A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the World: Diary of a Fearless Travel Agent

Reader Reactions to A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the World:

Diary of a Fearless Travel Agent

Annette Langer’s book is a must for readers who love to learn about our world. Her captivating tales to all seven continents include humor, adventure, helpful tips, and priceless perspectives. But be warned! The book may literally carry you away to other lands and inspire you to travel in Langer’s footsteps.

Jim Ott

Bay Area News Group Correspondent and

Co-host of Cable TV Literary Program In a Word

Langer has taken pen to paper (or more precisely, fingers to keyboard) and has revealed her traveling escapades for the entire world to share and enjoy. Her superior storytelling ability makes turning the pages of her book a joyous and engaging experience.

Joanne Giampa

Professor and Travel & Tourism Program Coordinator

One never knows what Langer will do next! She retells her adventures in such a manner that keeps you laughing and shaking your head, wishing you were there, but in some instances grateful that you weren’t. This is a must read for anyone who loves to travel, as well as for those who just like to explore the world from the safety of an easy chair.

Lynette Pierce

Romance Author

In her quest for adventure, Langer has captured the essence of being a good traveler in a world of unfamiliar customs and traditions. She has entertained us with exciting and humorous stories that also demonstrate her ability to laugh at herself. Whether you’re an armchair traveler or an experienced one, you’ll enjoy this book from cover to cover.

Marji Miloro

Travel Agency Owner

Langer has captured what many of us have lost when traveling. She opens our eyes to intriguing small incidents in cultures worldwide. She is the kid in us who stumbles into unique experiences while others just see only one more cathedral. We gasp at the sometimes-dangerous situations in which she finds herself, and laugh with her as she guides us through her journey of the world.

Marilyn Slade

Poet

An unabashed delight to read! Langer paints a good picture. Her stories are funny, scary, and heartwarming with an innocence that even a seasoned traveler experiences now and then. I truly enjoyed my journey through her eyes.

Mona Dawson

Travel Projects Coordinator

A Funny Thing Happened on

My Way to the World:

Diary of a Fearless Travel Agent

Published by Annette Langer at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 Annette Langer

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Author Notes

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate Internet Web site address references at the time of publication, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party Web sites or their content.

Also written by Annette Langer

Healing Through Humor: Change Your Focus, Change Your Life!

This feel-good book is sprinkled with humorous personal stories surrounding the author's various mishaps and maladies—from her brain injury suffered in a head-on automobile accident to breast cancer. She also offers many coping techniques and advice from personal experience to help deal with any struggle. It’s just the right portable support group a person needs to get through hard times. This book is available in both electronic format and in print version from most online retailers, as well as from her own Web site. For a personally autographed copy, go to www.AnnetteLanger.com.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to Joanne Giampa, MS, CTC, CTIE, my first travel program instructor at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She strengthened my love for travel through her insights and enthusiasm. In the process, she taught me how to earn a productive living as a travel agent, a stimulating career that I enjoyed for many years.

My thanks go to Jackie Woodruff and Donna Surace who spent numerous hours’ fact checking and proofreading the initial draft of the manuscript. Thank you also to the many members of the California Writers Club, Tri-Valley Branch, who lent constructive suggestions and helpful critiques along the way. Their sage advice and observant comments were considerable.

Finally, I acknowledge my dear mother Ann Langer who was my own travel planner, my companion to all seven continents during her lifetime, and even now in spirit. You travel with me still.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 – AFRICA

East Africa

---Ethiopia

---Kenya

---Tanzania

North Africa

---Egypt

Southern Africa

---South Africa

---Zimbabwe

The Canary Islands

CHAPTER 2 – ANTARCTICA

Falkland Islands

CHAPTER 3 – ASIA

China

Hong Kong

India

Japan

Mongolia

Russian Far East

Siberia

Singapore

Vietnam

The Middle East

---Israel

---Jordan

CHAPTER 4 – AUSTRALIA

New Zealand

Tahiti

CHAPTER 5 – EUROPE

Czech Republic

England

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Norway

Poland

Romania

Iceland

CHAPTER 6 – NORTH AMERICA

Greenland

Canadian Rockies/The Yukon

Mexico

---Guerrero

---Federal District

---Morelos

---Yucatan

United States of America

---Alaska

---Hawaiian Islands

---Louisiana

---Nevada

The Bahamas

The Cayman Islands

CHAPTER 7 – SOUTH AMERICA

Brazil

Chile

Peru

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

Yes, there are just seven continents. But I have had unforgettable experiences, many times seven, from my travels to each of them.

I was fortunate to be able to see the world, as they say—no, not in the Navy—but through a rewarding career as a travel agent for a good number of years.

In the pages that follow, I’ve detailed some of my favorite recollections from my visits to many of these countries, listed under each one’s respective continent. I’ve appended my island adventures to the end of each continent’s chapter to make them easier for you to locate on a world globe—in case you happen to be balancing one on your lap while reading this.

Some of my memories retold here are humorous, to be sure. In retrospect, I’ll admit some are even a little scary, and some are just plain weird. But each of them gives insight into the diversity of cultures that make up this wonderful planet of ours. So upon reflection, I decided to add the subtitle Diary of a Fearless Travel Agent. This covers it all.

My travels as an adult span more than four decades (so far). I shared many of my explorations with my mother, my favorite traveling companion. She was a great lover of travel and a great sport, as well. I switched careers in mid-life and did become the travel agent in the family. But she remained the planner of our adventures, the researcher of What’s next? on the quest to discover her own wonders of the world.

Of course, there are my memories of trips taken as a child with the entire family—mom, dad, and sister—seeing a good portion of the United States while on driving vacations during our summer break from school. You’d think I’d learn to overcome motion sickness by this time after all the frequent whiner points I logged while a passenger in the back seat of the family car. Maybe that’s how I developed my sensitive stomach in the first place—passing the long hours on the road between rest stops by reading or by playing visual games to keep amused as we putt-putted down the highways.

If I had to count one more herd of cows or try to be the first one to spot a particular color car approaching, I think I would have gone bonkers. Even now, if I close my eyes, I can still hear us kids whining, "Are we there yet? Are we still in America? Make her stay on her own side. I don’t feel good. I think I have to throw up..."

Realistically, though, the mode of transportation one chooses and the time it takes to get from point A to point X, Y, or Z are obvious and necessary components of the travel experience. They are, both literally and figuratively, a means to an end leading, hopefully, to the reward of a pleasant vacation. So until science develops magic ruby slippers to transport us instantly as they did Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, those of us with tender tummies and boredom issues will just have to learn to deal with it.

*****

When first planning for a trip, there are several important choices one has to make. A decision that will affect the entire journey is whether to:

(a) travel entirely on your own (being responsible for your own luggage, tickets, transportation, hotel selection, meals, tour arrangements, entertainment, etc.);

(b) sign up for a fully-escorted group excursion where practically everything is arranged for you ahead of time except for packing your own suitcase, of course; or,

(c) select something in between, called an independent, escorted vacation where you carry all of your own travel documents yourself and plug into existing tour groups along the way. (You still have to pack your own suitcase, by the way.)

I’ve done all three at one time or another. My personal preference? I’ll choose an escorted vacation anytime, anywhere. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting lazy in my older years. As a travel agent for almost a quarter of a century (yikes!), I just welcomed a break now and then from taking the responsibility for other people’s travel. I used to tell my clients, God and I have an understanding. If He doesn’t mess with airfares, I won’t interfere with His plans for the weather.

I find it a pleasure to be able to sit back and let others direct me, show me the sights, deal with the infrequent snafu—like a delayed or canceled flight, lost luggage, etc.—and otherwise point me toward the good times. Either a fully escorted vacation with a tour manager and a fixed number of tour participants or a partially escorted, independent tour fills the bill for me quite nicely.

Another practical area of concern to address early in the planning stage involves choosing the best time of year to travel to your selected destination. You probably don’t want to go to Mexico during the blazing hot summertime, for example. Nor do you want to venture to Alaska in the frigid winter, unless you r-e-a-l-l-y love an average temperature of twenty degrees Fahrenheit.

The Web site www.TravelAlaska.com provides the following enticement in order to promote tourism during the winter months:

Whether you desire endless white solitude or endless activities and events, we have it all—from wildlife to wildly good times. Enjoy all varieties of skiing, snowboarding, skating, hockey, ice fishing, snow machines, and winter carnivals.

(Do winter carnivals have winter clowns and winter roller coasters?) And all of these at temperatures dipping to the twenty degrees Fahrenheit mark and below? Not for me, thanks. But as my dear ol’ dad used to say, That’s why they make chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. The same things don’t appeal to everybody. Of course, there’s Neapolitan, too, for those who just can’t decide.

The mental and physical demands of the trip you’re planning are also practical issues to weigh carefully before plunking down your hard-earned money. You’ll want to know in advance what level of activity is in store for you so you can prepare for it and get in shape, if need be. Your present health may be such that it might put you at risk to travel to a particular destination that requires more stamina than you currently possess.

Not many people travel to China to visit the Great Wall, for example, not taking into account the uneven terrain they’ll have to negotiate or the poor air quality they may have to endure. How frustrating it would be to travel all that distance and then have to stay behind, waiting on the tour bus while the heartier members of the group made the trek to walk along the Great Wall.

The issue of whether or not to purchase travel insurance to protect your investment can get a little tricky. It may not be even necessary for travel to some destinations but almost mandatory to others. Each traveler has to weigh in on these matters. Some insurance policies won’t even cover you if you have what’s called a pre-existing medical condition and that same condition sidelines you after you’ve paid for the trip. Of course, you always have to read the fine-print exclusions in these policies very carefully, no matter what you decide.

One also should ascertain if there may be any hidden expenses along the way or surprise fees you’d have to pony up after your trip begins. For example, you may be required to pay some airport departure taxes locally and in that country’s currency, rather than having the fees included in the purchase price of the airline ticket or vacation package.

Critical to the success of your travel experience is learning in advance of your trip if there are any governmental constraints or restrictions imposed on any of the destinations you plan to visit. This can include such issues as obtaining a travel visa for a particular country before leaving the U.S., bringing into a country only a maximum amount of currency, discovering if your Discover Card will even be accepted there, and finding out if there are any security alerts discouraging travel to a particular destination in the first place. Being unaware of any of the first three requirements can result in minimal to moderate delay or even inconvenience. But acting headstrong, insisting on traveling to a country that is on the U.S. Government security watch list is foolhardy at best, disastrous at its worst. It’s a very different world we live in since 9/11. That’s where having a good travel agent, whose knowledge and experience can guide you, is a must (I just can’t resist a shameless plug for my sistas).

The final matter to address before you travel is deciding what and how much to pack. My mother was an expert in that area and offered some very down-to-earth, practical wisdom on the subject. She’d say, "Gather all the clothes from your closet that you intend to take along and lay them out on your bed. Now, put half of them back in the closet. Next, make a stack of all the money you plan to take with you, and put that on your bed. Now, double it!"

*****

A lot of research went into the formation of this book. I Googled until my Googler was sore! I’ve tried to present a little historical or geographical background at the beginning of each chapter just to set the stage, as it were. Much of the material introducing each respective continent came from various sources such as the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, the Columbia Encyclopedia, the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, and the New World Encyclopedia. Even www.Wikipedia.org articles received some consideration. For those not familiar with it, Wikipedia is an ongoing work to which anyone can contribute without being a professional expert on a topic. Submissions are edited, and contributors are encouraged to cite their sources whenever possible. However, this doesn’t always happen, and the content is subject to challenge. Please forgive any errors or omissions.

As you read about my adventures on the