure day we experienced some traffic jams and amended our route home. As it was now later in the day we decided to stop half way and continue to the next day, giving us the opportunity to go to an interesting museum in Dortmund and having an evening in beautiful Koblenz, which neither of us had been to before. It is now on my list for a repeat visit. The next morning we planned our route home via the famous Nürburgring, where we visited the museum and took a spin on the Nordschleife. Our route home was via France and some less busy roads so we arrived home early.
Similar experiences were related by friends and family taking the train to their holiday destination or breaking the journey stopping over somewhere on the way. Some choose a different experience such as a canal boat holiday, going hiking/camping, staying home and planning frequent day trips, going on horseback (one friend and her daughter went on a guided holiday on horseback along the Loire), visiting friends and exploring their region. There are many options, but for me the main benefit is to enjoy the process of traveling and not rush somewhere getting stressed out in the process and arriving irritated and exhausted.
What are your thoughts?
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