More on Europe, Taming My Inner Tyrant

The most recent post generated some good ideas from a couple of family members. From Cousin Susan:

• Buy air tickets at regular price, and then try to apply the Frequent Flyer miles to getting an upgrade. That'd work (if Delta/NWA does that). Suze suggested doing that by booking via a travel agent.
• On the subject of travel gear, she suggested one of the following for a decent rain jacket:
  SteepandCheap.com
  BackCountry.com
  Eddie Bauer
  L.L. Bean
  Land's End

None of these places is exactly cheap, but I'm going to be wearing said stuff for ~3 weeks, and it'd be nice to know that whatever I buy is going to hold up. So anyway, I've got some ideas.

Uncle Terry (one of the many traveling Irishmen in my family) and I talked last night. The first thing he recommended, after I'd plunked down $99+ for my "Rocket German" class were some free language classes via the British Broadcasting Company (BBC):

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/

Well, maybe I can save money on my French and Italian.

Uncle Terry is also a big advocate of American Express. He'd convinced me to get an Amex card, which he said should offer the following benefits:

• No charges to me during a billing dispute
• Free medical insurance
• Prescription registration
• Lower/better currency exchange rates

I suggested that he be a salesman for American Express, as he's quite the advocate. "They don't want someone my age," was his retort. Huhrumph. Weird job market.

Anyhow, on the subject of booking, he strongly suggested booking online directly with the airline rather than going through additional middlemen (airline reservations, travel agents), each of which add their little surcharge onto the process. However, he did recommend calling NWA to figure out what I could get for my FF benefits. A phone call or two couldn't hurt, at any point.

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One of the reasons I've avoided management positions for so long (much to my father's dismay) is that I know I have a tendency toward tyranny, especially when side discussions and arguments appear to be sidetracking progress. I'd like to think of myself as a benevolent Irish monarch, but there are times when even the chieftans brought out their swords and clubs and said, "By damn, man! Everything would be fine if you'd just do things my way!" This reaction toward personal tyranny is also why I don't run for public office.

But the funny thing is, if I'm in a position where I know I've got to compromise, I'm fine. I'm also fine if I'm in a position where I've been put in charge--until someone holds up The Plan. I can usually keep myself balanced as long as a few things pertain:

• There's not a lot of time pressure
• There's not a lot of money involved
• The basic premises of The Plan are not being questions, merely the details

However, inevitably, the longer one is in a leadership position, the longer one or more of the three conditions above is likely to be violated. And of course that's the real trick, isn't it? Leaders often work under pressure, with limited information, with a firm idea of what they WANT to happen, but with only a vague notion of the consequences of all possible decisions. And if they're wrong, they'll shoulder the blame and responsbility, and if they're right, they'll get only a share of the glory.

I've been studying leadership for years because the way people behave under all these variables is of great interest to me. I've tried to keep myself in structured situations that don't put me in a lot of danger of testing my leadership limits. People are funny animals, and I'm never entirely certain of my ability to work with them well. I'm also constantly in doubt about when it's time for democratic, group-based decisions and when it's time for individual, unilateral decisiveness by one person. Each situation is unique, and different individuals, groups, and situations require different types of leadership behavior.

Perhaps I've been such a student of leadership because I've seen what good things can be done through words and actions (Kennedy sending a nation to the Moon, King leading a nation toward equal rights for all), and I've seen what evil or stupidity can be unleashed by a petty tyrant (anything from simple micromanagement to Hitleresque evils). Leadership is a two-edged sword: a single person might make decisions more quickly, but that single individual isn't always right, and the suffering he creates increases exponentially by the size of the error and the number of people affected by it.

Hm. Well, I'm not going to solve the basic problems of human nature and group dynamics tonight. All I really need to do is figure out how to negotiate between conflicting demands over something as simple as organizing a meeting. The decisions only get tougher the higher you go in any organization. I can either get used to it, or quit trying to lead anyone. Unfortunately, that Irish chieftan always lurks beneath the surface--convinced that everyone will follow him if he's just sufficiently charming--and who can just as easily draw the club or sword if his plans are crossed.

Europe Trip--Next Phase: Air

As September approaches, I'm closer to booking my airline tickets for Europe. While I've put a respectable number of frequent flyer miles on the Visa card, I don't think I'll have enough to cover a decent flight to and from Europe. (On a completely different side note, I think responsible banks should give FF miles for paying your card, not for spending, but that's a whole 'nother issue.)

Anyhow, flying from Huntsville, Alabama to Europe is obviously not going to be a simple, one-step flight. The only 747s that fly into HSV belong to FedEx and maybe UPS. My options then become:

• Fly a connection from HSV to Atlanta, Washington, or Chicago--the only big international points of entry I can reach nonstop from here.
• Next issue: what city or cities to I use for my points of entry and departure? The tour begins in Amsterdam and ends in Paris. That means flying an "open jaw" ticket from some point in the U.S. (ATL, ORD, or IAD) to one city then come back to that same city from a different city.
• Or there's another option: fly into and out of London or Dublin and then enter Europe via RyanAir or some other low-cost carrier. That means an extra airplane trip with the added headache of flying to/from out-of-the-way airports well away from the city centers. I'm looking seriously at London, if only because I'd like to take a train from Paris to London to experience "The Chunnel." Ah, but what's more expensive? Open-jaw flying via Amsterdam and Paris or single-point-of-entry-and-exit travel via London? If I do London, I'd have to consider the cost of the additional ferry/train tickets and possibly hotel stay if I feel like puttering around London to do tea with the Queen or a pint with William and Harry. You know: the usual.

I'll look at the most direct route (HSV-ATL-AMS-PAR-ATL-HSV).

• Hm. The best rate Kayak.com offered is $955 via Delta. That's the price for September 2008 (same dates), down about $200 from my last estimate, which was ~$1,100.
• This is interesting: going into and out of London (also via Delta) would be $1,194. So the winner in the open-jaw vs. single-POE competition is open-jaw by about $300. So much for that Chunnel idea.

Now comes the next big question: will a travel agent help with mere airline travel if I had the bad taste to book a tour that was NOT from one of their wall catalogs? Or should I just call the airlines directly? Also, do I need to call a special number at the airline (or Visa) to try to cash in my FF miles? I don't care if I can't get the whole trip paid for--I'd settle for a discount.

Just out of morbid curiosity, I checked the business class prices for the same dates. Would you believe the price was ten times what a coach ticket costs??? $9,934! Jeez, I'm not paying that much for the whole tour, and that includes hotels! I guess I can tough out another crammed-in seat for nine or ten hours. But dang it, when in my life will I get to ride first class or business class again??? I miss leg room, d@mmit! Sigh. Guess I'll just have to suck it up. And if, by some rare chance, I have enough FF miles to pay for that coach ticket, then I just saved a ton of cash in exchange for nine hours' bodily inconvenience. I can take it.

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In related vacation news, I now have some for-dummies DVDs on the utter basics for French and Italian ("the 100 phrases you must know to survive"). I've been eyeing the "Rocket German" and "Rocket French" classes, though, since a) I have enough time and b) I'd like to know a little more than the basics ("Where are toilets, please?"). I'm having a mental block about Italian, for some reason. Maybe because I'm more interest in German and French history. I was going to buy these classes with money from one of my savings accounts, but I've been having issues getting the ATM card replaced for that account. Whatever. I'll get moving eventually. Maybe when I book some airplane tickets I'll get more serious about educating myself about speaking with the people I'll be meeting.

Also, thanks to my sister I now have my first Euros for the trip. The bills are smaller, more colorful, and more elaborate than even the new U.S. dollars, but easy to manage. They've gone into the money belt for future use. Thanks, sis! Auf wiederzehen, etc.

Illness, Book Review: Europe Through the Back Door 2008

I've had a wicked-nasty cold for two days now. Came out of nowhere, though as near as I can tell, I was fine until I visited the new doctor's office on Thursday. Ick. Heavy chest, painful coughing, occasional fevers and chills, stuffed sinuses, and sneezing: have I missed anything? Okay, how about a "poor baby" for Mr. Bart? Okay, back to the writing.

I finished Rick Steve's primer on traveling in Europe. It all sounds like a cool concept: travel on one's own, head off the beaten track, save a little money. The reality has been a little different. Yes, you can save money on lodging if you stay at hostels or B&Bs. The problems with some of the hostels are: they have times when they're closed and curfews (I'm a little old for that, thank you), there's no quiet or privacy--it's essentially a dorm room--and very few amenities. Now bed and breakfast lodgings I can do. I won't be overwhelmed by the accommodations, but then I have to consider how much time I'm actually going to spend in the room in the first place. The best room I've ever stayed in was the Embassy Suites in Birmingham, and I spent maybe two waking hours there.

I'm also too old to book second class on Eurail. The magic age there is 26, which means another $120 or so on a train ticket. And no, I have no interest in camping. There's a rather broad range between "quaint lodgings" and "dive," and I'd like to think I can afford the former without dipping too much into the latter.

Air travel is also a concern. I'd like to think that five years of racking up frequent flyer miles would mean something, but apparently I don't spend enough to get the goodies. A responsible banker would give rewards for paying your bill, but I digress.

What I like about Rick Steves' writing is that it's engaging, no-nonsense, factual, and yet still optimistic. Along with the book, I also ordered an Ireland and Scotland DVD and a money belt, and as a result, I got a bonus DVD of his travel tips, which played out over three of his PBS TV shows. The DVD is a condensed version of the Back Door book, and takes the viewer on an idealized "grand tour," which covers 23 days and moves up and down the continent, from Amsterdam down to Italy and back up to London. Great concept, but some of the places he lists were not on my list, and some of the places I want to go are not on his list. In this case, the Ireland DVD was worthwhile.

He reserves most of his happy words about Ireland for the places I want to go (Dublin, SE Ireland, SW Ireland) and isn't nearly as passionate about the NW or Northern Ireland. It's quite obvious he's got the travel agent's natural tendency to spin some things, like "The Troubles." I'm sure Northern Ireland is quite lovely, but given Steves' obvious discomfort in talking politics, I can't help wondering how much of his talk was what one Alabamian called "eye wash and motherhood."

Steves has made quite a tidy business for himself, hunting down the quiet corners of Europe, to the point of forming his own tour company and no longer making those places quite as quiet. Still, he's right on this point: people unwilling to stay in a less-than-three-star hotel (I don't qualify, by the way) won't go there anyway. So places like Dingle Peninsula in Ireland and the Cinque Terre in Italy still offer an indepenedent traveler a taste of "real Europe" without the bus tour zoo.

I can't say for certain yet if I'm going to follow the independent route, but Steves' book provides the novice traveler enough basic information to get started. I still need help with logistics. Steves says he only uses travel agents for the transportation portion of his trips and books everything re: lodging or attractions by phone. Maybe, says I.