The Devil is in the Details
Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy
The devil is indeed in the details. And in spades! Stepping back and looking at it, planning a long range Road Trip is a lesson in Details. Having to be more or less self-sufficient for a month of cruising anywhere is a daunting task. Doing it on foreign shores, even in allegedly civilized countries is, well...
To give you an idea of scale, one of the things I’ve had to do is make a list of all the Stuff we’ll be packing in the TR to be shipped to the Auld Sod. The upside of shipping in a container is having the ability to ship car essentials with the car, not in your carry on baggage. I have a feeling the TSA would take a dim view of a loaded toolbox with all it’s assorted iron mongery in the overhead rack! To say nothing of blowing the airline’s fifty pound weight limit per checked bag!
Anyway, I made a little list. With photos. the list is FOUR PAGES LONG! Every spanner (I’m trying to learn English before we go), screwdriver, set of points, sparking plugs, and nard and skizzy has to be on the list. Damn, I never knew just how much stuff we haul around on a regular basis. Is it all essential? Who the hell knows. I call it the Umbrella Theory of Spares. If you don’t take it, you WILL need it!
Then there’s all the other details of travel that one just doesn’t think about here. Like Insurance. OK, we all have car insurance and medical insurance here. None of it’s worth a Tinker’s Damn over there. None of it. So, off to the good people at Hagerty’s for road insurance for the car. About a ten page application form and several hundred pounds sterling and we’re good to go. I have to say, Hagerty’s people are GREAT! They are Car People first, and Insurance Gnomes second. They clearly get Us. Which is good because no one else will touch the kind of folly Marianne and I are planning to commit. Since they have a UK division, it makes it all a piece of cake.
Then there’s medical insurance. Your US policy, be it Medicare, Obamacare, or Whothehellcares, won’t cover you across the pond, and since you’re not a citizen of the UK or Eurozone, neither will their vaunted National Health. An internet search for travel health insurance will net you mostly travel insurance. There’s a difference. Travel insurance is a good idea if you’re paying for a cruise in advance and have to cancel because poor Aunt Edna kicked the bucket, or you break a leg and can’t go. Travel HEALTH insurance will cover you if you trip over your own big feet and break a leg while on holiday. Given our advancing years and length of stay, the Umbrella (or should I be saying “brolly” or “bumpershoot?”) Theory applies here too. Enter a company called IMG. For $200 bucks, we’re both covered. They have good reviews on line (the slightly scary bit is, most say “I didn’t need to use it but it was good to have”) and seem to be a reputable company. With one drawback. You know that maybe the Number One Good Thing about Obamacare is the removal of “pre-existing conditions”? Doesn’t seem to apply. If you keel over from a heart attack because your arteries have been clogged for decades, they won’t help you. How they get away with this is a mystery to me (but I smell a lobbyist in the woodpile somewhere).
The last insurance is shipping the car. In case its container falls off the boat, or some such other disaster. Hagerty will cover you, so will your shipper. Both cost the same, but it’s a bit easier to do it through the shipper. There are a lot of details they can cover (like who’s trucking it to and from the port, taking photos--which you should do anyway, etc) that led me to get the coverage from them. It’s a toss up.
Those are the larger details. Here’s a bunch of others:
Phones: We got Marianne a new iPhone (what a REALLY cool piece of kit THAT is) and the attendant two year plan from Verizon. AT&T works as well and the cost is about the same. What’s important is the Travel Plan. I learned about this from my buddy Bill Morgan. He and his Girl Friend took a jaunt to Spain, France, and Italy last year. The deal is, in Yurp, each country seems to have it’s own cell system and they are naturally incompatible with anyone else’s! Seems silly, what with the Eurozone and all, but there you have it. One option is to get a burner phone cheap and the appropriate sim card for the country. That’s OK if you’re not crossing a border. Then you need a new sim, AND you get a new phone number. So, if you’re in Spain and call for a hotel reservation in France and give them the number in Spain, when you change sims, your old number goes away and the hotel can’t get in touch with you. Did I lose you yet?
With the Verizon travel plan, you can pay monthly (and cancel without penalty when you get home) and you keep your phone number, and can make calls and text and do interwebnetstuff to your heart’s content. BEWARE however, most of the data plans will cost you and it’s easy to eat up the data, so ONLY do web stuff where there’s WiFi, like at your hotel.
The really bitchin’ thing about the iPhone? With its BluTooth, we can play music through the intercom headsets we got! Just be SURE to download the music to the phone and disable the web access so you don’t eat up your data plan!!!
Electricity: Another thing we added was an electrical adaptor. Not only are the plugs in the UK/Ire of funky shape, they use 220v to our 110v. Stuff like hairdryers will fry! Allegedly, Apple stuff doesn’t need a voltage converter, but...Enter the Papeak Travel Power Center. It’s like a power strip on steroids. It’s a surge protector, adaptor to different voltages (and does it automatically, no fiddling with little switches, hoping you got the right amount of juice), AND it has four USB ports. The other advantage is it has a long cord so you don’t have to plug stuff in to the outlet that’s in an inevitably remote spot behind a sofa. It’s about $40 on Amazon.
AAA: Roadside Assistance. No, your Triple A card won’t help you much. I asked. So, enter AA (no, not the booze people). It’s the UK equivalent. And again, the Umbrella Theory is at work. Now, it’s a bit tricky setting things up, and it took several emails and live chat back and forth but here’s the deal. Using the UT, I went for the maximum “cover” (what they call coverage). Not only the UNLIMITED calls of the regular plan (ARE YOU LISTENING AAA?), where they will either fix your car at the roadside (including a couple of litres of petrol!) or tow you to the nearest garage to get it fixed. Add to that the “Trip Forward” option, and you’ll get a hotel room AND a rental car for a day. Then there’s the REAL KICKER! Opt for the cover that gets you PARTS AND LABOUR to fix the Auld Crate! The limit for parts is 500 pounds and they won’t cover normal wear and tear items. This is an amazing option.
So, drawbacks. There have to be drawbacks. It ain’t cheap and you have to buy a year’s worth. Price is based on the age of the car, so for the TR, it came to some $300. The other problem is you have to have a UK address and phone number. The phone isn’t much of a problem, the customer support people gave me a “generic bogus number with a lot of 1s in it. The address is more problematic. Luckily, we have friends across the pond who were willing to let us use theirs. When all the documents arrive, they’ll forward them on to us. You CAN get the coverage once you get there, but there seems to be a delay on when it starts. A little creative contact with a hotel you are planning to use for more than a couple of days might cover this problem.
Money: Ireland uses the Euro, the UK still has their Pound Sterling. You still have to deal with exchange rates. Here’s the hot tip. Get a credit card (you have more protection from fraud than with a debit card!) and use ATMs for cash. That’s where you’ll get the best rates. Try for a card that offers a rebate on ATM fees! Get one from a major bank, one that they’ll recognize over there. And make sure it has the new fancy chip. Most of Yurp uses those, have been for a donkey’s years. Large establishments will take Visa/MC, but if you’re stopping in small towns or B&Bs, they’ll want cash, so have enough on hand (and of course, don’t be an idiot! DO NOT FLASH YOUR WAD IN PUBLIC!) for routine purchases. Remember too, ATM fees are generally uniform. If you use one, get the maximum allowed, that amortizes the fees over the withdrawal.
Now, when you land or cross a border, you’ll also need some cash in fist. AAA here and probably your bank will sell you some Euros and Pounds. AAA has it on hand, your bank may need to order you some. A hundred of each should be more than sufficient to cover whatever costs you may have until you can hit an ATM. DO NOT GET CASH AT THE AIRPORT THEY WILL RAPE YOU ON THE EXCHANGE!!! Important Tip: notify your banks that you will be traveling and they will see unusual activity on your cards! And nobody but nobody uses travelers’ cheques anymore.
Nards and Skizzies: Extra plug adaptors for when you forget one in a hotel, extra power/adaptor cables for phones/computers/cameras for the same reason. Several data chips for cameras. Spare keys for the car and luggage. Extra batteries for cameras. Extra battery chargers for same. Web addresses/phone numbers for potential hotels/B&Bs. Pack underwear, meds, copies of prescriptions (it’s not a bad idea for OTC meds to have the packages to ID what they are), toothbrush, and toiletries in your carry on luggage in case your real luggage gets lost, or sent to Abyssinia. Extra eyeglasses. A travel clock. Small flashlight. Hard copies of ALL reservations made. Bring a small reusable shopping bag. Markets don't provide them! You look silly coming out of a Spar or Tesco juggling beer, cheese, bread, and bangers! Copies of all documents (registration, insurance, Driver’s license, passport, title). A small knife. Clothing size conversion charts because if you need extra underwear, you’ll NEVER figure it out without help. I know, a lot of this stuff is now part of your smart phone, but what happens if it grows legs? Hmm?
So, that’s a lot of Stuff. It’s amazing how it all adds up. The danger is of course carrying too much Stuff. Understand, most consumables are available in one form or another over there. Ireland and the UK are civilized countries and have most of the usual amenities that we are used to. You may have to use a different shampoo or soap or toothpaste, so DEAL WITH IT! Most importantly, bring a good attitude. Don’t be the Ugly American, When in Rome... And above all, observe what used to be the Golden Rule of Polite Society. Never discuss Religion or Politics. Ever.
Road Trippin’
with Steve McCarthy
The devil is indeed in the details. And in spades! Stepping back and looking at it, planning a long range Road Trip is a lesson in Details. Having to be more or less self-sufficient for a month of cruising anywhere is a daunting task. Doing it on foreign shores, even in allegedly civilized countries is, well...
To give you an idea of scale, one of the things I’ve had to do is make a list of all the Stuff we’ll be packing in the TR to be shipped to the Auld Sod. The upside of shipping in a container is having the ability to ship car essentials with the car, not in your carry on baggage. I have a feeling the TSA would take a dim view of a loaded toolbox with all it’s assorted iron mongery in the overhead rack! To say nothing of blowing the airline’s fifty pound weight limit per checked bag!
Anyway, I made a little list. With photos. the list is FOUR PAGES LONG! Every spanner (I’m trying to learn English before we go), screwdriver, set of points, sparking plugs, and nard and skizzy has to be on the list. Damn, I never knew just how much stuff we haul around on a regular basis. Is it all essential? Who the hell knows. I call it the Umbrella Theory of Spares. If you don’t take it, you WILL need it!
Then there’s all the other details of travel that one just doesn’t think about here. Like Insurance. OK, we all have car insurance and medical insurance here. None of it’s worth a Tinker’s Damn over there. None of it. So, off to the good people at Hagerty’s for road insurance for the car. About a ten page application form and several hundred pounds sterling and we’re good to go. I have to say, Hagerty’s people are GREAT! They are Car People first, and Insurance Gnomes second. They clearly get Us. Which is good because no one else will touch the kind of folly Marianne and I are planning to commit. Since they have a UK division, it makes it all a piece of cake.
Then there’s medical insurance. Your US policy, be it Medicare, Obamacare, or Whothehellcares, won’t cover you across the pond, and since you’re not a citizen of the UK or Eurozone, neither will their vaunted National Health. An internet search for travel health insurance will net you mostly travel insurance. There’s a difference. Travel insurance is a good idea if you’re paying for a cruise in advance and have to cancel because poor Aunt Edna kicked the bucket, or you break a leg and can’t go. Travel HEALTH insurance will cover you if you trip over your own big feet and break a leg while on holiday. Given our advancing years and length of stay, the Umbrella (or should I be saying “brolly” or “bumpershoot?”) Theory applies here too. Enter a company called IMG. For $200 bucks, we’re both covered. They have good reviews on line (the slightly scary bit is, most say “I didn’t need to use it but it was good to have”) and seem to be a reputable company. With one drawback. You know that maybe the Number One Good Thing about Obamacare is the removal of “pre-existing conditions”? Doesn’t seem to apply. If you keel over from a heart attack because your arteries have been clogged for decades, they won’t help you. How they get away with this is a mystery to me (but I smell a lobbyist in the woodpile somewhere).
The last insurance is shipping the car. In case its container falls off the boat, or some such other disaster. Hagerty will cover you, so will your shipper. Both cost the same, but it’s a bit easier to do it through the shipper. There are a lot of details they can cover (like who’s trucking it to and from the port, taking photos--which you should do anyway, etc) that led me to get the coverage from them. It’s a toss up.
Those are the larger details. Here’s a bunch of others:
Phones: We got Marianne a new iPhone (what a REALLY cool piece of kit THAT is) and the attendant two year plan from Verizon. AT&T works as well and the cost is about the same. What’s important is the Travel Plan. I learned about this from my buddy Bill Morgan. He and his Girl Friend took a jaunt to Spain, France, and Italy last year. The deal is, in Yurp, each country seems to have it’s own cell system and they are naturally incompatible with anyone else’s! Seems silly, what with the Eurozone and all, but there you have it. One option is to get a burner phone cheap and the appropriate sim card for the country. That’s OK if you’re not crossing a border. Then you need a new sim, AND you get a new phone number. So, if you’re in Spain and call for a hotel reservation in France and give them the number in Spain, when you change sims, your old number goes away and the hotel can’t get in touch with you. Did I lose you yet?
With the Verizon travel plan, you can pay monthly (and cancel without penalty when you get home) and you keep your phone number, and can make calls and text and do interwebnetstuff to your heart’s content. BEWARE however, most of the data plans will cost you and it’s easy to eat up the data, so ONLY do web stuff where there’s WiFi, like at your hotel.
The really bitchin’ thing about the iPhone? With its BluTooth, we can play music through the intercom headsets we got! Just be SURE to download the music to the phone and disable the web access so you don’t eat up your data plan!!!
Electricity: Another thing we added was an electrical adaptor. Not only are the plugs in the UK/Ire of funky shape, they use 220v to our 110v. Stuff like hairdryers will fry! Allegedly, Apple stuff doesn’t need a voltage converter, but...Enter the Papeak Travel Power Center. It’s like a power strip on steroids. It’s a surge protector, adaptor to different voltages (and does it automatically, no fiddling with little switches, hoping you got the right amount of juice), AND it has four USB ports. The other advantage is it has a long cord so you don’t have to plug stuff in to the outlet that’s in an inevitably remote spot behind a sofa. It’s about $40 on Amazon.
AAA: Roadside Assistance. No, your Triple A card won’t help you much. I asked. So, enter AA (no, not the booze people). It’s the UK equivalent. And again, the Umbrella Theory is at work. Now, it’s a bit tricky setting things up, and it took several emails and live chat back and forth but here’s the deal. Using the UT, I went for the maximum “cover” (what they call coverage). Not only the UNLIMITED calls of the regular plan (ARE YOU LISTENING AAA?), where they will either fix your car at the roadside (including a couple of litres of petrol!) or tow you to the nearest garage to get it fixed. Add to that the “Trip Forward” option, and you’ll get a hotel room AND a rental car for a day. Then there’s the REAL KICKER! Opt for the cover that gets you PARTS AND LABOUR to fix the Auld Crate! The limit for parts is 500 pounds and they won’t cover normal wear and tear items. This is an amazing option.
So, drawbacks. There have to be drawbacks. It ain’t cheap and you have to buy a year’s worth. Price is based on the age of the car, so for the TR, it came to some $300. The other problem is you have to have a UK address and phone number. The phone isn’t much of a problem, the customer support people gave me a “generic bogus number with a lot of 1s in it. The address is more problematic. Luckily, we have friends across the pond who were willing to let us use theirs. When all the documents arrive, they’ll forward them on to us. You CAN get the coverage once you get there, but there seems to be a delay on when it starts. A little creative contact with a hotel you are planning to use for more than a couple of days might cover this problem.
Money: Ireland uses the Euro, the UK still has their Pound Sterling. You still have to deal with exchange rates. Here’s the hot tip. Get a credit card (you have more protection from fraud than with a debit card!) and use ATMs for cash. That’s where you’ll get the best rates. Try for a card that offers a rebate on ATM fees! Get one from a major bank, one that they’ll recognize over there. And make sure it has the new fancy chip. Most of Yurp uses those, have been for a donkey’s years. Large establishments will take Visa/MC, but if you’re stopping in small towns or B&Bs, they’ll want cash, so have enough on hand (and of course, don’t be an idiot! DO NOT FLASH YOUR WAD IN PUBLIC!) for routine purchases. Remember too, ATM fees are generally uniform. If you use one, get the maximum allowed, that amortizes the fees over the withdrawal.
Now, when you land or cross a border, you’ll also need some cash in fist. AAA here and probably your bank will sell you some Euros and Pounds. AAA has it on hand, your bank may need to order you some. A hundred of each should be more than sufficient to cover whatever costs you may have until you can hit an ATM. DO NOT GET CASH AT THE AIRPORT THEY WILL RAPE YOU ON THE EXCHANGE!!! Important Tip: notify your banks that you will be traveling and they will see unusual activity on your cards! And nobody but nobody uses travelers’ cheques anymore.
Nards and Skizzies: Extra plug adaptors for when you forget one in a hotel, extra power/adaptor cables for phones/computers/cameras for the same reason. Several data chips for cameras. Spare keys for the car and luggage. Extra batteries for cameras. Extra battery chargers for same. Web addresses/phone numbers for potential hotels/B&Bs. Pack underwear, meds, copies of prescriptions (it’s not a bad idea for OTC meds to have the packages to ID what they are), toothbrush, and toiletries in your carry on luggage in case your real luggage gets lost, or sent to Abyssinia. Extra eyeglasses. A travel clock. Small flashlight. Hard copies of ALL reservations made. Bring a small reusable shopping bag. Markets don't provide them! You look silly coming out of a Spar or Tesco juggling beer, cheese, bread, and bangers! Copies of all documents (registration, insurance, Driver’s license, passport, title). A small knife. Clothing size conversion charts because if you need extra underwear, you’ll NEVER figure it out without help. I know, a lot of this stuff is now part of your smart phone, but what happens if it grows legs? Hmm?
So, that’s a lot of Stuff. It’s amazing how it all adds up. The danger is of course carrying too much Stuff. Understand, most consumables are available in one form or another over there. Ireland and the UK are civilized countries and have most of the usual amenities that we are used to. You may have to use a different shampoo or soap or toothpaste, so DEAL WITH IT! Most importantly, bring a good attitude. Don’t be the Ugly American, When in Rome... And above all, observe what used to be the Golden Rule of Polite Society. Never discuss Religion or Politics. Ever.
Wow , so much tomfoolery and you're not even THERE yet ! .
ReplyDelete-Nate
Amazing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteReally a nice mete of this post. I read your post. Thanks for share your post with us.
ReplyDeleteCar Ship Germany
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteFrom my buddy Bill:
ReplyDeleteMost electronics now are dual voltage, so you just need plug adaptors. I bought a set of six from Amazon for under ten bucks. Only new device we needed was to get Danielle a dual-voltage hair iron.
Money:
Use your debit card to withdraw cash. Getting cash on your CC will be a cash advance and cost you more money.
Use Bank ATM's, not the odd kiosks that you first see in the airport...much cheaper. Just walk past the kiosks in the airport and look for a bank ATM, usually built into the wall next to a small bank branch.
Most banks charge 3% on foreign ATM withdrawals, but some (and most credit unions) are 1% or less. Ask.
Make sure your card has an International phone number on the back and store it in your phone. 800 numbers don't work from Europe/UK.
Consider getting a no-foreign-transaction-fee credit card, like the Capital One Venture card. Get their app on your phone and you will be notified of any transactions within seconds.
Ask your CC company for your PIN long before you go...you'll need it for chip-and-pin (as opposed to slide-and-sign). They will mail it to you so allow a couple of weeks. It would suck to be unable to buy gas late at night because the pump needs your PIN. Once you have the assigned PIN you can change it to what you want.
Use a money belt. Violent crime is rare but pickpockets are everywhere, especially train stations and tourist attractions. No, you are NOT smarter than your average pickpocket.
Many hotels and B&B's will give you a discount for paying in cash, if you ask.