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Its not so much the people its the profit in carrying more passngers who can only afford cheaper prices.Air travel is just a faster ;often cheaper way of travel.Its really the same with Cruises and tours ;a cheaper way of seeing what cost much more on your own.I and wife bascially got Cruised and toured out when younger as it was economical ;we were young and it allowed us to get a glimpse of the world.
What has changed is not me, it's the flying experience. I flew something like 800K miles back before 9-11, and, in those days, it was mostly fun. Now, not so much.
That and now that I'm married, if we fly, the cost is 2X what it would be for me alone, while if we go by car, the costs are close to the same, motel costs a bit more for 2 people but not enough to worry about.
I would like to try Amtrak for the next long trip, just to avoid TSA and the general hassle of flying anymore.
Interestingly enough, I took an overnight train in Ukraine a few years back, it was a really fun experience, for me anyway. It helps to speak the language at least serviceably.
I am not sure Amtrak even has the level of service you'll find in the Ukraine. Our last 2 experiences with trains were in Japan and Germany - both excellent. There's nothing like that in the US. Robyn
I live in Tallahassee, which has only a regional airport. To get almost anywhere from here, including most other places in Florida, you have to stop and change planes in Atlanta. The joke here is that after you die, whether you go to heaven or hell, you'll have to go through Atlanta.
There are lots of reasons why Tallahassee is a good place to live, but ease of air travel is not among them. It's also expensive to travel from/to Tallahassee, and to save money, many people fly into and out of JAX, which is lots cheaper. The trouble is, JAX is at least 2 1/2 hours' drive from here, so while you'll save money, you add a lot of travel time to your journey. (Although it's cheaper to park in JAX than it is at the airport here.)
My 30-hour trip home from Tel Aviv consisted in part in a long wait for my flight at TLV (I had no choice), then a long flight to Newark, then a long wait for my flight from Newark to Atlanta, then delays in my flight from Atlanta to Tallahassee.
And no, I was not on a federation mission -- I have never been on a federation mission. This most recent trip to Israel, like the one before it, was as a volunteer on an Israeli army base through a program called Sar El, and its American counterpart, Volunteers for Israel.
I did a Kayak search on Tallahassee to some random places. And you're right. There is no 1 stop flight to Tel Aviv (Delta used to run a non-stop from Atlanta to Tel Aviv but eliminated that route a while back). At least from JAX - we can fly non-stop to Atlanta - all New York airports - Chicago - Houston - etc. Major hubs. So we can "1 stop" to most places. And when we can't - we don't go there. I was thinking of going to Helsinki as well as Stockholm on our next trip - but finding an airline where we could do 1 stops from both cities was impossible. So 86 Helsinki.
We have the same deal with Orlando that you have with JAX. It's a larger airport about 2 1/2 hours away. But I need a compelling reason to fly out of it. The only one I've found in the 15 years I've lived here was 2 very cheap (in terms of miles) First Class tickets on Virgin Atlantic non-stop Orlando/London.
What you did in Israel sounds interesting. I'll look it up. Robyn
Besides the increasingly high costs, I don't like being treated like a potential criminal, especially at airports. Waiting on lines to get searched and gropped kind of takes the fun out of traveling.
I'm driving to the east coast next month, about 2,500 miles each way. Normally I do 1000 miles a day but 850 should do it spending the third night at my destination. Getting up at 5am and putting in 100 miles before breakfast suits us fine.
Why would you drive instead of flying? Robyn
P.S. Does your spouse really like this? It's like what my father used to do - and my mother always hated it.
More difficult?
Oh yes.
For the husband most of it is because of medical issues.
Most often,the body can't be relied on to improve as one ages so things don't get easier.
Medical issues aside,my 'only' issue currently is just getting older ( almost 70) and this weeks 2 day biannual 1500 mile drive was not the 'fun' I declared it to be 6 years ago.
Even if we flew, the short 2 1/2 hour flight would end up taking 8/9 hours in actuality.
LOL....I think we'd have to check one bag just for medications!
We assumed, as do many people, that these years would be a time of travel but now the potential pleasure doesn't seem worth the actual effort involved.
1500 miles in 2 days. Really???? If you are talking NY/Florida - you're talking the I-95/I-75 corridors - where it is almost impossible to drive 300 miles without running into construction - a major accident - etc. - etc. When we drove to Charleston last month - < 300 miles - it took us about 5 hours (accidents and construction). IMO - plane travel is bad - driving long distances is worse. Robyn
I traveled in the US a lot by plane before I retired 5 years ago. I especially travelled a lot between 1995 and 2000, sometimes flying twice a month plus a few cross country vacation trips. Some of my co-workers loved it. I told them I lived alone. I didn't need a business trip to get away from a wife/husband and family problems. I always had peace and quiet when I went home from work. I swore when I retired I would never get on another airplane and I haven't.
But road trips have their own problems.
I am so stiff when I get out of a car after a few hours that I can barely get my legs to move. Then there is the "lug" factor. Besides luggage, I have camera bags. It's just me. I have to assess every place I plan to stop with how difficult it will be to schlep stuff. I have to skip that "great view" with a second/third floor room if I can park next to my door with a ground floor room. If I'll be gone more than a week, instead of packing two weeks worth of clothes, I look for a motel with a guest laundry and only pack one week of clothes
Because I no longer trust my legs to do what the brain is telling them to do, I have to assess every attraction/view/tour by how far I have to walk, how even is the terrain, how hot it is temperature-wise and whether I'll have to "keep up" with other walkers. You know, if it's "JUST" 70 steps down to see some waterfall that means it's also 70 steps back up. Nix the waterfall if it's not close to the car and nix that climb to the top of some lighthouse.
And don't we all pay a lot more attention to how many miles it is to the next rest area on the Interstate/highway now that we're older.
Forget tent camping. If I'm laying on the ground all night call a tow truck to get me to stand up in the morning.
My biggest bugaboo from some travel advice people is this: "It's just a short walk to the XYZ." A "short walk" means different things to different people. I might think "a short walk" means it's adjacent to the parking lot. Someone else might think a "short walk" is a quarter of a mile. And travel advice people (and that includes regular people that post to Trip Advisor) "it gets cool here at night" or "it gets warm here in June" is meaningless. What temperature is "cool" and "warm" to you? I'm not lugging a jacket with me if the trip advice is from someone who gets cold when it's 60 degrees and I'm not even going if I have to be out all day in 85 degree temperatures so spit it out so we can make appropriate decisions and not base it on your feelings about temperatures.
Then there are the bathtubs. This is a short legs person problem but when you couple it with bad knees and older age... Why do they have bathtubs with such high sides in some hotels/motels? I'm 5' 1". I take showers. I have short legs and bad knees. It's very hard to get out of high sided tubs. And you tour people with vans and buses --- very hard for a short person with bad knees to get into one with that high step up. You all need to keep a stool handy for folks with little legs and bad knees.
I hardly ever drive at night. I'm okay in the early morning hours because there aren't a lot of headlights coming at me but I rarely do any night time activity in a place with which I am not familiar.
Lastly, I usually need a day after a road trip now that I'm older. Not true when I was in my 40s or less.
1500 miles in 2 days. Really???? If you are talking NY/Florida - you're talking the I-95/I-75 corridors - where it is almost impossible to drive 300 miles without running into construction - a major accident - etc. - etc. When we drove to Charleston last month - < 300 miles - it took us about 5 hours (accidents and construction). IMO - plane travel is bad - driving long distances is worse. Robyn
Yes, Naples to upstate NY.
A little less than 14 hours the first day and 12 hours the next.
By traveling on the weekend almost all of the construction ...and there was a lot of it....was idle.
Luck comes into it when it comes to slowdowns and we only lost 15 minutes due to one of those 'never even know why it happened' events.
We leave the option open for taking a third day, if necessary and do use it in the fall when daylight doesn't last long enough
That's another thing that has changed with age....not wanting to drive at night.
The wife and I went to Hawaii from Lincoln Nebraska. We traveled for 30 hours straight. while on the plane from LA to Hawaii several passegers were coughing and hacking. After arriving in Hawaii and then finding the hotel both of us were exhausted. Went to bed in the afternoon and awoke about midnight wide awake. Since I couldn't sleep, I went for a walk around the beach area. Pitch black outside except for some street lights. I was stopped by several security guards and hassled a little. We were there for a week and both of us came down with a cold and a slight fever.
On the return trip back to Lincoln both of us were awake for 36 hours straight and exhausted again. In all the whole trip was OK, but it should have been better. I don't know how international travelers do it.
We have traveled to HI for many years from the east coast. Found if we took an early AM flight we arrived dinner time. Didn't sleep on the plane, just stayed awake as long as we could upon arrival at condo. Crashed around 8:00 PM and when we woke up we were on HI time. Coming home always took flight around 9:00PM, arrived Newark mid morning. Kept the jet lag down to a minimum. It is a long flight and we are no longer up to it.
I'm with Ellwood's original post. I use to fly a 100k a year, year in and year out for over 25 years. now I either drive my RV or car, no longer interested in going overseas.
I flew twice in the last year once to Vegas and one to Biloxi, that was enough for me. Long lines,and little seats made for children....thank you...I'll pass.
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