Solo travel to measure cognitive decline
Friday, June 17, 2022 at 10:49AM
More now than in the past, I worry about my cognitive ability. I turn 70 next month - a rather ominous sounding number. Is the great slide into senility, immobility, and poverty increasing in velocity and inevitability? Wheeeeee!
On return from most trips, I do a simple evaluation of how well I managed them. After traveling around the country and around the world for 30 years to consult and speak at conferences, any preventable difficulties I may have encountered could be signs of weakening abilities to plan, to adjust, to interpret, to understand. All are abilities necessary for travel - especially international travel.
So how did the bicycling trip to Belgium and the Netherlands go? I’d give myself a B. I had a good time and no disasters but with a few mistakes made.
Choosing an itinerary A-
From past experience, I know I enjoy boat/bike trips and that the company I used was a good one. The daily mileage was good, the boat was comfortable, and the crew was great. (There were only 13 bikers on a boat with a capacity for 40.) As expected, the routes were fairly short each day - usually around 30 miles - and flat. We did have constant rain for two days, but I don’t blame myself for that. Getting an ebike was a wise decision. I look forward to more boat/bike trips in the future.
I built an extra couple of days at both ends of the trip as a cushion for travel disruptions - delayed flights, COVID testing, etc. I loved the extra time before the bike ride in Bruges, but I could have shortened my time in Amsterdam by a day or so. By the end of most trips, I am usually a bit homesick.
Packing C+
I only took a backpack that worked as a carry-on for the two weeks I was away. It carried one week’s worth of clean clothes, a sweatshirt, a toiletry bag, and my new Duet 3 Chromebook. I also put in an umbrella, a compressible day pack, and my inflatable neck pillow. I always figure out how to do laundry once a week while traveling so I can have clean clothes everyday. (Much to the relief of my fellow passengers, I’m sure.)
What I did not pack was a good enough rain jacket, shoes to wear just in the boat, or enough short pants. I wound up borrowing a raincoat from a fellow biker and wandering around the boat in just socks when my only pair of shoes were soaked. Mental lapse?
Devices and connectivity A
While more cludgy than an iPad, the Lenovo Duet 3 worked pretty well as both a small laptop and a tablet. (I found a deal on one for about $150.) The detachable keyboard is small and the touchscreen is not terribly sensitive, but the device works. It had great battery life and connected to all but one network easily.
My Samsung Galaxy phone worked very well. Prior to leaving the US, I bought an international plan for 4 weeks from T-mobile. It worked fantastic. On my last trip to Europe, I brought my old travel iPhone and bought a local SIM card and data plan. It was a nightmare when the data plan stopped working halfway through the trip. The phone is a bit big, but it has a good camera(s) and the screen is nice for reading books. I read five books on this trip, primarily on my phone.
I remembered to bring my European plug-in adapter!
Navigation B
Increasingly I am enjoying guided tours and I am glad I chose a guided bike trip this time. Self-guided trips are fun, but they are more challenging. Several bikers on this trip chose to be self-guided. Groups can be annoying, of course. There are always folks who are never ready on time, slow the pace, etc. But it was lovely not having to consult a map constantly. And we had some very small winding bike paths on which a wrong turn (or no turn) could have been very bad news.
Independently in Bruges and Amsterdam, I navigated trains, trams, and walks. I will be forever grateful to the teacher in Tokyo who showed me how GoogleMaps could be used with mass transit. That skill served me well, especially in Amsterdam. I sometimes had trouble locating a specific tram or train platform and missed a few turns while walking, but generally, I got where I wanted to be without a lot of hassle. On my last trip to Europe I bought a Eurorail Pass for my phone that refused to work and gave me no end of heartburn. This time I bought a PAPER Amsterdam Card for unlimited tram access and entrance to museums which worked great and a PAPER ticket for my ride from Amsterdam to Bruges.
Both Amsterdam and Bruges were to me, confusing places to navigate. Both cities began in the Middle Ages and medieval cities usually grow in concentric rings, not at right angles. One can be walking in a “straight” line and suddenly realize south has become west or east. Again, thank goodness for GoogleMaps.
I get the feeling that I may be projecting an image of “a lost old man” which generates some degree of sympathy from natives and younger travelers. I will be humble and accept the benefits of being old looking. Blank stares seem to help.
Stupid stuff F
My plan for my last day in Amsterdam was to visit the Van Gogh Museum, the Canal Museum, the Houseboat Museum, the Cat Museum, and the Rembrandt House. However… All tickets for the Van Gogh were sold out and all the other museums on my list were closed on Mondays. Duh. I walked a lot and visited old churches instead. And had coffee. And read. Dumb, dumb, dumb not to have done a better job of planning ahead. I need to do a better job of remembering just how popular (and crowded) tourist attractions can be nowadays. Scheduling entry times to museums (luckily I was able to get an immediate slot into the Rijksmuseum) is just standard practice now. I gotta adjust.
I didn’t realize I had not packed sunglasses or a baseball cap. I purchased new ones in Bruges for less than 10 Euros each.
I re-read the Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russel Shorto on the flight home. Should have read it before visiting again, not after.
*****************************
So while I messed up a few times, I still managed to have a good trip. I wasn’t mugged, avoided arrest, and did not contract a case of Monkey Pox. I had no big expenses beyond the expected and I came home with my emergency funds intact. And I learned a few things not only about the countries and cities I visited, but also about being a better traveler. And that may be the best indicator that at least a few brain cells are still lighting up.
Reader Comments (9)
Photo was taken at Sahara-Art-Stones in Sint-Amands, Belgium. One of many interesting stops on the bike tour.
As I'm setting off for Italy in a couple of weeks, I'm taking notes. My trip won't have as much exertion as yours (it is an opera trip, after all) but I haven't been to Europe since 2000 and so have forgotten much, I'm sure, in the planning and packing part. Glad you had a good trip.
Hi Floyd,
Good to hear from you!
I hope you have an amazing trip to Italy. Is it an organized tour or did you plan this yourself?
Lots in the news about airport problems in Europe. I was delayed 3 hours going to Amsterdam, but the trip home was on time and smooth, with no lines of unusual length.
I'll be anxious to hear about your trip. Let's do supper when I am next in KC area!
Doug
Sounds like more than a few brain cells are lighting up! Thanks for sharing your travel experiences.
Thanks, Joy. I share them so I can remember them myself!
Great post, Doug. After I return from a trip, I don't do anything as formal as giving myself a report card but I certainly think through what I did right and wrong. Fortunately, like you, I'm still assigning most of the checks checks on the positive side of the ledger.
Your trip to the low country sounds wonderful and it's one that I'm hoping to do in the near future. However, I do agree with your F score for the final day. Even missing the Monday closings (which is common all over Europe), thinking you could stuff all those museums into one day is a little on the crazy side. But just an error; not a sign of cognitive decline. :-)
Keep on traveling. 70 is not all that scary.
Thanks, Tim. I appreciate the words of encouragement!
Doug
Sounds like a wonderful trip. I like to write about my travels in case I ever repeat the trip. I can learn from my previous mistakes. We would like to do a Vikings river cruise and some of them either start or end in Amsterdam. Like you, we usually go a few days earlier, just in case. We have been to Amsterdam once on a cruise but only had one day to spend there so we walked around mostly but if we ever get there again, I will remember your tips. If you ever go to Copenhagen, get the Copenhagen card which also gets you unlimited train/bus rides and entrance to museums. It was well worth the money. Thanks for sharing your evaluation!
Hi Pat,
Nice to hear from you!
Copenhagen is on my list (when I booked this trip, I was really looking for a Denmark bike ride.) I am not sure how well I would do on a "cruise-only" trip. I like to get a little exercise each day on my vacations. And cruise ships seem to get smaller each day one is on them. ;-)
Hope you get your trip to Europe!
Doug